The developing of auditors' whistleblowing by using grounded theory

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD student Department of Accounting, Khorramshahr-Persian Gulf International Branch, Islamic Azad University, khorramshahr, Iran

2 Assistant professor Department of Accounting, Masjed-Soleiman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Masjed-Soleiman, Iran

3 Assistant professor, Department of Accounting, Abadan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Abadan, Iran.

4 Department of Management & amp; Accounting, Farabi Campus University of Tehran, Qom, Iran

Abstract

In view of the spread of financial corruption in various spheres, auditors' whistleblowing has been pro-posed as a instrument to prevent and combat financial corruption in different countries, but so far in Iran there is no coherent model for this issue. Therefore, in this study, an attempt has been made to design an auditor whistleblowing model based on the Grounded theory. For this purpose, in 2020, using snow-ball sampling method with 18 specialized faculty members, partners of auditing firms, managers of the auditing organization and Iranian Society Certified Public Accountants who have expertise and experi-ence in the auditing, In-depth interviews were conducted up to the suffusion stage. Research data were analyzed using coding method and the main categories and concepts were extracted. The results showed that the most important causal conditions that can be effective in auditors' whistleblowing are governance structure, governing laws, professional structure and characteristics of the auditing profession. Al-so, the research findings showed that in order to achieve the auditors' whistleblowing, strategies such as professional structure reform, oversight structure reform, infrastructure reform and the education quality and modernity (use of new technologies) should be adopted. Finally, the research model showed that auditors' whistleblowing can have consequences such as promoting profession, reducing financial corruption, increasing transparency and quality of reporting, economic system dynamic, agility the auditing profession structure, passing the auditors' protection law, IT entry and accountee and accountability.

Keywords

References

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Empirical Research in Accounting
Volume 12, Issue 3 - Serial Number 45
September 2022
Pages 161-180

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History

  • Receive Date: 02 March 2021
  • Revise Date: 14 August 2021
  • Accept Date: 11 August 2021

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