Are not-for-profit employees more willing (or likely) to be whistleblowers?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether intention to report fraud varies by organization type or fraud type. Employees who self-select into not-for-profits may be inherently different from employees at other organizations. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct a 2 × 2 experiment in which (n=107) individuals with a bookkeeping or accounting background respond to a fraud scenario. Analysis of covariance models are used for data analysis. Findings The authors find evidence that not-for-profit employees are more likely to report fraud and that reporting intention does not differ significantly by fraud type. Research limitations/implications Limitations of this study include the simulation of a fraud through a hypothetical incident and the use of online participants. Practical implications This study expands the commitment literature by examining the role that commitment plays in the judgment and decision-making process of a whistleblower. Findings suggest affective commitment, which is an employee’s emotional attachment to the organization, and mediate the path between organization type and reporting intention. Affective commitment significantly predicts whistleblowing in not-for-profit organizations but not in for-profit organizations. Originality/value This research provides insight into how organization type influences whistleblowing intentions through constructs such as organizational commitment and public service motivation.

Snitches Get Stitches and End Up in Ditches: A Systematic Review of the Factors Associated With Whistleblowing Intentions

“…All 14 of these studies found a positive relationship between the severity of the wrongdoing and whistleblowing intentions. The type of wrongdoing was positively associated with whistleblowing intentions in four studies (Lee et al, 2004;Somers and Casal, 2011;Brink et al, 2017;Taylor, 2019), although Scheetz and Wilson (2019) found that all types of wrongdoing were positively associated with whistleblowing among not-for-profit employees. Six studies (Brooks and Perot, 1991;Lee et al, 2004;Rothwell and Baldwin, 2006;Grube et al, 2010;Lyndon et al, 2012) examined the extent to which the frequency of wrongdoing was linked to whistleblowing intentions.…”

The Urgency of Rationalization for Unethical Behavior and Accounting Fraud

“…Rationalization is an important com ponent of many cheating. Rezaee & Wang (2019) and Scheetz & Wilson (2019) state that rationalization is an important compo nent in many frauds. Accounting Fraud oc curs because of a contributing factor, namely rationalization (Trompeter et al, 2014).…”

“…Accounting fraud occurs due to bad habits. Bad habits that are intended to be associated with gambling, drugs, alcohol, and expensive items are negative in nature (Rezaee & Wang, 2019;Scheetz & Wilson, 2019). These bad habits encourage someone to commit an unethical action or behaviour.…”

“…Rezaee & Wang (2019) and Scheetz & Wilson (2019) state that there is always ra tionalization before cheating or crime takes place. The perpetrators always perceive or justify cheating before doing it and rational ization, is closely related to ethics and mo rals.…”

The impact of relative CEO compensation on not-for-profit contributions

“…We contend that disclosure transparency, will provide positive signals about CEO and NFP organization integrity and trustworthiness that will reap long-term reputational benefits. Recent research also suggests that ethical behavior is also especially important to NFP employees (Scheetz and Wilson, 2019), so transparent reporting should enhance the internal ethical environment as well.…”