PHILIPPINE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE PROGRAM STUDENTS SHOULD INSERT

THEIR STATEMENTS, RESPONSES AND/OR ANSWERS
DIRECTLY AFTER THE INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDE QUESTIONS BELOW:

TITLE: UNDERLYING CAUSES OF WHITE-COLLAR CRIMES IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR

MEMBERS:
1. JOHN MARK R. ASTROLABIO
2. NORLIZA L. ALBUTRA
3. ROSE DALYA S. ENRIQUEZ
4. KLAUDINE ESTEFFANI NAPOD
5. BRUCE TIMOTHY G. TAN

I. THESIS / DISSERTATION PROPOSAL FORMAT

A research proposal outlines the contents of a scientific, social or economic investigation that a
researcher desires to undertake, say, within 12-24 months following the submission of the
proposal.
It should be organized following the format presented below with the required headings and
order. All sections must be completed. The required word count is 1,600 – 2,200 words.

INSTRUCTIONS & GUIDE QUESTIONS STATEMENTS, RESPONSES & ANSWERS

1. INTRODUCTION
Provide an Introduction based on the
Introduction and Rationale
following:
The term “white-collar crimes” was first coined in 1939 by
a. the scientific, technological,
sociologist Edwin Sutherland in reference to crimes committed
social, economic subject, topic, idea, by persons of respectability and high social status who take
system, policy, trend, theory or practice
advantage of their social, economic and technological power
that the research desires to investigate;
for personal gain. These crimes are characterized by deceit,
b. the environment, industry or concealment and violation of trust. These are financially
sector which encompasses, or influences motivated, usually committed by those with white collar jobs or
or is impacted by the research topic; those identified with the suit, shirt and tie set, as distinguished
[Word count: 100 – 150] from blue collar workers doing manual labor (Zuñiga,2021).

Examples of white-collar crimes are embezzlement,

securities fraud, insider trading, Ponzi and pyramiding
schemes, identity fraud, cybercrimes and money laundering.
Their detection, investigation and prosecution pose difficult
challenges to the authorities because the perpetrators could be
well-educated, with resources, influence and connections.
These crimes could involve enormous amounts and could
disrupt and cause tremendous losses to businesses and in
private sectors.
2. RATIONALE White-collar crimes can be committed for a few different
Identify the real-world scientific, reasons. They could be influenced by money, influence, or
technological, economic, social, even power. But they’re typically non-violent offenses that are
business, organizational and human committed by someone with some level of privilege. There is,
problem that the research will try to better however, more to understanding the psychology of a white-
understand and/or solve; Or the collar criminal than knowing why they commit these offenses.
pervading Opportunities that the research
will strive to identify and explore.
The main reason for committing a white-collar crime is
[Word count: 100 – 150] personal gain, which typically involves some type of profit. But
if you really want to understand why people commit these
crimes, you need to understand the psychology that motivates
them to ignore business ethics and violate the law.

In the Philippines, private sector is no safe with white-collar

crimes. However, the act or crime mostly in the government
sector. We often heard or saw them in the news, not much in
private sector. White-collar crimes mostly being handled
privately within the company or business and being dealt by
Human Resources and Legal team. As we are employed mostly
from private sector, we would like to conduct a study on the
underlying causes why do employees commit white-collar
crimes, and what are their reasons and motives in doing so.
3. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Research Objectives:
a. Identify the Researches’ potential
contribution to knowledge and its
implications to existing theory,
methodology, practice, or any General Objective:
combination thereof:
The general objective of this study is to determine the
i. Re-contextualization of an existing reasons/underlying causes of white-collar crimes in the private
theory or method, applying a sector.
technique in a new context, testing
theory in a new setting, showing the Specific Objectives:
applicability of a model to a new
situation, and evaluating the result The main objective can be realized thru the following specific
and any implications. objectives:
ii. Corroboration and elaboration of an
existing model (e.g. evaluating the 1. To determine to conceptual history of white collar
effects of a change of condition; crime;
experimental assessment of one
aspect of a model). 2. To determine who usually commit white collar crime;
iii. Falsification or contradiction of an
existing model, or part of one. 3. To identify the factors that contributes to commit
white-collar crimes;
iv. Drawing together two or more
existing ideas and showing that the
combination reveals something new 4. To determine measures or ways on how to prevent
and useful. and respond to white-collar crimes
v. Developing and testing a new
concept, showing that something is
feasible and valuable (or not) and
Problem Statements:
why.
vi. Implementation of someone’s 1. Why white collar crimes occur?
framework or principle to some field
of practice, showing how it work and 2. What is the typical profile a white-collar criminal
its limitations.
vii. Empirically-based characterization ii. Age
of a phenomenon (e.g. detailed,
critical, analytic account of the iii. Gender
evolution of an idea; detailed analytic
characterization of a crucial case iv. Department
study or a novel chemical
compound, or a new planet). v. Length of employment
viii. Providing a taxonomy of observed
phenomena. 3. What are the factors that lead to commit white-collar
crimes:
ix. Well-founded critique of existing
theory or evidence (e.g. correlating
the results of a number of existing i. Work Environment
studies to show patterns or
omissions). ii. Occupational Status

iii. Conspiracy

iv. Technology

v. Behavior
 b. Clarify your contribution to
knowledge by explaining the 4. What are the appropriate prevention and intervention
following: remedies that can be developed to address white
collar crimes?
x. The importance of the question. Why
is the question worth asking?
xi. The significance of the findings. Why
do these findings matter?
xii. What are their implications for
theory, methodology, practice?
xiii. What are the limitations to
generalization of the findings?

Research work is part of an ongoing

discourse among many researchers,
each critiquing the available evidence
and providing fresh argument and
evidence that contributes to knowledge
and understanding.

Research involves questioning the

accepted wisdom (the obvious),
examining and analysing phenomena
from a different perspective, and
investigated through a variety of
techniques. Research seeks to create
new understanding of the world, using
new ideas and approaches, rather than
describing it using existing frames and
tools.

As more evidence is presented, existing

explanations are re-evaluated. In this
way knowledge is constantly
reconfirmed, elaborated, revised, or
overturned.

Knowledge claims may be small and still

contribute to the discourse.

c. Identify how the research will

support and amplify the
achievement of relevant
development goals at the
personal, institutional,
community, governmental,
regional, national or international
levels.

d. Identify the professional

competences that will be gained
by the student.
e. Specify the type of research that
will be undertaken, e.g.,

i. Exploratory: provides initial insight to

a new situation, issue or
phenomenon.
ii. Descriptive: classifies phenomena…
questions on who, what, where,
when and how
iii. Explanatory: explains a causal
relationship that is meaningful… why
questions
iv. Evaluative: assesses or measures
impact [assumes a causal
relationship]

f. Specify Research Questions and

Objectives

i. If your research is driven by policy

debates, describe the specific
aspects of these debates on which
your research will focus.
ii. If your research is driven by
theoretical debates, or apparent
omissions or inconsistencies in the
existing literature (theoretical or
empirical), what aspects of these
debates will you address?
iii. If your research focus is on the
nature of practice in some field (e.g.,
business management or science
research), then what aspects of
practice will you explore (e.g.,
managerial behaviour or scientific
discovery)
[Word count: 100 – 200]
5. LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature Review
a. Review the published literature,
where you show what has already
All business establishments, regardless of size, industry or
been proposed, claimed, or geographical location, are vulnerable to fraud or white collar
established. crimes. In business par lance, fraud and white collar crime is an
interchangeable term. A 2007 survey by Price Waterhouse
b. The review of literature is normally
Coopers reveals that fraud remains one of the most problematic
comprised by theoretical and
empirical studies, policy and industry
issues for businesses worldwide, with no abatement regardless
reports, and articles published in of the organization’s country of operation, industry sector, or
respected periodicals and size. Commission of such acts has a large impact on the
newspapers. business establishment since every violation not only translates
to financial or monetary losses but also exposes the business
c. Summarise and evaluate the
to unnecessary adverse reputation risk or negative publicity.
usefulness of these previous studies
in relation to your stated aim or
research question. The Black Law Dictionary defines fraud as “all
multifarious means by which human ingenuity can devise, and
d. Show awareness of the most which are resorted to by one individual to get an advantage over
important and relevant theories,
another by false suggestions of the truth. It includes all
models, empirical studies and
methodologies. A good literature surprise, trick, cunning or dissembling, and any unfair way by
review will compare and contrast which another is cheated.
theories and empirical results,
pointing out agreement and On the other hand, white collar crime violations are
disagreement, gaps and overlaps of those violations of law to which penalties are attached that
argument. involve the use of violator’s position of economic power,
A poor literature review often simply influence, or trust in the legitimate economic or political
provides summarised lists of institutional order for the purpose of illegal gain, or to commit
theories and empirical studies, with an illegal act for personal or organizational gain. (Reiss and
little or no attempt to compare, Biderman 1980). Common examples of white collar crimes are
contrast or evaluate these theories misrepresentation of material facts, conflict of interest,
and empirical studies. embezzlement, theft and breach of fiduciary duty.
e. Make clear how well these published
studies address your research focus, Over the years, the “Fraud Triangle” hypothesis has
by examining the extent to which been considered as one of the accepted theories on fraud
they provide insight to, or answer, causation. Many research suggested that fraud is more likely to
each of your research objectives or occur with the presence of these: incentive (pressure) to
questions. commit fraud, opportunity for the person to commit fraud, and
f. Identify omissions or weaknesses in the capability of the person to rationalize the fraudulent
the published literature that gives behavior. (David T. Wolfe and Dana R. Hermanson 2004).
you the opportunity to justify your
study and contribute new Despite intense efforts to stamp out corruption.
knowledge. misappropriation of assets, and fraudulent financial reporting, it
g. Elaborate how your research will appears that fraud in its various forms is a problem that is
contribute this new knowledge. increasing in frequency and severity. Considering the
significant investment many businesses have made in fraud
Depending on your intended research controls over the previous two years, it is often questioned why
design (next step) you may convert the levels of economic crime seem only to have stabilized in that
identified weaknesses and omissions into time rather than shown a dramatic decrease. This may, in part,
hypotheses. A hypothesis is a simple but be due to a fraud controls paradox. This is the idea that when
testable statement that proposes that one controls are implemented in an organization, the number of
factor (call it A) causes another factor (call frauds detected increases almost immediately. However, their
it B) to behave in a certain way. deterrent effect takes time to become visible. Potential
fraudsters need to see that there is a greater likelihood of
[Word count: 600 – 750] detection and that those in breach of a business’s ethical,
regulatory, and legal guidelines will be consistently subject to
sanctions that fit the offence. (PriceWaterhouseCoopers,
2007). There may be other explanations for this consistently
high figures. Certainly, over recent years there has been an
increase in corporate transparency and a greater willingness by
businesses to admit that fraud has been uncovered, but there
is also a feeling among some executives that the self-report and
remediate program encouraged by many regulators may
subject them to a high and unfair cost burden relative to
businesses that take an alternative approach to dealing with
fraud. The threat remains problematic regardless of the size of
the business.

People in every industry have the capacity to commit

fraud, but according to the Association of Certified Fraud
Examiners (ACFE) those in accounting and upper management
are most likely to do so. (Babcock 2010). In the popular
imagination, management fraud and corruption seem to have
spread almost everywhere; yet the facts show that mercantile
fraud has been a perpetual scourge in many societies. It is
nevertheless instructive to analyse the causes of fraud as a
basis for appropriate risk management. These include
economic recession, employee disaffection, indifference to
internal control, a possible erosion of ethics, inability of obsolete
systems to accommodate new transaction types and volumes,
and often a time lag while organizational rules catch up with
new ways of committing offences. Initial failure to detect fraud
also tends to be likely to have been aggravated by failure to
apply audit scepticism. Fraud and corruption are likely to gain
even greater attention in the near future, as existing functions
of public service are 'outsourced'. (Pomeranz 1995). According
to the results of the survey from the Reports to the Nation on
Occupational Fraud and Abuse by the Association of Certified
Fraud Examiners, lack of governance of internal controls by
owners, upper management and board of directors is one of the
main contributors to fraud (AFCE, 2008). Hence, poor internal
controls, i.e. failure to implement adequate segregation of
duties, made small businesses susceptible to fraud. (Larson
2006 and Philips 2009).

The typical profile of a white-collar criminal includes the

following attributes (Piquero and Benson 2004; Pontell et al.
2014; Stadler et al. 2013):

 The person has high social status and considerable

influence, enjoying respect and trust, and belongs to
the elite in society.
 The elite have generally more knowledge, money
and prestige, and occupy higher positions than other
individuals in the population occupy.
 Privileges and authority held by the elite are often not
visible or transparent, but known to everybody.
 Elite members are active in business, public
administration, politics, congregations, and many
other sectors in society.
 The elite is a minority that behaves as an authority
towards others in the majority.
  The person is often wealthy and does not really need
the proceeds of crime to live a good life.
 The person is typically well educated and connects to
important networks of partners and friends.
 The person exploits his or her position to commit
financial crime.
 The person does not look at himself or herself as a
criminal , but rather as a community builder who
applies personal rules for his or her own behavior.
 The person may be in a position that makes the police
reluctant to initiate a crime investigation .
 The person has access to resources that enable
involvement of top defense attorneys, and can
behave in court in a manner that creates sympathy
among the public, partly because the defendant
belongs to the upper class, often a similar class to
that of the judge, the prosecutor, and the attorney.

To ward off fraud, businesses need to adopt internal

controls, a monitoring program and a formal process for
investigating anomalies to reduce the risk of fraud. (Babcock
2010). We must not discount the importance of uncovering the
causes of frauds because a business will suffer continuously
from financial losses, as long as the fraudulent act remains
undetected. Thus, further research on the underlying causes
of fraud or white collar crime must be identified in order to
prevent the incurrence of losses or eventual collapse of the
business.
6. RESEARCH DESIGN Research Design
Following your review of literature, outline
how you plan to go about collecting Research Methodology and Design
empirical data that will build the
understanding required to fulfil your
research aim, or test the hypotheses you This section contains the way on how the researchers
have developed from your review of the intend to accomplish the project. The methodology that will be
literature. Describe how you will carry out used starts from gathering data on reported white-collar crimes
your study, referring to frameworks and in the private sector.
concepts found in the research methods
literature. Research Design
Specifically, this section must describe The researchers will follow structured phases in identifying the
your Overall Approach and specific underlying causes of white-collar crimes in the private sector.
Methods/Techniques of Data Collection.
You must also explain how you will
analyse the data collected The researchers recommend the OVIT (organisational
(Methods/Techniques of Data Analysis), vulnerability to intentional insider threat) framework (see Table
what measures you are taking to ensure 3.1), which incorporates the individual, organisational and
the quality of your research design technical dimensions (Bedford and van der Laan, 2020).
(Research Quality Issues), and show an
awareness of ethical considerations
around academic research (Research
Ethics Issues).

The proposal requires that you have

made firm arrangements with your target
(e.g., the organization or community you
propose to study or work with) for access
to data prior to writing the proposal, rather
than describing that you plan to seek
access to your target after the proposal is
written.

a. Overall Approach. This will be either

Qualitative or Quantitative, or some
combination of the two. Describe your
particular Approach, e.g.,
ethnographic, case study, survey, or In the OVIT framework, each dimension breaks down into
experiment; and why the chosen factors for assessing organisational vulnerability. The individual
dimension includes processes such as staff vetting,
Approach is appropriate for the study.
psychological assessment, security and risk management, and
b. Methods/Techniques of Data ethics. The organisational dimension includes culture and
Collection .The overall Approach is leadership, insider threat initiatives, organisational protection,
broken down into specific
complacency, security awareness, and reporting processes.
methods/techniques of data
collection. For example a Qualitative
Approach can be broken down into The technical dimension includes monitoring and detection,
semi-structured interviewing and restrictions, and access. In understanding areas of vulnerability
observation, while a Quantitative or susceptibility, an organisation can identify strengths and
Approach is broken down into weaknesses in terms of exiting controls and conditions.
questionnaires, experiments, and Moreover, it ‘also provides a focus for future development of
others. Describe your chosen countermeasures and mitigations that can be put in place to
methods/techniques and explain why further protect the organisation. Hence, the aim is to elucidate
they are appropriate techniques for the effectiveness of controls against insider threat risk by
achieving your research objectives or
determining an organisation’s ability to deter, delay, detect,
testing your hypotheses.
respond, and recover from an insider attack’ (Bedford, 2018, p.
66).
c. Methods/Techniques of Data
Analysis. How will you analyse the
data collected? Describe the
methods/techniques of data analysis,
for example the procedures you will
use for analysing text or quantitative
data or patterns (e.g., statistical
analysis).
d. Research Quality Issues. Explain how
you will ensure that you collect the
right data to address the research
questions or hypotheses, or that the
data you collect is reliable. This
requires some discussion about the
validity and reliability of your data, and
what triangulation techniques have
been employed to strengthen the
validity and reliability of your data.
Your findings should also be
generalizable rather than only valid
for the particular phenomenon you
studied. You are encouraged to check
the meaning and relevance of these
terms in any research methods
textbook.
e. Research Ethics Issues. Does your
proposed research topic raise any
ethical issues? For example, does
your research design present any
possible danger to your subjects
(physical, emotional, professional)? If
so what will you do to avoid that?
[500 – 700 words]
Planning
In this phase, the researchers will carefully determine the area
of study, population, sample of the population, sampling
technique, instrument for data collection, validation of the
questionnaire, administration of the instrument and method of
data analysis.
Data Gathering
In this phase, the researchers will thoroughly collect pertinent
information from representative samples from different
industries in the private sector in different locations regarding
the underlying causes of white-collar crimes that are reported
in their companies. The researchers will also use interview
method from companies’ departments (i.e., human resource
management and/or legal department) who handles cases for
crimes committed in their companies. Internet method will be
used to further gather information on white-collar crimes. A
survey instrument will also be used to gather other data. The
researchers will conduct a survey questionnaire to cover the
different aspects stated in the problem statements and
objectives of the study.
Survey Respondents
The respondents will include Human Resource Managers and
Legal counsels of selected private companies. Random
sampling will be used, and a significant number will be
considered to make the sample size valid and representative of
the study. Acceptable margin of error will be 5%.
Formula to compute the sample size for participants:
Statistical Treatment of Data
A number of statistical tools will be used to show the top causes
of white-collar crimes. A t-Test will also be used to measure
significance of the difference between the groups being
studied. Likert scale will be used to show percentile causes of
the white-collar crimes. Five options will be used i.e. Very
Likely, Likely, Neutral, Not Likely nd Very Unlikely in the Likert
scale. Weighted arithmetic mean will be used to interpret
effectiveness of policies implemented by private companies.

7. CONCLUSIONS
Summarise your proposal, including your
potential contribution to knowledge.
[200 – 250 words]
Validation of data
The researchers will use different methods of data gathering
such as interviews, questionnaires, and internet method to
increase the credibility and validity of the research findings.
Ethical Considerations
The questions will focus on the committed crimes in different
industries in the private sector and its causes and will preserve
the anonymity and confidentiality of the respondents and the
persons involved in the white-collar crimes.
Conclusion
The findings of this study will help companies, whether big or
small should be aware that all are vulnerable to these types of
criminal activities. If these white-collar crimes are taken lightly,
this will surely bring financial loss for the company and may lose
confidence of the company’s investors and other investments.
Planning and taking security measures are necessary steps to
minimize risks and have internal control to avoid possible
securities fraud, embezzlement, money laundering and other
forms of white-collar crimes. In the Philippines, the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
(BSP), and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) are
authorized to identify, inquire, regulate and implement the law,
and the company’s by-laws should be aligned with the country’s
regulations. These are the standard forms of control; however,
companies should take additional measures to help the
organization maintain corporate governance and committees
that focuses on creating risk management and independent
internal audit teams. In this present time and the subsequent
pandemic, more and more companies are entering the digital
age and having financial systems to be efficient at the same
time have healthy employees in the organization. As
technology and systems improve, so does the opportunity to
commit these white-collar crimes as they have access with
technology as well. As we aim to provide knowledge,
awareness and guidelines for white-collar crimes.
8. REFERENCES
Citing bibliographical references is
important for the following reasons:
a. It facilitates acknowledgment of
documentary, digital and other
sources used to establish criticisms
and arguments;
b. It enables other people to trace the
sources of ideas used in the
research.
c. It prevents the occurrence of
plagiarism because it identifies the
original and legal authorships or
attribution of the source document
and/or its research findings and
ideas.
http://www.stir.ac.uk/
is/student/writing/referencing
suggests specific ways for doing this:
References
Babcock, P. (2010). Fraud by Employees Common, Hard to Detect.
HRMagazine, 55(2), 14
Bales, K., Terry L. (2010). Evaluating a trend analysis of fraud
factors. Journal of Finance and Accountancy, (5), 1-10
Bedford, J., and L. van der Laan, 2016, ‘Organizational Vulnerability
to Insider Threat’, HCI
Gale Law Group. https://galelawgroup.com/motivations-and-triggers-
for-committing-white-collar-crimes/ (Accessed October 27,2022).
International 2016 Proceedings Part I, Cham, Switzerland: Springer,
pp. 465–470.
Larson, L. (2006). Fraud Prevention Education in the Accounting
Curriculum. Strategic Finance, 88(5), 16-17
Phillips, E. (2009). Fraud files. Chartered Accountants Journal,
88(6), 45

i. “It is not sufficient merely to list a Piquero, N. L., & Benson, M. L. (2004). White Collar Crime and
source in an appended bibliography, Criminal Careers: Specifying a Trajectory of Punctuated Situational
or in the body of an assignment to Offending. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 20, 148–165.
express a general indebtedness. To
avoid a charge of plagiarism, all debts Pomeranz, F. (1995). Fraud – The Root Causes. Public Money &
must be specifically, precisely and Management, 15(1), 15-18
accurately referenced in accordance
with good academic practice. Pontell, H. N., Black, W. K., & Geis, G. (2014). Too Big to Fail, Too
ii. When a source is directly quoted Powerful to Jail? On the Absence of Criminal Prosecutions After the
word-for-word, the passage quoted 2008 Financial Meltdown. Crime, Law and Social Change, 61(1), 1–
should be placed within quotation 13.
marks or indented and the source
accurately referenced, in parenthesis, Stadler, W. A., Benson, M. L., & Cullen, E. T. (2013). Revisiting the
in a footnote, or in an endnote, Special Sensitivity Hypothesis: The Prison Experience of White-
according to a recognised system. Collar Inmates. Justice Quarterly, 30(6), 1090–1114.
There must be no ambiguity about
where the quotation ends or begins. Wolfe, D. & Hermanson R. (2004). The Fraud Diamond Considering
the Four Elements of Fraud. CPA Journal, 74(12), 38-42
iii. The source of any data cited (e.g.
figures, tables, charts) should be Zuñiga,J. “White collar crimes”,Manila
made explicit. Bulletin.Available:https://mb.com.ph/2021/10/14/white-collar-crimes/.
iv. When ideas, or an argument, are [Accessed October 27, 2022]
reproduced from a source in a general
or paraphrased way, the source must
be acknowledged.
v. Remember that these rules apply to
all the different sources of information
you have used, for example: a lecture
or tutorial, books, journal articles, web
sites, newspapers, a television
programme, a friend's essay.
vi. If you think about where you found
your information and reference your
work properly, then accidental
plagiarism can be avoided.”