Philosophical understanding of the dynamics and control of occupational fraud in the public sector: contingency analysis

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to examine the roles of organisational control, structure, culture and technology in preventing occupational fraud. This study is essential in the current time. It brings a significant impact on both theory and practice. In the existing studies, there is a lack of clarity on a specific mechanism to prevent organisational fraud. The problem is that they tend to generalise the types of organisational fraud. Conceptually, organisational fraud may include corruption, double funding, asset misappropriation, bribery or falsification of documents. However, many scholars tend to neglect such diversities. Consequently, many occupational fraud cases become unstoppable, particularly corruption. To deal with this topical issue, the current study applies the term “occupational fraud” cited by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, consisting of corruption, asset misappropriation and fraudulent financial statement.Design/methodology/approachThis study surveyed three Indonesian Local Governments. This study focussed on management levels that have strong power for coordinating governmental activities. The author chose these local governments because their local leaders (the regents) were jailed due to corruption scandals. As expected, this study gives us different perceptions of how fraud mitigation should be designed in the organisation.FindingsThe results suggest that corruption is a little bit complex than other types of occupational fraud. It is improbable to be prevented through technological and administrative approaches. As such, organisations need to think of extra efforts that could perfectly tailor the organisational control and organisational culture, organisational structure and technological advancement. The benefit of this effort is related to diagnosing the fit or misfit of organisation designs in addressing the dynamic dimensions of corporate governance. Then, it can also strengthen the efficacy of preventive measures to deal with occupational fraud.Originality/valueThis study provides a provocative discussion regarding the public perception of occupational fraud, consisting of corruption, asset misappropriation and financial statement fraud. And this study also offers a new refined conceptual analysis of how to deal with such types of occupational fraud by incorporating contingency theory and the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO’s) internal control components.