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This study aims to analyze the relationships between cultural orientation and normative knowledge, in a direct and moderate way, on the whistleblowing intentions of accountants from Hispanic American countries.

This study used responses from a sample of 410 accountants, preparers and auditors of financial statements from Hispanic American countries. Descriptive statistics, nonparametric tests and structural equations with partial least squares algorithm were applied for data analysis.

The results emphasized the cultural positioning of horizontality, in which an individual perceives themselves as equals to their colleagues, allowing discussions on various aspects of individual behavior. The knowledge variable is proved to be important in explaining the intention to report and can also moderate the influence of cultural variables on intentions.

These findings contribute to the literature by offering a clearer definition the normative knowledge variable, and to organizations, which can explore the research’s evidence to improve their training and qualification programs, thereby generating significant knowledge for their employees.

Whistleblowing is the main tool for identifying organizational frauds, but it is differently perceived in several cultural contexts. The results demonstrated the ethical cultural positioning of these Hispanic American professionals in relation to cultural aspects of other countries. Some studies highlight knowledge as a relevant factor in the organizational environment, but this study innovates by testing and demonstrating its impact on whistleblowing and culture.

This study aims to clarify the psychological mechanism of international contractors' fraud by linking performance pressure to fraudulent intention through the displacement of responsibility and addressing the moderating role of moral intensity.

Based on moral disengagement theory, performance pressure was hypothesized to be positively associated with fraudulent intention by mediating the displacement of responsibility. Drawing on the issue-contingent theory, moral intensity was hypothesized to inhibit the relationship between performance pressure and displacement of responsibility in three aspects: magnitude of consequences (MC), probability of effect (PE) and social consensus (SC). The scenario-based questionnaire was conducted to collect information from contractors spread across 50 countries. The partial least squares structural equation modeling was employed to assess the proposed model.

The results demonstrated that performance pressure was positively associated with the fraudulent intention, and displacement of responsibility exerted a positive partial mediating impact between performance pressure and fraudulent intention. Regarding moral intensity in the moderating analysis, the negative moderating role of MC and PE was significant, while that of SC was insignificant.

This study provides international construction practitioners with a deep understanding of the formation mechanism of fraud at the psychological level.

It clarifies the psychological mechanism from performance pressure to fraudulent intention by integrating a mediation impact from the displacement of responsibility and a moderation effect from MC and PE. It contributes to the sparse research on how situational factors shape individuals' fraudulent intentions in the international context. It provides a fresh perspective on fraud by constructing a formation model from moral psychological theories.

This study aims to investigate whether firms involved in a major corruption scandal, with broad ramifications across several emerging and advanced markets, design the content of their corporate codes of conduct to either improve corporate ethical standards and practices or merely manipulate the impression of stakeholders.

This study adopts an impression management perspective. It uses content analysis techniques to examine the codes of conduct adopted by seven Brazilian engineering and construction multinationals accused of corruption. The analysis covered five major themes: (1) forms of corruption, (2) values or principles, (3) interested parties, (4) procedures and routines and (5) punitive action.

The study provides detailed evidence that the codes of conduct adopted by these firms are mere artifices that aimed at meeting legal requirements but do not target the relevant corporate audience involved in grand corruption. At best, such a code may impede petty and bureaucratic corruption.

This research contributes to improving the understanding of how Latin American multinationals adopted codes of conduct after a major scandal and how they failed—at least to some extent—to design codes complying with established corporate governance principles. It shows that management manipulated the impression of stakeholders by selectively adopting or omitting certain terms, examining or concealing various issues and addressing mainly petty crimes rather than grand corruption. It also identifies areas where Western ethical values conflict with established practices and cultural norms in Latin America.

This paper aims to investigate the perceptions of financial accountants and both internal and external auditors regarding the impact of corporate governance (CG) and information technology (IT) on the detection and prevention of fraud within organizations.

Primary data were collected from 250 financial accountants, internal auditors and external auditors through questionnaires. The non-probability snowball sampling technique was used for data collection, with the sample t-test, one-way ANOVA and paired sample t-test applied for analysis.

The results indicate that robust CG practices and IT techniques significantly aid in detecting and reducing fraudulent activities by minimizing opportunities, rationalizations, pressures and capabilities of potential employees to commit fraud. Internal controls also play a significant role in reducing instances of fraud. Notably, ethical officers and ethical training were not perceived as significantly effective in preventing and detecting fraud, leading to a perception that fraudulent practices are prevalent and increasing the risk of future fraudulent activities.

This study recommends the adoption of strong CG practices to identify potential fraud within an organization. Moreover, IT techniques should be tailored to specific needs for effective utilization. Furthermore, the government should increase awareness regarding data provision by departments, organizations and other related personnel. Future research could use secondary data from various regions to expand the literature in this field.

This research uniquely combines three significant factors: CG, IT and forensic accounting in fraud detection and prevention. It contributes to the enhancement of literature about fraud and its preventive and detective measures. The results of this study set the seed for future research, government policymaking and enhanced organizational practices.