Validating an Organizational Whistleblowing Model in Industrial and Mining Companies: The Serial Mediating Role of Channel Trust and Handling Quality

Abstract

This study aimed to validate an organizational whistleblowing model in industrial and mining companies and examine the serial mediating roles of channel trust and effectiveness and handling quality and feedback in explaining whistleblowing system effectiveness. This applied, descriptive–correlational survey employed partial least squares structural equation modeling. The study population comprised employees of industrial and mining companies located in the industrial estates of Kerman Province, Iran, of whom 250 were selected through stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a researcher-developed 47-item questionnaire covering seven constructs derived from the grounded theory phase of the same research project. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 27 and SmartPLS 3, with PLS-SEM and 5,000 bootstrap subsamples used to estimate and test the structural relationships. All seven direct structural paths were positive and statistically significant. Anti-retaliation security and support (β=0.264), responsible orientation (β=0.245), identity protection and anonymity (β=0.209), and supportive culture and responsive management (β=0.197) significantly predicted channel trust and effectiveness. Channel trust significantly predicted handling quality and feedback (β=0.466), while handling quality and feedback significantly predicted system effectiveness and corrective outcomes (β=0.494). Supportive culture also had a significant direct effect on system effectiveness (β=0.219). All serial indirect effects were statistically significant, including the indirect effect of channel trust on system effectiveness through handling quality (β=0.230). The model explained 36.0% of the variance in channel trust, 21.7% in handling quality, and 33.0% in system effectiveness, while the model SRMR was 0.048. An effective organizational whistleblowing system depends on a sequential mechanism in which identity protection, anti-retaliation security, responsible reporting orientation, and a supportive organizational culture first strengthen trust in the reporting channel, which subsequently facilitates high-quality handling and visible feedback and ultimately produces corrective organizational outcomes. Accordingly, handling quality and feedback constitute the central operational link through which protective and cultural conditions are transformed into an effective whistleblowing system.