Whistleblowing system, Machiavellian personality, fraud intention

Abstract

PurposeThe objective of this study is: 1) to examine the effect of whistleblowing system and fraud intention, 2) the impact of Machiavellianism personality and fraud intention, 3) the interaction effect between whistleblowing system, Machiavellianism personality and fraud intention.Design/methodology/approachThis study carried out a 2 × 2 between-subjects true experimental research design, using the Web-based tool. The subjects were 75 accounting undergraduate students from seven universities in Indonesia who were enrolled for auditing courses.FindingsThis study shows that fraud intention increases with the absence of a whistleblowing system. This research also shows that higher Machiavellianism increases individual fraud intention.Research limitations/implicationsThe poor internet connection contributes to obstruction in accessing the experimental website. Few participants were required to repeat the completion of the experimental module.Practical implicationsThis study contributes to developing the whistleblowing system to mitigate fraud intention in organizations considering the personality trait of the individual.Social implicationsThis study suggests the importance of a better understanding of fraud mechanisms to enhance the awareness of the whistleblowing system.Originality/valueThis study uses the whistleblowing system as a proxy for an opportunity in the fraud triangle concept. There is limited empirical research conducted on examining the whistleblowing system to fraud intention and the interaction of Machiavellian personality and whistleblowing system to fraud intention.