Abstract
Organizations must constantly try to prevent losses resulting from unforeseen events and fraud. Whistleblowing has emerged as the most efficient mechanism for detecting such risks, but this phenomenon has not yet been studied in SMEs. This research seeks to analyze the relationships between attitudinal, normative, and control beliefs on the whistleblowing of accounting professionals, contrasting the behavior between small and large accounting firms from the perspective of the Theory of Planned Behavior. By using the structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method on a sample of 559 Brazilian accounting professionals, the analysis shows that an individual’s perceptions and characteristics influence their whistleblowing practices depending on firm size. SME accountants are directly and negatively influenced by family management and control beliefs, but are positively influenced by the moderation of attitudinal beliefs and by the risks of the scenario.
Publisher
Asociacion Espanola de Contabilidad y Administracion de Empresas (AECA)
Reference78 articles.
1. ACFE (2022). Occupational fraud 2022: A report to the nations. Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. https://acfepublic.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/2022 Report to the Nations.pdf
2. Ajzen, I. (2016). TPB questionnaire construction constructing: A theory of planned behaviour questionnaire. https://people.umass.edu/aizen/pdf/tpb.measurement.pdf
3. Ajzen, I. (2002). Perceived behavioral control, self‐efficacy, locus of control, and the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32(4), 665–683. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2002.tb00236.x
4. Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
5. Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Prentice-Hall