Towards a conceptual model of whistle-blowing intentions among external auditors

Whistle-blowing has received considerable attention in the ethics literature. However, following the collapse of Arthur Andersen in the Enron debacle, whistle-blowing within audit firms has taken on greater importance. Given the profession's requirements to be confidential, independent and to act in the public interest (e.g. Sarbanes–Oxley Act, 2002), there is a need for a model that is specific to the audit profession (e.g. Louwers, Ponemon, & Radtke, 1997), and in particular, that addresses auditors' whistle-blowing intentions. This paper presents a conceptual model on whistle-blowing intentions among external auditors where an auditor's individual factors (attitudes toward whistle-blowing, perceived behavioural control, independence commitment, personal responsibility for reporting and personal cost of reporting) have a direct influence on his or her intentions to whistle-blow, but are moderated by isomorphic factors (perceived organisational support and team norms) and issue-specific factors (perceived moral intensity). Using justice and institutional theories, the proposed model anticipates that whistle-blowing within an audit firm produces both positive and negative consequences to society, the audit firm and the individual whistle-blower. However, where audit firms have adequate formal supporting mechanisms for reporting wrongdoings to internal and external parties, the negative effects and personal costs of reporting will be minimised.     

The impact of crime on tourist arrivals in Jamaica

This paper examines the relationship between tourist arrivals and changes in the crime rate in Jamaica over the period 1962–1999. In particular, it uses a transfer function to account for variations in total arrivals and arrivals from the European market, owing to changes in the crime rate. The transfer function allows for the modelling of the immediate and delayed effect of crime rates on tourist arrivals. The paper finds first that although crime rates have a negative impact on tourism arrivals in both markets, it is of greater concern in the European market. Secondly, the impact of crime in the overall market is relatively small, because of increased advertising and promotion and the growth of all‐inclusive hotels. Finally the level of crime, especially violent crime, has to be reduced, because although the number of crimes against tourists has declined, high violent crime rates tend to raise concerns among tourists seeking a destination. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Human resource management and performance in the Barbados hotel industry

This article measures the effect of human resource management (HRM) on performance in the hotel industry in Barbados. It used a quantitative survey covering 46 hotels out of a population of 75 hotels. The respondents were hotel's management, being either a general manager, human resource (HR) manager or line manager. Similar to Hoque's study of UK hotels, the impact of internal and external fit and the universal relevance of HRM were tested. The findings showed no major support for external fit, universal relevance and internal fit in the Barbados hotel industry. All the hotels perceived themselves as performing well, given the focus on quality and targeting high spending tourists. A quest for high service pushes the industry more towards best-practice ‘HRM’ rather than best fit.     

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS‐CONSTRAINED GROWTH IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

The paper clarifies some issues raised in the basic model of balance of payments‐constrained growth due to Thirlwall and later extensions by Thirlwall and Hussain and Moreno‐Brid. The model is also adapted to include both interest payments and net transfers. The latter variable has become very important to many developing countries and brings a new dimension to the analysis. Very importantly, net transfers are positively related to foreign income and negatively related to domestic income. Thus, the paper accounts for dynamic feedback effects, between net transfers, domestic and world income.