This paper reports the results of a survey with public accountants in Barbados on their intention to report a superior’s unethical behaviour. Specifically, it investigates to what extent perceived organisational support in audit organisations would moderate Barbadian public accountants’ intentions to blow the whistle internally and externally. Results indicate that internal whistle-blowing intentions are significantly influenced by all five individual antecedents, and the influence of the antecedents is intensified when the level of POS is high. However, further results indicate that (...) external whistle-blowing intentions are significantly influenced by only three individual-level antecedents viz. attitudes, perceived behavioural control and personal cost of reporting, and their influence is intensified when the level of POS is low. The results suggest that POS is an important mechanism for controlling behaviour. (shrink)

Ethical decision-making is an important function among accountants. This paper sought to determine the factors influencing the ethical intentions of future accounting professionals. Specifically, this study tested the applicability of the theory of reasoned action , theory of planned behavior and the extended model of the theory of planned behavior in predicting accounting students’ intentions to act unethically . Data was collected via a survey questionnaire from 298 accounting students at a Caribbean university. Results revealed that the independent variables significantly (...) predicted students’ intentions to breach confidentiality and charge personal expenses. Our findings show that the ETPB is a good predictor of ethical intentions among future accounting professionals. (shrink)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the salient factors that influence accounting students to engage in software and music piracy. This study uses the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior, and extends these models to incorporate other variables to predict individuals’ behavioral intentions. Specifically, we hypothesize that attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, moral obligation and perceived prosecution risk influence intentions to engage in software and music piracy. Data were obtained from (...) 237 university accounting students in a Caribbean university to assess the influence of the components of the theories and other modified and extended models. Findings reveal that attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, moral obligation and perceived prosecution risk significantly influence intentions to engage in software and music piracy. These findings lend full support to the hypothesized relationships in our extended theory of planned behavior. (shrink)

This paper sought to test whether student demographics (gender, age, religion, type of degree and number of courses done containing ethics) influenced the likelihood of engaging in unethical business practices. The study involved the use of a questionnaire being administered to a sample of 231 undergraduate students in Barbados. It was found that gender, religiousness, type of degree and number of courses taken containing ethics significantly impacted on the intentions to engage in unethical behaviour. It was also found that the (...) impact of age was not conclusive. The study has several limitations including low generalisability due to the use of a non-probability sampling method, and the possibility of social desirability bias. The study informs educators about the need to integrate ethics into the curriculum as an essential component of professional training for future managers and business people. This study makes an important contribution to the ethics literature on small island developing states, since the study was done in the country of Barbados. (shrink)

This paper applies Beck and Ajzen’s (Journal of Research in Personality 25:285–301, 1991 ) extended version of the theory of planned behaviour model to the decisions of students to engage in academic dishonesty (cheating and lying). The model proposes that students’ intentions to engage in dysfunctional behaviours may be influenced by attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and moral obligation. This study was done using a survey questionnaire of 363 undergraduate students at a West Indian University. Based on the extended (...) version of the theory of planned behaviour, with the exception of subjective norms which only predicted students’ intentions to cheat, it was found that attitudes, perceived behavioural control and moral obligation were significant predictors of students’ intentions to perform academic dishonesty behaviours in the form of cheating and lying. The results of the study have given further support to the use of the extended version of the theory of planned behaviour. Implications are discussed. (shrink)

Dramatic changes or revolutions in a field of science are often made by outsiders or 'trespassers,' who are not limited by the established, 'expert' approaches. Each essay in this diverse collection shows the fruits of intellectual trespassing and poaching among fields such as economics, Kantian ethics, Platonic philosophy, category theory, double-entry accounting, arbitrage, algebraic logic, series-parallel duality, and financial arithmetic.