Role of Connectors in Corporate Fraud and Corruptions in Era of Circular Economy

Abstract

This paper examines the role of connectors in a fraud and corruption-prone environment of the circular economy. A qualitative approach and critical perspective were adopted. In the same line of thought, this study drew on narratives of fraud experiences from the Criminalistica Symposium between 2017 and 2022, as well as interviews with forensic accountants, auditing experts, and police investigators, to foment discourse analysis derived from Machiavellian theory. Thematic coding was selected for the presentation of results. Our findings lead us to the conclusion that there are five identified connector roles in an organization. The connectors have the role of mainly influencing acts of corporate fraud and corruption, which have the characteristics of a double-edged sword. Connectors serve as team motivators and sometimes as manipulators, and they also have the role of spearheading negotiations in tumultuous times of employee disorder and employers’ disagreements, almost leading to uneasy truces. Additionally, in a bid to perpetrate fraud, the connector assists in the role of overriding controls. Inasmuch as it bears the trait of acting as an agent of knowledge building by facilitating learning and communication in organizations in a CE environment, this study contributes to the literature showing various roles of connectors in fraud schemes. Finally, bearing the originality, understanding the role of connectors in circular economy fraud and corruption schemes clarifies our path to expected wellbeing in the concept of sustainability in our ways of life in the coming decades attuned to policymakers and regulators.