Title: Accountants' whistle-blowing intentions: the impact of affective organisational commitment

Authors: M. Sait Dinc; Cemil Kuzey; Ali Haydar Gungormus; Bedia Atalay

Addresses: Department of Management, International Burch University, Francuske revolucije bb. Ilidža 71210, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina ' Computer Science and Information Systems, Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business, Murray State University, Murray, KY 42071, USA ' Francuske revolucije bb. Ilidža, Sarajevo, 71210, Bosnia and Herzegovina ' Francuske revolucije bb. Ilidža, Sarajevo, 71210, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract: Incidences of organisational 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 affective organisational commitment of accountants and their whistle-blowing preferences. Using the survey method, 177 responses were collected from Turkish accountants. 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 accountants with higher affective organisational commitment are more likely to prefer 'whistle-blowing toward internal structures' to remain silent. Furthermore, it found a strong relationship between 'whistle-blowing toward outside agencies' and 'whistle-blowing with an assumed name'. On the other hand, the study found a negative relationship between affective organisational commitment and 'whistle-blowing with an assumed name' and 'whistle-blowing toward outside agencies'.

Keywords: organisational commitment; whistle-blowing; whistle-blowing modes; affective commitment; accounting professionals; PLS-SEM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBGE.2018.095410

International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2018 Vol.13 No.1, pp.15 - 32

Received: 03 Mar 2018
Accepted: 22 Jun 2018
Published online: 03 Oct 2018 *

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