Integrating national culture, internal control systems and transparency to prevent fraud: The moderating effect of e-procurement in the public sector

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the influence of national culture, internal control systems, transparency, and e-procurement on fraud prevention in public procurement within the Regional Government of Riau Province, Indonesia. The study also examines the moderating role of e-procurement in strengthening the relationship between organizational factors and fraud prevention. This study uses a mixed methods approach. The quantitative phase involved distributing structured questionnaires to 487 respondents consisting of Budget Users, Commitment Making Officers, Technical Implementation Officers, and members of the Procurement Service Unit. Data were analyzed using SmartPLS 4 to examine the structural relationships and moderating role of e-procurement. The qualitative phase was conducted through semi-structured interviews to triangulate the quantitative results. This study provides deeper insight into the influence of national culture, internal control systems, and transparency on fraud prevention with e-procurement as a moderating variable. The results show that national culture, internal control systems, and transparency have a positive and significant effect on fraud prevention. However, e-procurement and its moderating effects on those relationships are not significant. Triangulated responses confirm that integrity, internal oversight, and transparency are more effective deterrents than technology-based controls. This study is limited to the context of a regional government and may not capture variations across different administrative levels or cultural environments. Future research could integrate behavioral or qualitative perspectives to explore how technological adoption interacts with ethical culture. The findings suggest that strengthening internal culture, ethical integrity, and control systems is more crucial than relying solely on technological instruments such as e-procurement. Continuous evaluation, digital literacy improvement, and human integrity development are essential for effective fraud prevention. This research contributes to the literature by integrating cultural, institutional, and technological perspectives in fraud prevention, highlighting that internal organizational integrity and transparency remain the primary determinants of clean governance in public procurement.