to take corrective action. Kassing (2000) believes that the whistle-blowing process begins at the superior–subordinate relationship. If a superior response to an employee's effort to dissent is negative this may cause the employee to seek other avenues of dissent. In fact, evidence indicates that only as a last resort do the dissendents finally go public with their tales (Bennis, 2004, Kassing, 2000). Whistle-blowers are often high-performing employees who believe they are doing their job (Martin, 2005). They just want to bring people's attention to a problem that is potentially harmful or unethical. Despite this, whistle-blowers are perceived negatively and suffer grave consequences. They are often ostracized, harassed, and attacked by their superiors and coworkers. They face termination, financial losses, stress, relationship breakdown, and health problems. Even worse, few whistle-blowers seem to bring about any change. The organization seems to put all their efforts into destroying the whistle-blower while ignoring the original problem. The organization will take great measures to cover-up the problem, devalue the target, reinterpret the events, and intimidate and/or bribe the whistle-blowers (Martin, 2005). Organizations need to realize that internal dissent is not itself a crisis, but rather priceless insurance against disaster. Until the ugly headlines appear and the consequences are unavoidable, companies too often forget that they will suffer far more for ignoring their principled dissendents than by giving them a hearing (Bennis, 2004). See also Conflict management Dissent Dissenter Groupthink Human resources Succession planning Organizational communication Organizational conflict Organizational effectiveness Organizational learning Organizational studies Professional development Workplace democracy Notes References Bennis, W. (Jan 23, 2004). Truth or consequences. Center for Public Leadership. Retrieved September 22, 2007 from John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Web site Deutsch, M. & Coleman, P.T. (Eds.) (2000). The handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Eilerman, D. (February 2006). Conflict: Personal dynamics and choice. Retrieved September 17, 2007 Kassing, J.W. (2001). "From the look of things: Assessing perceptions of organizational dissenters." Communication Research, 21, 553–574. Macy, G. & Neal, J.C. (1995). "The impact of conflict-generating techniques on student reactions and decision quality." Business Communication Quarterly, 58:4, 39–45. Martin, B. (2005). "Bucking the system: Andrew Wilkie and the difficult task of the whistleblower." Overland, 180, 45–48. Perlow, L.A. (May 26, 2003). When silence spells trouble at work. Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. Retrieved September 20, 2007 from the Harvard Business School Web site Redding,