There are many reasons why an employee chooses to expose wrongdoing in their organisation and culture change is required to make whistleblowing less of a taboo. This issue was addressed in my recent article on RTEs Brainstorm

The article was informed by a range of research in this area including the following:
European Data Protection Supervisor. (2016). Guidelines on processing personal information. EDPS, (July), 15 pages.
Lewis, D. B. (2011). Whistleblowing and data protection principles: is the road to reconciliation really that rocky? European Journal of Law and Technology, 2(11).
Lowry, P. B., Moody, G. D., Galletta, D. F., & Vance, A. (2013). The Drivers in the Use of Online Whistle-Blowing Reporting Systems. Journal of Management Information Systems, 30(1), 153–190.
Miceli, M. P., & Near, J. P. (1988). Individual and Situational Correlates of Whistle-Blowing. Personnel Psychology, 41(2), 267–281.
Miceli, M. P., Near, J. P., Rehg, M. T., & Van Scotter, J. R. (2012). Predicting employee reactions to perceived organizational wrongdoing: Demoralization, justice, proactive personality, and whistle-blowing. Human Relations, 65(8), 923–954.
Miceli, M. P., Near, J. P., & Schwenk, C. R. (1991). Who blows the whistle and why. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 45, 113–130.
Near, J. P., & Miceli, M. P. (1996). Near Miceli Whistleblowing Myth and Reality.pdf. Journal of Management, 22(3), 507–526.
Protected Disclosures Act 2014 (No 14 of 2014).
Rehg, M., Miceli, M., Near, J., & Scotter, J. Van. (2008). Antecedents and outcomes of retaliation against whistleblowers: Gender differences and power relationships. Organization Science.