Retaliatory effect on whistle blowing intentions: a study of Indian employees

Abstract

Purpose This paper attempts to find the essence of whistleblowing in organizational structures, to reflect on whistleblowing mechanism and the perception of whistleblowing in the working class of a country. Whistleblowing is exhibited as one of the quintessential elements of corporate governance to prevent or detect inundating corporate frauds. This study examines the whistleblowing intentions and its precursors with the knowledge of repercussions, in context of Indian employees. Design/methodology/approach Primary data has been analysed herein using a structured questionnaire from 396 Indian employees of public and private sector companies of India using, multiple regression analysis. Findings It provides evidence that personal factors like organizational commitment, locus of control impact whistleblowing intentions vary by the type of fraud the employee encounters. The study presents a case for variation of considerable extent in non-financial fraud and financial fraud. Further, the kind of organization the employee is working in is an essential antecedent for whistleblowing behaviour of an employee. It highlights higher the perceived power or status held by the wrongdoer; higher would be an employee’s intentions to blow the whistle against him. Practical implications It would help managers in developing an environment which would encourage the employees by creating a self-check mechanism in the organization for improved conduct and better corporate governance. The shreds of evidence show that locus of control plays a vital role in moderating the impact of other antecedents on whistleblowing intentions of the employees. Originality/value Organization’s expectation from the employees to blow the whistle against wrong doing also makes the organization responsible for protecting the employee from the retaliation, which could follow after the act of whistleblowing. Also, prompts for imbibing ethical conduct throughout the organizational hierarchy.

Analysis of Whistleblower beliefs in Latin America

“…For managers, including internal auditing, compliance and controllership, it is relevant to know the beliefs of individuals in order to outline the most appropriate whistleblower channels, define compliance processes that contemplate the expectations of employees, in addition to establishing the controls and mechanisms that encourage whistleblower practices (Ciasullo et al, 2017;Kanojia et al, 2020;Said et al, 2017). In the criminal investigation process, the research findings contribute by presenting subsidies for investigators in the conduct of witnesses and potential whistleblowers (Alexander, 2004;Teichmann, 2018;Yakubu & Dikwa, 2020).…”

Whistleblowing by accountants: an integration of the fraud pentagon and the extended theory of planned behavior

“…Furthermore, self-efficacy may have relations to the internal locus of control, which proposes that internal locus of control’s may see whistleblowing as a step they must take to control an activity they cannot sanction (Near and Miceli, 1985). An individual who has an internal locus of control “believes in self and is guided by self-control and beliefs” (Kanojia et al , 2020). Curtis and Taylor (2009) found that auditors are more likely to report when they have an internal locus of control.…”

“…Curtis and Taylor (2009) found that auditors are more likely to report when they have an internal locus of control. Kanojia et al (2020) provided evidence of the effect of internal locus of control on WBI. Their findings suggest that WBI with the knowledge of retaliatory effects are primarily encouraged in individuals possessing internal locus of control because such people are not easily influenced by external forces but by their own credence.…”

Corporate Governance and Forensic Accounting: A Systematic Literature Review

“…With respect to our objectives of this review paper, we find that in the select literature various characteristics of corporate governance, rules and regulations directly or indirectly relate to the corporate frauds, misgovernance and mis-statement in the financial reporting of the corporations and barring a very few papers, there is lack of research on the advent/usage/usefulness of the forensic accounting or any fraud detection technique other than whistleblowing (Kanojia, et al, 2020;Rezaee, 2005). In-spite of valuable contributions provided by forensic accounting towards the prevention and detection of corporate frauds there are not much literature available on selected database related to corporate governance and forensic accounting which states that it should be the part of corporate routine exercise or can be added in the curriculum of the education system except a few (Bhasin, 2016;Dutta et.…”