Accounting professionals and whistleblowing: a typology of the influence of institutional logics

Ayres, Rosângela Mesquita; Sauerbronn, Fernanda Filgueiras; Fonseca, Ana Carolina Pimentel Duarte da

doi:10.1590/1808-057x202112830

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Revista Contabilidade & Finanças

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Original Article • Rev. contab. finanç. 33 (89) • May-Aug 2022 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1808-057x202112830 copy

Accounting professionals and whistleblowing: a typology of the influence of institutional logics

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

The main objective of this article is to understand how institutional logics (ILs) - family, religion, community, state, profession, organization, and capital and labor market - influence (or not) the Brazilian accounting professional in their intention to report irregularities. The study helps fill an epistemic gap by using the theory of ILs to comprehensively understand the professional in their world, in contrast with the whistleblowing studies that are generally based on behavioral theories. Most of those studies are quantitative, using the vignette technique (elaborated by researchers), which highlights the relevance of this paper, as it chooses to allow the accountants to reflect on the phenomenon and elaborate explanations for their actions and the dimensions that surround them. The main contribution lies in the theoretical advancement in accounting by extending the classic whistleblowing model, in order to socioinstitutionally recognize the individual’s reflection process (at the micro level) and the structuring elements (macro and meso levels) involved. In methodological terms, the study is qualitative and interpretative, based on content analysis (CA) through the lens of the hermeneutic circle. Standing out among the results are: (a) a typology of the influence of ILs on the accounting professional’s intention to report irregularities; (b) the differentiation of influences that favor whistleblowing or lead to the avoidance of it according to various logics; and (c) discussions about the premises that greater protection and support for the whistleblower would favor whistleblowing or, in contrast, that recognition and financial reward would be considered as factors that would not favor whistleblowing, among other aspects. The impact and applicability of the study derive from an alternative approach in epistemic-methodological terms, enabling an understanding of the socioinstitutional structure that influences whistleblowing intentions, thus allowing for the construction of mechanisms that increase the potential for whistleblowing.

Keywords:
financial accounting; accounting professional; whistleblowing; institutional logics

Citation	Objective	Sample	Main results
Sousa et al. (2013Sousa, R. G., Vasconcelos, A. F., Antunes, G. A., & Silva, J. D. (2013). Fraudes contábeis e whistleblowing: uma pesquisa empírica sobre a influência da percepção contábil do delatante. Revista Universo Contábil, 9(3), 128-142. )	To identify whether employees with a better accounting understanding are more likely to report accounting frauds	342 accounting professionals/students	Possible relationship between a better accounting understanding and the propensity for whistleblowing
Fajardo and Cardoso (2014bFajardo, B. A. G., & Cardoso, R. L. (2014b). Faça o que digo, não faça o que eu faço: como aspectos individuais e relacionais influenciam as denúncias de fraudes organizacionais. Contabilidade, Gestão e Governança, 17(1), 115-133.)	To identify influences of individual and relational aspects on whistleblowing intentions	124 accountants from private national micro and small enterprises	Indicates the dual nature of the social influence on the individual’s ethical behavior revealed by their intention to report observed organizational frauds
Fajardo and Cardoso (2014aFajardo, B. A. G., & Cardoso, R. L. (2014a). A ocasião faz a denúncia? Uma abordagem multinível para os contabilistas brasileiros. Brazilian Business Review, 11(5), 25-50. )	To evaluate the perceptions of accounting professionals in daily behavior	124 accountants from national micro/small enterprises	To results show the importance of situational aspects as a positive influence in favor of whistleblowing
Vasconcelos (2015Vasconcelos, A. F. (2015). Influência do julgamento ético, lócus de controle, clima ético organizacional e materialidade do delito sobre as intenções de whistleblowing dos auditores internos no Brasil [Doctoral Thesis]. Universidade da Bahia.)	To identify the influence of factors over whistleblowing intentions	424 internal auditors from Brazil	On internal whistleblowing, materiality and locus of control; on external whistleblowing, materiality.
Ayres et al. (2018Ayres, R. M., Sauerbronn, F. F., Fonseca, A. C., & Nascimento, J. C. (2018). O profissional de contabilidade e o mecanismo de denúncia em um contexto de LAC e de NOCLAR: análise comparativa de estudos internacionais e nacionais. Ambiente Contábil, 10(2), 68-90. )	International and national academic studies (state of the art)	8 international studies and 3 national ones	Incipient development of the research in Brazil; opportunity for in-depth and comprehensive studies.
Weffort et al. (2018Weffort, E. F., Milan, J. C., & Gonçalves, R. (2018). O contador amedrontado: um estudo sobre fraude e whistleblowing. In Anais do Encontro Nacional da Associação Nacional de Pós- Graduação em Administração - EnANPAD (p. 1). )	Relationship between “fear” and willingness to engage in whistleblowing	332 subjects	Fear of “being disloyal to the company” and of “disapproval of family and friends”

Main criticisms	Main arguments in defense
It is a tautological theory: it includes multiple concepts, analysis levels, institutions, orders, and logics, including cultural symbols and material practices.	The world is tautological. ILs are a relational approach of paths of practice that unite people and objects. The analytical objectives of ILs are observable, intersubjective, and conceptually marked totalities whose realities are inherent to the co-constitutive relationships between their elements, and not to the net effects of variables as attributes of entities - individuals, organizations, or groups.
Everything is institutional: the meaning of institution is vague.	The institutional is a vast domain referring to the regularities that cannot be adequately explained by theories of this analysis level. As it is indefinite and marginal in the intellectual landscape, the institutional appears as a possible alternative portal to enter into the high-risk game of representing the social world.
Absence of power: power is a marginal constitutive element of institutional meanings.	ILs, as Foucault argues, are themselves powers. The IL vision in fact covers power, not as a decision, nor structure, but as a systemic grammar of practice. So, it presents uncomfortable problems regarding how we conceptualize power, evaluating the different distributive consequences of different ILs and the ways these distributions are politicized or not in questions or the formation of groups, possibly forming part of the trajectories of those logics or not, and the way they contract or expand, transforming into new logics as they are reproduced, providing openings through which favored or non-favored groups defend or challenge their own operation. Therefore, a comprehensive agenda is built.
It is not a critical theory.	Bruno Latour, for example, a researcher of critical theory and one of the people responsible for developing the actor-network theory, was an emphatic critic of the TIL. Currently, it is believed to be relevant for understanding this complex world we live in, even defending the need to focus on institutional multiculturalism (Latour, 2018Latour, B. (2018). Down to Earth: Politics in the new climatic regime. John Wiley & Sons.), with it being necessary to rethink power, value, and the institution, as well as comparative grammars, values, and truth tests, in the political forms in which these form, deform, and reform as habitable constellations.

Presentation of the research	Detailed presentation of the research
Part 1 Personal profile	1.1 Indicate your age in full years. 1.2. Indicate the gender with which you most identify. 1.3. Indicate the highest educational level you reached in the accounting area between technical and graduate levels. 1.4. Indicate the highest title you acquired in the accounting area. 1.5. In which state (UF) have you worked the longest as an accounting professional? 1.6. How many years have you been an accounting professional (technician/accountant)?
Part 2 Research: general questions	2.1. In general, what would influence the accounting professional’s intention to ENGAGE IN or NOT ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities discovered while exercising the profession? 2.2. Do you know of any case in which an accounting professional intended to report or reported some irregularity they discovered as a result of carrying out their professional activities? Comment.
Part 3 Research: intentions to ENGAGE IN or NOT ENGAGE IN whistleblowing	3.1. How do you understand that the elements related to FAMILY (e.g. relationship with parents, children, partners, relatives) influence the accounting professional in relation to intentions to ENGAGE IN or NOT ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities they discover as a result of carrying out their professional activities? 3.2. How do you understand that the elements related to RELIGION (e.g. faith, dogmas, religious ethics) influence the accounting professional in relation to intentions to ENGAGE IN or NOT ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities they discover as a result of carrying out their professional activities? 3.3. How do you understand that the elements related to COMMUNITY (e.g. groups, clubs, associations, neighborhood, friends) influence the accounting professional in relation to intentions to ENGAGE IN or NOT ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities they discover as a result of carrying out their professional activities? 3.4. How do you understand that the elements related to the STATE (e.g. government actions and legislations) influence the accounting professional in relation to intentions to ENGAGE IN or NOT ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities they discover as a result of carrying out their professional activities? 3.5. How do you understand that the elements related to the PROFESSION (e.g. actions and norms of entities, associations, and professional bodies) influence the accounting professional in relation to intentions to ENGAGE IN or NOT ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities they discover as a result of carrying out their professional activities? 3.6. How do you understand that the elements related to ORGANIZATIONS (e.g. norms, standards, and culture of the company) influence the accounting professional in relation to intentions to ENGAGE IN or NOT ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities they discover as a result of carrying out their professional activities? 3.7. How do you understand that the elements related to the CAPITAL MARKET (e.g. regulatory/monitoring bodies, benefits/losses for shareholders etc.) influence the accounting professional in relation to intentions to ENGAGE IN or NOT ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities they discover as a result of carrying out their professional activities? 3.8. How do you understand that the elements related to the LABOR MARKET (e.g. employment opportunities, relationships with employers or headhunters, or possible benefits or losses for the whistleblower) influence the accounting professional in relation to intentions to ENGAGE IN or NOT ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities they discover as a result of carrying out their professional activities?
Part 4 Research: logic with the greatest influence	4.1. Considering your previous answers, which logic, among family, religion, community, state, profession, organization, capital market, and labor market, do you believe has the GREATEST influence on the accounting professional’s intention to ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities discovered as a result of exercising the profession? Why? 4.2. Considering your previous answers, which logic, among family, religion, community, state, profession, organization, capital market, and labor market, do you believe has the GREATEST influence on the accounting professional’s intention to NOT ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities discovered as a result of exercising the profession? Why?
Part 5 Research: protection, recognition, professional entity, reward	5.1. Do you believe that the existence of greater PROTECTION for the whistleblower (e.g. the creation of protective rules and legislation) would favor the accounting professional’s intention to ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities discovered as a result of exercising the profession? Please comment. 5.2. Do you believe that the existence of RECOGNITION for engaging in whistleblowing (e.g. praise, public recognition) would favor the accounting professional’s intention to ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities discovered as a result of exercising the profession? Please comment. 5.3. Do you believe that the existence of SUPPORT from the entities and bodies related to the profession (e.g. CFC, CRC, associations, union) would favor the accounting professional’s intention to ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities discovered as a result of exercising the profession? Please comment. 5.4. Do you believe that receiving a financial REWARD (e.g. receiving money for whistleblowing) would favor the accounting professional’s intention to ENGAGE IN whistleblowing regarding irregularities discovered as a result of exercising the profession? Please comment.
Part 6 End	6.1. Is there anything else you would like to record? Please, record your impressions, suggestions, or additional comments.

Category: institutional logic	Subcategory: influence	Subcategory: sense
Family, religion, community, state, profession organization, capital market, labor market	No answer
	No influence
	Influence	Positive (+) / Engagement
		Negative (-) / Avoidance
		Positive/Negative (+/-) or Engagement/Avoidance

	Institutional logic and nature of the influence
	Family	Religion	Community	State	Profession	Organization	Capital Market	Labor Market
Engagement (+)	Ethical training (family of origin); ethical development (constituted family); serving as an ethical example to the family; ethical legacy (children); family support (agreement); reception (after the whistleblowing); partner’s approval.	(Moral ) behavior; religious belief, divine judgement (non-whistleblower); exposure of sin; religious practice (practicing); feeling of “benefactor”; feeling of justice.	Fear of being judged; ethical and moral training; even if a member.	Clarifying actions; anonymity; common good; whistleblowing channel; instruments of social control; contributing to the country’s development; economic use of public resources; institutions strengthened; public transparency.	Record and professional integrity; anonymity; whistleblowing channel; normative obligation; clear rules; support for the whistleblower; disclosure of the results of investigations; interest in the illegal exercising of the profession.	Whistleblowing channel; anonymity; organizational ethics and morals; effective whistleblowing; mechanisms of control; compromising results; enforcement; the group’s ethical level; organizational losses.	Ethical environment; whistleblowing conditions; transparency; anonymity; whistleblowing channel; compliance; credibility of the profession; enforcement; incentive for ethical conduct; misuse of rules; clear rules; regulation; value given to the ethical professional and organization.	Ethical level; market with full employment; credibility; incentive for ethical conduct; incentive for transparency; protection of the whistleblower; value given to the ethical professional.
Engagement/avoidance (+/-)	Family ethics and morals; family support (reflection).	Religious ethics and morals; divine judgement; fervent devotion; example and practice and religious posture; relationship with the religious group.	The group’s ethics; mimetism; being an example; obtaining support; active community; members’ experience; social pressure; recognized as an ethical person.	Laws and regulations regarding the process; enforcement; sanctions and punishments; protection/rights of the whistleblower; monitoring; actions of the state; isonomy; results of investigations.	Ethics and morals; support, incentive, and protection from class entities; rules about whistleblowing; participation and positioning of the class entities; disclosure/clarification; importance of whistleblowing; monitoring; isonomy; denouncism.	Conditions for whistleblowing; ethical environment; incentive for ethics; structured norms; tone at the top; conflict of identify; tax burden; compliance structure; incentives for whistleblowing; common good; hierarchical structure; incentive for transparency; isonomy; sanctions; protection for the whistleblower; company/collaborator dependence relationship or proximity; close relationship.	Consequences for the market; normative structure; support and protection; interests involved; consequence for the organization; mechanisms of control; orientation; personal and organizational benefits; informational distortion; privileged information; punishment of the offenders; professional recognition.	Benefits/damage to the professional; professional reputation; employability; the market’s reaction to the whistleblower; anticorruption actions; experience of other people from the market; equal opportunities.
Avoidance (-)	Risks of adverse consequences; risks to the family budget; protecting the family; offender (family member); family disapproval; flexibilized ethics; family gains.	Divine judgement of the offender; religious confidentiality; religious hierarchy; practicing forgiveness; feeling of “benefactor.”	Offender is a member of the community; risks of reprisals; shunning the “squealer”; fear of being judged.	Disbelief in the state; impunity; lack of support, incentive, or protection; inefficiency of the legal system; lack of credibility in investigations; lack of anonymity; insufficient information and legislation.	Corporativism; risk to the client and job; non-whistleblowing culture; disinterest in irregularities except for illegal actions; lack of support and protection; lack of discussion; personal gains.	Flexibilized ethics and morals; risk to sustenance; inadequate channel; impunity; loyalty; irregular practice; lack of effective whistleblowing; dependent ethics committee; credibility of the class; non-whistleblowing culture; adverse consequences.	Impunity; generalized corruption; personal gains; risk to sustenance; self-regulation; lack of support; flexibilized ethical level; little transparency.	Rejection or retaliation; unemployment; damage to the whistleblower; crisis; confidentiality; flexibilized ethical level; greater financial and emotional dependence; impunity; employability; whistleblowing on colleagues and bosses; lack of incentive; orientation toward the client; job satisfaction.

Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade, Departamento de Contabilidade e Atuária Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto, 908 - prédio 3 - sala 118, 05508 - 010 São Paulo - SP - Brasil, Tel.: (55 11) 2648-6320, Tel.: (55 11) 2648-6321, Fax: (55 11) 3813-0120 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: recont@usp.br

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[1] Email:
rosangela.ayres@facc.ufrj.br