Understanding business offending: survey research in Iran
| Date | 10 January 2023 |
| Pages | 446-454 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-10-2022-0246 |
| Published date | 10 January 2023 |
| Author | Petter Gottschalk,Maryam Kamaei |
Understanding business
offending: survey research in Iran
Petter Gottschalk
Department of Leadership and Organizational Behavior,
BI –Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway, and
Maryam Kamaei
Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Khuzestan Science and Research
Branch, IslamicAzad University, Ahvaz, Iran andDepartment of Criminal Law and
Criminology,Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz,Iran
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this study is to explore the extent to which white-collar crime makes sense.
Understanding business offending reflects the degree of sensemaking among respondents in the current
survey research. Making sense implies a number of factors that influence understandability. An
understandable act is not necessarily acceptable or justifiable. At a university in Iran, criminal law and
criminologystudents answered a questionnaire regarding their extentof understanding of business offenders.
Design/methodology/approach –The research method is the use of experimental data using a
questionnaire in one of the units of the IslamicAzad University in Iran, where 300 students were invited to
respond to an onlinesurvey.
Findings –The respondents found it on averageunderstandable that top executives and other privileged
individuals abuse their positions to commit financial crime when they have problems with their personal
finances, when the business struggles financially and faces the threat of bankruptcy, and when they offer
bribes in corruptcountries to obtain business contracts. The extent of understandabilityvaries with a number
of propositionsin the convenience theory.
Originality/value –This article has not been submittedelsewhere and is original.
Keywords Business offending, White-collar crime, Convenience theory
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
It might be understandable that top executivesand other privileged individuals abuse their
positions to commitfinancial crime when they have problems with their personalfinances.
It might also be understandable that top executives and other privileged individuals
abuse their positions to commit financialcrime when the business struggles financially and
faces the threat of bankruptcy. A potential explanation for the extent of understandability
can be found in the 14 propositionsin the convenience theory (Gottschalk, 2022).
The convenience theory is an emerging theoretical perspective to explain the phenomenon
of white-collar crime where convenience was first introduced as a core concept by Gottschalk
(2017). Recently, the theory has been reviewed (Chan and Gibbs, 2020;Hansen, 2020;Oka, 2021;
Vasiu, 2021;Vasiu and Podgor, 2019) and applied by several scholars such as Asting and
Gottschalk (2022),Braaten and Vaughn (2021),Dearden and Gottschalk (2020),Desmond et al.
(2021),Qu (2021),Stadler and Gottschalk (2022) and Sterri and Borge (2022). A combination of
motive, opportunity and willingness determines the extent of white-collar crime convenience, as
illustrated in the structural model in Figure 1.
JFC
31,2
446
Journalof Financial Crime
Vol.31 No. 2, 2024
pp. 446-454
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/JFC-10-2022-0246
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1359-0790.htm
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting