ABSTRACT. Response to wrongdoing is modeled as a decision process in an organizational context. The model is grounded in theory of risk, ambiguity, and informational influences on decision making. Time pressure, inadequate information and coworker influ- ences are addressed. Along the way, a handful of propositions are provided which emphasize influences on the actual choice between response options. Wrongdoing, illegal, unethical or simply wasteful, is widespread in organizations and its costs to organizations and society in general are immense (Murphy, 1993). If not for individuals’ decisions to stop wrongdoing, society and members of organizations would be more vulnerable to fiduciary irresponsibility, waste of resources, damage to our environmental commons, and other forms of ethical, moral, and criminal misconduct. Unfortunately, as evidenced by many anecdotal reports, taking an active response to wrongdoing can be an emotional and risky decision (Keenan, 1991, 1995; Near and Miceli, 1990). Acting against wrongdoing may risk damage to relationships with co- workers, go against cultural beliefs about “telling on” others, and result in unexpected reactions from others who benefit from or participate in wrongdoing or who do not wish wrongdoing to be exposed. The anticipated tragedy that befalls the career of the whistleblower well explains “Deep Throat”’s decades of chosen anonymity (Perry, 1998). Despite increasing concern about wrongdoing in organizations, research is hindered by our limited understanding of what is a stressful and risk-laden decision and for which a comprehen- sive set of distinct response options is not well- defined. Several models addressing different ethical dilemmas in organizations have been con- structed (see discussions by Collins (1989); Ford and Richardson (1994); Forsyth (1980); Miceli and Near (1992). None of these has satisfied the need for a parsimonious yet comprehensive model of the decision process useful for guiding both research and practice. Our review of existing work suggests a need for a decision process model which emphasizes ambiguity and risk concerning organizational policies and culture, the wrongdoing and wrongdoers, and the consequences of responding. Several characteristics of decision making, the responder, and the phenomenon of wrong- doing in an organizational context must be incorporated in such a model if the model is to accurately predict actual behavior. To guide development of the model, several issues must be addressed. This model should not address only one response, such as whistleblowing, and should not assume every person, despite similar situa- tions, follows the same sequence of steps in the decision process such as those models which assume a whistleblower first tries to report wrongdoing procedurally, then goes outside the organization with his or her report. Individuals who perceive complicity in the wrongdoing among managers in the organization may imme- diately go outside the organization. The model should take the perspective of the responder. This individual processes information and makes behavioral choices. The needed model must recognize the process varies with the ethical philosophy of the responder and is not always guided by, for example, the greatest good for the greatest number of people as in an economically rational view. Also influencing the response Risk, Information, and the Decision about Response to David L. McLain Wrongdoing in an Organization John P. Keenan Journal of Business Ethics 19: 255–271, 1999. © 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.