The influence of construal of self on internal auditors' judgments on whistle‐blowing: Evidence from China

Abstract

Our paper contributes to the audit literature by examining whether internal auditors' personal values measured by construal of self systematically influence their acceptance and likelihood of engaging in whistle‐blowing. China provides a particularly appropriate national context for our study because evidence shows that the traditional internal control systems have largely failed to achieve their objective of preventing wrongdoings. Internal auditors have been selected as subjects because of the importance placed on them by regulators and enterprises in designing and implementing whistle‐blowing systems. Construal of self has been selected for examination because it captures complex moral, cognitive processes experienced by individuals at both cultural and personality levels. This study develops and finds support for the hypotheses that, compared with independents, interdependent internal auditors are less accepting and less likely to engage in whistle‐blowing. The results also show the presence of “holier‐than‐thou” perception bias among internal auditors. The findings may benefit local and multinational enterprises, regulators, and researchers who are interested in designing and developing more compatible whistle‐blowing policies and procedures.

Mapping of internal audit research in China: A systematic literature review and future research agenda

“…In addition to that, the study clarified that internal audit is a kind of special control. As for recent studies, Zheng et al (2019) discussed the impact of the ethical values of auditors on their performance in terms of reporting irregularities, as it got some five citations within one year, perhaps because it was published in a specialised and highly rated journal and, therefore researchers tend to these journals. The remaining studies received a small number of citations despite the period in which these papers were published; such papers were also published in a journal specialised in auditing, but their impact among academics was weak.…”

Understanding ‘Motivation - Internal Control’ Relations in Municipalities

“… The number of formulative (5) anddescriptive papers (4) is very close.  The confirmatory papers - [7], [22]…”

“…That is why we have created a common database of papers called 'sample'. The sample of this study covers references [5] to [22]. Their usage to answer the RQs is explained in paragraphs 4 and 5 below.…”

“… The first model is in [13] by Frey et al The model proposes input control to be applied when public service tasks are complex. [5], [7], [9], [10], [11], [12], [14], [19], [ [14], [15], [16], [18], [19] 4 R e f e r e n c e [ 5 ] [ 7 ] 1.4Non-financial awards [13], [15], [19], [21] 5 [ 6 ] [ 8 ] 1.5Organizational culture [16], [21], [22] 6 [ 9 ] [11] 1.6Political pressure [5], [12], [14] 6 [10] [12] 1.7Promotion/ career [13], [16], [17], [19] 5 [15] [13] 1.8Reporting / whistleblowing [7], [8], [9], [16], [19], [22] 3 [20] [14] 2Professional principles [22] [16] 2.1Discipline [10], [11], [15] [8], [13],…”

Exploring the antecedents of internal auditors' voice in environmental issues: Implications from China

“…(Cascone et al, 2010; Moroney, Windsor, & Aw, 2012). Thus, internal auditors may provide important internal voice to educate management on external sustainability reporting guidelines or standards, advise organizations on environmental compliance analysis, identify emerging environmental risks, report wrongdoings, and communicate their concerns over environmental‐related issues (Clapham & Cooper, 2005; Peters & Romi, 2015; Soh & Martinov‐Bennie, 2015, 2018; Trotman & Trotman, 2015; Zheng, Patel, & Evans, 2019).…”