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Bottlenose dolprlin (Tursiops trunratus) whistles are currently studied by subjective visual comparison of whistle spectrograms. This thesis describes the novel use of stochastic modeling to automate the comparison of dolphin whistles and to yield an objective, quantitative measure of whistle similarity. The relationship of bottlenose dolphin whistle production to a model of human speech production is discussed, providing a basis for the use of human speech recognition techniques for creating whistle models. Discrete hidden Markov models based on vector quantization of linear prediction coefficients are used to create whistle models based on statistical information derived from a sample set of dolphin whistles. Whistle model comparison results are presented indicating that evaluation of bottlenose dolphin whistles via hidden Markov modeling provides an objective measure of similarity between whistles. The results also demonstrate that hidden Markov models provide robustness against the effects of temporal and frequency variance in the comparison of whistles. The extensibility of stochastic modeling techniques to other animal vocalizations is discussed and possibilities for further work in areas such as the determination of possible structural components, similar to phonemes in human speech, is provided. / Master of Science

The objective of this study was mainly to describe, analyse and evaluate the determinants of the phenomenon of whistle blowing that influences the protection of employees making authorised and/or unauthorised disclosures. It was also a purpose of the study to evaluate the specific role of the Protected Disclosures Act 2000 (Act 26 of 2000) (PDA) in fulfilling its mandate to protect authorised disclosures on wrongdoing in public and private sector organisations. The PDA seeks to combat crime and corruption through the disclosing of wrongdoing. The intention is to create a culture which will facilitate the disclosure of information by employees relating to criminal and other irregular conduct in the workplace in a responsible manner, by providing comprehensive statutory guidelines through the PDA for the disclosure of such information, and protection against any retaliation as a result of such disclosures. An important aspect that this study dealt with was the provision, as a prerequisite to the PDA to be implemented successfully, that individual members of the private and public sectors have to act responsibly and in good faith in making disclosures in order to be protected by the PDA. In order to provide clarity on the conceptualisation of whistle blowing, the study explored the conceptual knowledge of the variables influencing the determinants of whistle blowing and the whistle blower through the application of a literature study of the concept and theories of ethics, values, morals, loyalty, trust and whistle blowing, in order to describe and analyse the variables influencing the whistle blower, the whistle blowing process, the characteristics of whistle blowers and the strategies and procedures employed to blow the whistle in an organisation. The study explored the organisational determinants influencing a whistle blower's decision to blow the whistle in the social context of an organisation in order to determine the influence of organisational culture and organisational trust as internal social factors that may facilitate the effective management of whistle blowing resulting in no whistle blowing taking place. The study objectives, appropriate conclusions and proposals are addressed based on the role that the PDA, the ethical determinants of the work environment, the determinants influencing the individual whistle blower and the organisational determinants influencing effective whistle blowing, can fulfil, in order to serve as a mechanism to combat corruption. / Public Administration / D. Litt. et Phil. (Public Administration)

The objective of this study was mainly to describe, analyse and evaluate the determinants of the phenomenon of whistle blowing that influences the protection of employees making authorised and/or unauthorised disclosures. It was also a purpose of the study to evaluate the specific role of the Protected Disclosures Act 2000 (Act 26 of 2000) (PDA) in fulfilling its mandate to protect authorised disclosures on wrongdoing in public and private sector organisations. The PDA seeks to combat crime and corruption through the disclosing of wrongdoing. The intention is to create a culture which will facilitate the disclosure of information by employees relating to criminal and other irregular conduct in the workplace in a responsible manner, by providing comprehensive statutory guidelines through the PDA for the disclosure of such information, and protection against any retaliation as a result of such disclosures. An important aspect that this study dealt with was the provision, as a prerequisite to the PDA to be implemented successfully, that individual members of the private and public sectors have to act responsibly and in good faith in making disclosures in order to be protected by the PDA. In order to provide clarity on the conceptualisation of whistle blowing, the study explored the conceptual knowledge of the variables influencing the determinants of whistle blowing and the whistle blower through the application of a literature study of the concept and theories of ethics, values, morals, loyalty, trust and whistle blowing, in order to describe and analyse the variables influencing the whistle blower, the whistle blowing process, the characteristics of whistle blowers and the strategies and procedures employed to blow the whistle in an organisation. The study explored the organisational determinants influencing a whistle blower's decision to blow the whistle in the social context of an organisation in order to determine the influence of organisational culture and organisational trust as internal social factors that may facilitate the effective management of whistle blowing resulting in no whistle blowing taking place. The study objectives, appropriate conclusions and proposals are addressed based on the role that the PDA, the ethical determinants of the work environment, the determinants influencing the individual whistle blower and the organisational determinants influencing effective whistle blowing, can fulfil, in order to serve as a mechanism to combat corruption. / Public Administration and Management / D. Litt. et Phil. (Public Administration)

Dolphins use stereotyped, individually distinctive, frequency modulated whistles, referred to as signature whistles, in order to broadcast their identity. In this study, we trained six dolphins at Kolmården Zoo, Sweden, to be called over, either upon hearing their own signature whistle (SW) or upon hearing a biologically irrelevant ”trivial” sound (TS), with the aim to prove the Whistle caller concept. The Whistle caller concept is based on the fact that dolphins occasionally use other dolphins’ signature whistles in order to address specific group members and convene.  Our hypotheses were that (1) dolphins call-over trained using their SW would learn the behaviour faster than dolphins trained using TSs, and (2) dolphins trained with their SW would be able to discriminate between different SWs better than dolphins trained with a TS would be at discriminating between different TSs.  Three out of three dolphins were successfully call-over trained using their SW, and two out of three dolphins using their assigned TS. When discriminating between different sounds, two of the dolphins trained using their SW performed significantly better than one of the dolphins trained using a TS. However, there were large intra-group differences in the results, indicating that we cannot eliminate the possibility that these results stem from individual differences in these dolphins’ ability to learn new behaviours overall, rather than an understanding of the sounds they heard. We suggest that future studies focus on (1) male-female differences in discrimination success when applying the Whistle caller concept, (2) how the characteristics of the trivial sounds affect discrimination success, and (3) the option of calling more than one animal at a time by sending out several SWs in succession.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis commences with an exploration of the ethics of whistleblowing as traditionally understood, describing the ethical dilemma at its centre: remaining loyal to one's organisation, against alerting society to organisational wrongdoing that threatens its welfare. The positions on several problematic issues in the literature, such as dissent, organisational retaliation, whistleblower motive, and mandatory whistleblowing will be presented and evaluated. The key internal/external disclosure dichotomy within whistleblowing will also be critically examined. The purported solutions to these issues, as well as whistleblowing's central dilemma, will be shown to remain unsatisfactory. This will be attributed to the adoption of an Enlightenment rules-based approach to ethics in general, which underpins and informs the ethics of whistleblowing in particular. An Enlightenment rules-based approach seeks to posit universal and immutable ethical standards that transcend context. As corrective to the above failings, the ethics of whistleblowing will be investigated from the view that seeks to understand whistleblowing as a historically determined and culturally mediated social practice. Within the contexts of the USA and South Africa it will be demonstrated that key whistleblowing issues (and even the central whistleblowing dilemma of divided loyalties) cannot be cast in immutable and universal terms, and are influenced by the contingencies that accompany them. An attempt will then be made to understand whistleblowing in the context of the globalisation of the last thirty years, which will prove more difficult. This will be undertaken through an analysis of Vandekerckhove's project, which seeks to place the normative legitimisations of whistleblowing legislation and organisational whistleblowing policies within a globalisation semantic able to contain the conflict between society and the organisation. This will be shown as ill-conceived because of Vandekerckhove's particular understanding of the organisation as an operationally closed system. Moving the argument forward will be undertaken at the hand of Critical Complexity theory which attempts to make the case for understanding the organisation as an open system. This will allow us to recast corporate responsibility as relational responsiveness to a particular stakeholder, which in turn will allow flexibility in terms of who qualifies as a recipient of a disclosure of wrongdoing. Consequently the internal/external disclosure dichotomy will be proved unsustainable. Further opening up the organisation will render the boundary with society meaningless, as it will be shown that the identity of society and organisation are inextricably tied together. As such, the notion of society versus the organisation will disappear, and whistleblowing will be reconceptualised as loyalty to both society and the organisation simultaneously, thus rendering the central dilemma of whistleblowing obsolete. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis begin met 'n studie van die etiese kwessies rakende fluitjieblasers soos dit tradisioneel verstaan word, en beskryf die sentrale etiese dilemma – om lojaal te bly tot die organisasie, teenoor om die gemeenskap in te lig oor die organisatoriese oortredings wat die welvaart van die gemeenskap bedreig. Die verskillende menings ten opsigte van verskeie problematiese kwessies in die literatuur soos verdeeldheid, organisatoriese vergelding, motief van die fluitjieblaser en verpligte fluitjieblaas sal aangebied en gëevalueer word. Die hoof vraag of 'n openbaring van informasie wat binne of buite die organisasie gebeur as fluitjieblaas beskou kan word, word ook krities ondersoek. Die voorgestelde oplossings tot hierdie kwessies, sowel as die fluitjieblaser se kerndilemma, is onbevredigend en sal dus onderskryf word deur die aanvaarding van 'n reëls-gebaseerde Verligtingsbenadering tot etiek in die algemeen, wat deur die etiek van fluitjieblaas spesifiek, ondersteun en ingelig word. 'n Reëls-gebaseerde Verligtingsbenadering poog om universele en onveranderlike etiese standaarde, wat konteks oorbrug, te postuleer. As korreksies tot die bogenoemde tekortkominge, sal die etiek van fluitjieblaas ondersoek word vanuit 'n benadering wat poog om fluitjieblaas as 'n histories bepaalde en versoenbare sosiale praktyk te verstaan. Binne die konteks van die VSA en Suid-Afrika, sal dit gedemonstreer word dat sleutel fluitjieblaas kwessies, en selfs die sentrale fluitjieblaas dilemma van verdeelde lojaliteit, nie binne onveranderlike en universele terme gegroepeer kan word nie, en dat hierdie kwessies beïnvloed word deur die gebeurlikhede wat daarmee gepaard gaan. 'n Poging sal aangewend word om fluitjieblaas binne die konteks van globalisering in die afgelope 30 jaar te verstaan, wat meer kompleks sal wees. Dit sal gedoen word deur 'n analise van Vandekerckhove se projek, wat poog om die normatiewe legitimering van fluitjieblaas wetgewing en organisatoriese fluitjieblaas beleide in 'n globale semantiek te plaas, ten einde om die konflik tussen die gemeenskap en die organisasie te verminder. Dit sal bewys word dat hierdie projek nie deurdag is nie, as gevolg van Vandekerckhove se bepaalde begrip van organisasies as 'n operasionele geslote sisteem. Die argument sal verder onderskryf word aan die hand van die Kritiese Kompleksiteitsteorie, wat die organisasie as 'n oop sisteem beskryf. Dit sal ons toelaat om korporatiewe verantwoordelikheid as 'n reaksie in 'n verhouding met 'n spesifieke belanghebbende te beskryf, wat weer op sy beurt ons sal toelaat om buigsaam te wees in die kwalifisering van wie as 'n ontvanger van 'n onthulling van oortredings geïdentifiseer moet word. Gevolglik sal die onderskeid tussen 'n interne en eksterne openbaring van informasie as onvolhoubaar bewys word. As die organisasie oper gemaak word, sal dit die grens met die gemeenskap betekenisloos maak, omdat, soos bewys sal word, die identiteit van die organisasie en gemeenskap onlosmaaklik vas is aan mekaar. So sal die konsep van gemeenskap teenoor die organisasie verdwyn, en sal fluitjieblaas geherkonsepsualiseer word as gelyktydige lojaliteit tot beide die gemeenskap en die organisasie, wat die sentrale dilemma van fluitjieblaas sal uitskakel.

Visselblåsarbegreppet har blivit ett allt mer frekvent förekommande inslag inom den unionsrättsliga lagstiftningen, och vikten av att beskydda arbetstagare som bistår myndigheter med information som kan stoppa överträdelser har på senare år uppmärksammats och betonats världen över. I samband med en modernisering och uppdatering av den finansmarknadsrättsliga lagstiftningen, inte minst till följd av den tekniska utvecklingen inom området, valde EU:s lagstiftande organ att göra en markering mot fysiska och juridiska personer som ägnar sig åt överträdelser som kan vilseleda aktörerna på de finansiella marknaderna. Bland annat infördes, genom ett antal nya rättsakter, enhetliga sanktioner samt minimibestämmelser för kriminalisering av vissa ageranden. Vid framtagandet av lagstiftningen diskuterades även på EU-nivå huruvida ett potentiellt införande av ekonomiska incitament för visselblåsare som bidrar med värdefull information i fråga om marknadsmissbruk borde utgöra en del av det sociala skyddet för nämnda individer. Medlemsstaterna hade redan i samband med tidigare unionsöverskridande lagstiftning ålagts att vidta särskilda åtgärder för att säkerställa att visselblåsare erhåller skydd gentemot arbetsgivare avseende hämndaktioner, men här, tydligt inspirerade av den amerikanska lagstiftningen i motsvarande område, öppnade EU för första gången för att låta unionsmedlemmarna erbjuda monetära utbetalningar till visselblåsare. I förevarande uppsats presenteras den aktuella EU-lagstiftningen samt den inhemska lagstiftning som bestämmelserna genererat i Sverige. Nämnda inslag sätts i relation till den amerikanska visselblåsarlagstiftningen. En redogörelse för lagstiftningens mottagande och effekt – kombinerat med teoretiska såväl som statistiska studier avseende ekonomiska incitament kopplat till visselblåsning – används för att besvara frågan huruvida ett införande av nämnda incitament skulle kunna utgöra ett ändamålsenligt inslag inom den svenska lagstiftningen. Min argumentation, vilken presenteras i analysdelen, utmynnar i ståndpunkten att ekonomiska incitament mycket väl skulle kunna utgöra en funktionell beståndsdel av visselblåsarskyddet, men att lagstiftningens utformning och det praktiska utförandet skulle kunna optimeras jämfört med dess amerikanska motsvarighet. Vidare vill jag i analysavsnittet betona vikten av ett skifte i inställning och attityd inom europeisk rättskultur gentemot visselblåsare.

Whistle-blowers have an important role as they reveals incongruities in organizations in order to enable improvement of working conditions. However, there is a risk of reprisals against the employees when expressing their discontent, which may prevent them from blowing the whistle. Since whistle-blowers in private sectors have less protection of freedom of expression against their employer, the protections of whistleblowing also become weaker in these organizations. Nowadays it is becoming increasingly common for businesses in the welfare sector to govern under private management, but still with public funding. A weak protection of whistleblowing therefore reduces the public's opportunity to gain insight into how public funds are used. Therefore the aim of the study is to examine the protection of whistleblowing in private sectors and especially highlight the problem with a weak protection in private organizations that are publicly funded. The Swedish law has no general regulation for the protection of whistle-blowers, which leads to a complex legal situation. It will additionally be new regulations introduced in this area, which might lead to further complexity. The second purpose of the study is therefore to analyse the new regulations and identify some possible consequences of the legislation. A legal dogmatic method is used in the essay with the purpose of investigating the current legislation. The study shows that employees in private sectors have a relatively expansive right to criticize their employer and the conditions at workplaces. The judgement depends on how the employee chooses to express their criticism and therefore there are several factors that must be taking into account. The new regulations will hopefully reduce the risk of reprisals related to whistleblowing. On the other hand there are some identified weaknesses in the legislation that might imply that the intention of the law not would be fulfilled. Therefore the question still stands if the whistle-blower’s situation in the private sector will be improved by the new regulations.

M.A. / Fraud and corruption as well as other forms of organizational wrongdoing has become a serious problem in South Africa. If employees become aware of the fact that a superior is involved in some form of wrongdoing they find themselves in a dilemma. If they report the transgression without being authorized to do so, they face the possibility of being victimized within the organization. The unauthorized disclosure of information about organizational wrongdoing by an employee has become known as whistleblowing. Whistleblowing could have positive consequences for the organization, as it provides the possibility that organizational misconduct could be exposed and dealt with. However, the unauthorized nature of the exposure often results in the organization focussing its attention on the messenger rather than the message. As a consequence the whistleblower is often ostracized until he or she leaves the organization voluntarily or is forced out, while the misconduct is ignored or even covered up in a misguided attempt to protect the organization’s reputation. The act of whistleblowing therefore often has a very detrimental effect on the individual whistleblower’s career, family relationships and self-image. Apart from the possible negative consequences faced by the individual when engaging in whistleblowing, the organization within which the whistleblowing occurs can also be negatively affected. Individual employees are their best form of detection when something is wrong within the organization. However, if the whistleblower is victimized and leaves the organization, it means that the organization loses a valuable employee and that the misconduct will continue. Furthermore, in future when employees become aware of some form of dishonesty they will tend to turn a blind eye rather than report the important information. Financial institutions and in particular banks, are particularly vulnerable to the possibility of fraud and corruption or other forms of misconduct occurring. Rather than focussing on the experiences of the whistleblower, this study investigated the views of managers at a commercial bank with regard to the nature and ways of managing whistleblowing in the organization. Senior managers were interviewed during the course of this study and three issues came to the fore. Firstly, the managers generally showed very little understanding with regard to the nature and implications of whistleblowing for the organization. Secondly, the organizational culture seems to concentrate mainly on creating an environment that is conducive to protecting the stakeholders’ interests than allowing reporting of wrongdoing to take place. Thirdly, there does not seem to be any effective mechanisms in place that could facilitate the disclosure of organizational misconduct in such a manner that it would result in a beneficial outcome for both the individual disclosing the information and the organization. The study concludes by making some recommendations with regard to ways in which a culture of ethics can be created in an organization. This would entail instituting mechanisms of confidential reporting, which would promote the authorized disclosure of organizational misconduct and therefore pre-empt the necessity of blowing the whistle. / Prof. J.M. Uys

Jean Paul Sartre proposed that: Historical situations vary…What does not vary is the necessity for him to exist in the world, to be at work there, to be there in the midst of other people, and to be mortal there. The limits are neither subjective nor objective, or rather, they have an objective and a subjective side. Objective because they are to be found everywhere and are recognizable everywhere; subjective because they are lived and are nothing if man does not live them, that is, freely determine his existence with reference to them (Sartre 1987: 38, 39). The Existential philosophy as outlined by Sartre, Levinas, and Kierkegaard cares about the lived experiences of individuals. Such a view is in contradistinction to other philosophical views which have a tendency to reduce human experience, or to lose the individual in abstraction. This thesis has a central concern for the ethical care of patients in the National Health Service. In order to explore the concrete experiences of patients it is necessary to consider the care providers. To that end, the individual health professional then becomes the focus of study. To assist in this approach a double narrative runs through the thesis, which comprises exploring ethical decision making in the NHS, and also on the legal concept of clinical negligence. These two concepts are intertwined in that legal hearings and rulings have a normative influence upon health care practice, and also influence public expectations. The explicit purpose of this approach was to ensure that the theory was explored and developed; grounded upon everyday clinical NHS practice, which includes legal and political influences. The first four chapters of the thesis constructs the three main areas of analysis; Philosophical, legal, and political. With this framework established, the critical analysis of five legal cases of clinical negligence (Chapters Five and Six), establishes convergences in the work of Sartre, Levinas, and Kierkegaard in relation to the subject, freedom and the ethical. The Kierkegaardian concept of kinesis is applied to explore the transition from possibility to actuality in ethical action. During this process a range of dynamics are identified in creating the concept as best described by Levinas as totalisation . Where previously the argument was located at the individual (subject) and organisational (system) level, in Chapter Seven it moves outwards to consider how the authentic individual can create a civil society. Given the recalcitrant barriers identified in the analysis, Chapter Eight considers existentialism as a theory of community and as contributing to epistemology. Together these theories are proposed as addressing the real needs of individuals, by promoting their freedom, and achieving unity in diversity. The recommendations in Chapter Nine are based upon the interplay of two main dialectics uncovered in the body of the thesis concerning ethics and epistemology. Deontology, Utilitarianism, and Virtue ethics were found to all contribute towards professional conduct. However, they were found to be insufficient because they reduce patients and health professionals’ existence to the same as everyone else. Further, Virtue ethics reverses the way in which ethical behaviour is evaluated in comparison to the other two main normative theories. That is, behaviour is evaluated against the virtue being foundational, as opposed to the act performed. However, there is no discussion on how the individual health professional would decide which approach to use. All three approaches then lack a crucial factor which is the existential dimension. Existential ethics is then presented as a possible approach to facilitate the development (kinesis) of health professionals to the ethical sphere of care. Existential ethics emphasises the pre-theoretical aspect in caring for patients. That is, it appreciates the individual and their difference, prior to any conceptualization which has the potential to reduce individual difference to sameness. From this perspective recommendations are outlined for facilitating individuals to develop the ethical aspect of care, for health care pedagogy, and for leadership within the NHS.