Middle management versus top management: How to enhance the whistleblowing mechanism for detecting corruption and political connection. A case of international donor funds in Tunisia

Purpose The purpose of this study is to offer an academic and a practical background comprehension of the relationship between "middle managers at the intermediate management level" and "top managers" and to shed light on their shared mission goals in enhancing whistleblowing managerial mechanisms and detecting fraud. Design/Methodology We conducted an empirical approach to examine 55 semi-structured interviews, by telephone or face-to-face, in a mutually agreed setting, mostly in the offices of three donor funds acting in Tunisia, which are the African Development Bank (ADB), The United Nation Development Program (UNDP) and the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ), and in the Anti-Corruption Agency. The data collection has been described through the participants' experiences of whistleblowing. Consistent with narrative inquiry, temporality, meaning and the social aspects of whistleblowing, the process was explored during the interviews, and the collected verbatim data has been analysed through themes from the literature background. Findings We conceive, therefore, that intermediate management, considering its proximity to the bottom of the organisational hierarchy, and their benefits from a more flexible posture which is in line with the strategies implemented by the organisation. In this regard, senior managers or "top managers" are involved in dogmatic interventions without succeeding in imposing them in the daily practice of the organisation. Originality/Value Our study provides a useful addition to the debate. It draws upon the political connection impact of top managers' focal points and highlights the concept of resilience as the "intermediate management" ability to fundamentally create a new improved system when ecological and social structures make the existing system unsustainable.