Investigating the Factors Affecting the Whistle-blowing Intentions Using the Fraud Triangle and the Theory of Planned Behavior: An Accountant's Perspective (original) (raw)
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International Journal of Applied Statistics and Econometrics, 2018
Organizational wrongdoing incidences have been widely spread throughout the business world. Accounting professionals are the key human resources who find evidence of wrongdoing in firms and have the opportunity to report it. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the perception by accounting professionals concerning valid predictors for whistle-blowing and their preferences in doing so. Using the survey method, 177 responses were collected from Turkish accounting professionals. A partial least square structural equation model was constructed to test both the reliability and validity of the measurement and the structural model. The results showed that the 'ethics and professional benefit' and 'corporate benefit' dimensions of whistle-blowing predictors have significant positive impact on 'internal whistle-blowing'. However, the accountants' perceptions of 'fear of retaliation' and 'corporate benefit' as whistle-blowing predictors have positive influence on 'anonymous whistle-blowing'. Finally, while perception of the accountants about 'fear of retaliation' has a positive relationship for deciding to not blow the whistle, the accountant professionals who have more 'corporate benefit' whistle-blowing perception have less propensity to not blow the whistle.
A study of accountants' whistle-blowing intention: evidence from Iran
The present research is aimed at identifying the most important variables affecting whistle-blowing and prioritise them in the intention of internal reporting of frauds in the financial statements by accountants. For this purpose, the effect of organisational justice, attitude toward whistle-blowing, personal cost of reporting, proactive personality traits, religiosity and moral intensity are studied. This research is based on a survey research and the statistical population of the study consists of the accountants of the 400 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange in 2015. The hypotheses were tested using OLS regression and the results indicate that among preceding factors, only organisational justice, attitude toward whistle-blowing, religiosity and moral intensity have positive and significant effects on the intention of reporting fraud. The results of prioritising effective factors of whistle-blowing intentions show that organisational justice, religiosity and then gender have the most impact on the intention to whistle-blow in financial statements.
Towards a conceptual model of whistleblowing intentions among external auditors
Whistle-blowing has received considerable attention in the ethics literature. However, following the collapse of Arthur Andersen in the Enron debacle, whistle-blowing within audit firms has taken on greater importance. Given the profession's requirements to be confidential, independent and to act in the public interest (e.g. Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 2002), there is a need for a model that is specific to the audit profession (e.g. Louwers, Ponemon, & Radtke, 1997), and in particular, that addresses auditors' whistle-blowing intentions. This paper presents a conceptual model on whistle-blowing intentions among external auditors where an auditor's individual factors (attitudes toward whistle-blowing, perceived behavioural control, independence commitment, personal responsibility for reporting and personal cost of reporting) have a direct influence on his or her intentions to whistle-blow, but are moderated by isomorphic factors (perceived organisational support and team norms) and issue-specific factors (perceived moral intensity). Using justice and institutional theories, the proposed model anticipates that whistle-blowing within an audit firm produces both positive and negative consequences to society, the audit firm and the individual whistle-blower. However, where audit firms have adequate formal supporting mechanisms for reporting wrongdoings to internal and external parties, the negative effects and personal costs of reporting will be minimised.
The Influence of the Characteristics of Whistleblower to Whistleblowing Intentions
Journal of Accounting and Strategic Finance
Auditors have an important role both for companies and other parties who rely on audited financial information to make decisions. Cases involving the Public Accountant Firm (PAF) raise doubts about the auditor's performance. Therefore, efforts that can be made to increase that trust are by whistleblowing action, but it is not an easy action. The characteristics of whistleblower factors that influence a person's intention to conduct whistleblowing are attitudes toward behavior, subjective norms, perceptions of behavioral control, and commitment of professional. This study uses the Theory of Planned Behavior concept as a theoretical basis. The purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence about the effect of attitudes toward behavior, subjective norms, perceptions of behavioral control, and the auditor's professional commitment to whistleblowing intentions. The study was conducted using primary data. The respondents in this study are an auditor who works in PAF in...
Determinant of internal auditor’s intention to perform whistleblowing: a proposed model
2019
So many years passed after SOX, fraud in corporation does not show a significant decrease, and only 7 percent of the cases were revealed through a whistleblowing system. BPR is an organization that have a significant weakness in fraud. This paper aims to formulate a research model related to the determination of the intention of internal auditors at BPR to take whistleblowing actions. The model proposed in this paper is derived from Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Cognitif Theory. Variables used in this model are attitude, social norm, perceived behavioural control, self efficacy, and outcome expectation. This research is expected to make a theoretical, scientific, insightful, and literary contribution related to the factors that influence the intention of an internal auditor at BPR to conduct whistleblowing in terms of the TPB and SCT model.
The paper explores the ethical behavior of internal auditors in predicting their reporting behavior towards corporate fraud. Specifically, the objective of this study is to present a conceptual model on internal auditors’ reporting intentions behaviour that may affect their individual factors (locus of control, job satisfaction, trust in management and proactive personality) and whether their decisions are affected by certain types of corporate fraud (financial statement fraud or theft). Due to the seriousness of corporate fraud to various organizational stakeholders, it is important to increase the understanding on the behavioral intentions of internal auditors to report about fraud to their management. Future study would like to utilize hypothetical situations in examining issues related to internal auditors’ intentions in reporting these two types of fraud. It is hope that the outcome of this future study would aid researchers in understanding the determinants of internal auditors’ ethical behaviour in reporting corporate fraud within their organizations.
How do Accounting Professionals Perceive Whistleblowing Reasons and Whistleblowing Preferences
Incidences of organizational wrongdoing have been widely spread throughout the business world. Accounting professionals are the key human resources who find evidence of wrongdoing in firms and have the opportunity to report it. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the perception by accounting professionals concerning valid reasons for whistleblowing and their preferences in doing so. Using the survey method, 177 responses were collected from Turkish accounting professionals. A partial least square structural equation model was constructed to test both the reliability and validity of the measurement and the structural model. The results showed that the 'fear of retaliation' dimension has a significant negative influence on 'external whistleblowing' but has a positive influence on 'anonymous whistleblowing'. The accountants' perceptions of 'fear of retaliation' also has a positive relationship for deciding to not blow the whistle. However, thereasons for 'corporate benefit' whistleblowing have a positive effect on both 'anonymous whistleblowing' and 'internal whistleblowing'. They also have a negative impact on the reasons that accounting professionalspreferto not blow the whistle. Finally, the 'ethics and professional benefit' dimension of reasons for whistleblowing only has a significant positive impact on 'internal whistleblowing'.