Accounting, Organizations, And Institutions: Essays In Honour Of Anthony Hopwood
by Peter Miller /
2009 / English / PDF
2.3 MB Download
Accounting has an ever-increasing significance in contemporary
society. Indeed, some argue that its practices are fundamental to
the development and functioning of modern capitalist societies. We
can see accounting everywhere: in organizations where budgeting,
investing, costing, and performance appraisal rely on accounting
practices; in financial and other audits; in corporate scandals and
financial reporting and regulation; in corporate governance, risk
management, and accountability, and in the corresponding growth and
influence of the accounting profession. Accounting, too, is an
important part of the curriculum and research of business and
management schools, the fastest growing sector in higher
education.
Accounting has an ever-increasing significance in contemporary
society. Indeed, some argue that its practices are fundamental to
the development and functioning of modern capitalist societies. We
can see accounting everywhere: in organizations where budgeting,
investing, costing, and performance appraisal rely on accounting
practices; in financial and other audits; in corporate scandals and
financial reporting and regulation; in corporate governance, risk
management, and accountability, and in the corresponding growth and
influence of the accounting profession. Accounting, too, is an
important part of the curriculum and research of business and
management schools, the fastest growing sector in higher
education.
This growth is largely a phenomenon of the last 50 years or so.
Prior to that, accounting was seen mainly as a mundane, technical,
bookkeeping exercise (and some still share that naive view). The
growth in accounting has demanded a corresponding engagement by
scholars to examine and highlight the important behavioural,
organizational, institutional, and social dimensions of accounting.
Pioneering work by accounting researchers and social scientists
more generally has persuasively demonstrated to a wider social
science, professional, management, and policy audience how many
aspects of life are indeed constituted, to an important extent,
through the calculative practices of accounting.
This growth is largely a phenomenon of the last 50 years or so.
Prior to that, accounting was seen mainly as a mundane, technical,
bookkeeping exercise (and some still share that naive view). The
growth in accounting has demanded a corresponding engagement by
scholars to examine and highlight the important behavioural,
organizational, institutional, and social dimensions of accounting.
Pioneering work by accounting researchers and social scientists
more generally has persuasively demonstrated to a wider social
science, professional, management, and policy audience how many
aspects of life are indeed constituted, to an important extent,
through the calculative practices of accounting.
Anthony Hopwood, to whom this book is dedicated, has been a leading
figure in this endeavor, which has effectively defined accounting
as a distinctive field of research in the social sciences. The book
brings together the work of leading international accounting
academics and social scientists, and demonstrates the scope,
vitality, and insights of contemporary scholarship in and on
accounting and auditing.
Anthony Hopwood, to whom this book is dedicated, has been a leading
figure in this endeavor, which has effectively defined accounting
as a distinctive field of research in the social sciences. The book
brings together the work of leading international accounting
academics and social scientists, and demonstrates the scope,
vitality, and insights of contemporary scholarship in and on
accounting and auditing.