The Relationship between Organization Size and Occupational Fraud

Occupational fraud is an international problem affecting all types and sizes of businesses. Small businesses, those with fewer than 100 employees, often lack the financial resources to protect themselves against this crime. The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental correlational study was to determine if a relationship exists between organization size and the frequency of occurrence, as well as the severity of occupational fraud. The participants in this study were eleven Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) from 16 states. The sample included 40 fraud cases from clients of the CFEs. The results of this study determined there is a relationship between organization size and the frequency of occurrence, and severity of, occupational fraud. The findings implied that smaller businesses are disproportionately more affected by occupational fraud than larger businesses. Recommendations for further research include conducting a study with information from organizations outside the United States. Fraud is an international problem, and a study including other countries would remove the geographical limitations of this study. Expanding the definition of organization size and analyzing fraud by type are also options for building upon the findings in this study.