The Construction of a Whistle-Blowing Protocol for Audit Organisations: A Four-Stage Participatory Approach

Although the laws and professional codes encourage whistle-blowing, there is a lack of effective arrangements to guide external auditors on how to blow the whistle upon discovery of audit-related wrongdoing committed by audit colleagues. Using a four-stage participatory research method, we explore the professional judgement and decision-making process that external auditors go through as well as factors influencing their decisions to report wrongdoing by colleagues. The consensus results from the interviews conducted enable us to construct a whistle-blowing protocol that can be adopted in audit organisations and the profession.