Tony Lowe and the Interdisciplinary and Critical Perspectives on Accounting Project

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 766-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Laughlin

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the life of Tony Lowe, Emeritus Professor of Accounting and Financial Management at the University of Sheffield, who died on 5 March 2014. It celebrates Tony Lowe’s considerable direct contributions to accounting knowledge and, possibly more significantly, his indirect contribution through his enabling of a range of those associated with him at Sheffield to become scholars of distinction in their own right. Design/methodology/approach – Publication review, personal reflections and argument. Findings – Apart from providing insight into Tony Lowe's direct contribution to accounting knowledge through an analysis of a range of significant sole authored and joint authored publications, the paper gives rather more attention to his more indirect enabling contribution. In this regard it traces the development of initially the Management Control Association and subsequently the “Sheffield School” to Tony Lowe, clarifying the values that underlie these groups. It also clarifies how some of the key elements that have allowed the now global Interdisciplinary and Critical Perspectives on Accounting (ICPA) Project to exist and flourish are traceable to Tony Lowe and the “Sheffield School” he created. Research limitations/implications – This paper provides an important historical analysis of the direct and indirect influence of a unique scholar on the beginnings and development of particularly the now global ICPA Project. This history is personal and maybe selective and possibly limited because of this but hopefully will encourage others to investigate the claims further. Originality/value – The history of the ICPA Project has only partially been told before. This is another part of this history that has not been analysed before on which further work can build.

The article attempts to comprehend the essence and possibility of forming discourse competence among foreign and Russian students with simultaneous immersion in patriotic discourse. It is highlighted that the addition of the humanitarian series of “History of Civilizations” and “Features of Russian Civilization” to the educational process at the university creates the necessary pedagogical conditions for organizing a special linguo-ethno-cultural environment that forms active social interaction of authors within the framework of the medical and patriotic linguistic scenario. The authors of the article conducted a semantic and historical analysis of interpretations of the concept of “patriotism” that were studied from the point of view of traditional and liberal culture. The article presents the results of a socio-pedagogical study of students' perceptions of this concept. The article describes various theoretical and methodological approaches to the definition of the concepts of “discourse” and “discursive picture of the world” as well as psycholinguistic features of the method of semantic differential. Special attention in the article is paid to the typologies of discourse presented in the scientific literature. The authors of the article present the principle of genre and the principle of thematic correlation as the basis for distinguishing between types of discourse and highlight differences in language and discursive pictures of the world. The tasks of educators is to form not only purely medical discursive competence, but also to immerse the listener in “correctly” interpreted picture, saturated with verbal patterns that allow to create statements of patriotic content.


Author(s):  
Mary Humstone

During summer 2010, the University of Wyoming American Studies Program conducted an intensive cultural landscape survey and historical analysis of the Elk Ranch in Grand Teton National Park. Led by Research Scientist Mary Humstone, students documented the ranch landscape and remaining buildings. They conducted research in local archives to uncover the history of the ranch and determine its significance in the history of Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park. The team determined that the property is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, with significance in agriculture and conservation.


2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.A. Bekessy ◽  
K. Samson ◽  
R.E. Clarkson

PurposeThis paper aims to assess the impact and value of non‐binding agreements or declarations in achieving sustainability in universities.Design/methodology/approachA case study of Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University is presented, analysing the reasons for lack of progress towards sustainability and evaluating best ways forward. Using a timeline and analysis of historical records for the 12 years since RMIT first engaged in the sustainability agenda, major trends in the process of implementing policies are identified. Secondly, 15 semi‐structured interviews with university leaders and key sustainability stakeholders from across the university are analysed to provide insight into how and why the university has failed to achieve sustainability.FindingsNew implications for successfully achieving sustainability arise from these findings. Accountability is a key issue, as RMIT appears to reap benefits from being signatory to declarations without achieving genuine progress. To ensure that declarations are more than simply greenwash, universities must open themselves up to scrutiny of progress to determine whether commitments have been honoured.Practical implicationsRelying on small‐scale “club” activities establishing demonstrations and raising awareness is unlikely to lead to permanent change. The evidence of RMIT's engagement with sustainability shows that, for example, even when successful pilot studies are conducted, these initiatives may do little to affect the mainstream practices of a university unless certain conditions exist. Furthermore, given the on‐paper commitments institutions have made, and the role of the university in society, small‐scale and gradual changes in university practice are a far from adequate response to the urgent sustainability imperative.Originality/valueThe initial engagement of RMIT University with the sustainability agenda 12 years ago marked it as a world leader in sustainability best‐practice. Analysing how and why such a disappointing lack of action has resulted from such promising beginnings provides insight into future directions for implementing sustainability in universities. The paper argues that considering the key responsibility of universities in leading the sustainability agenda, a more systemic and serious response is required.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-400
Author(s):  
P. K. Rangachari

Twenty-eight undergraduate students in a health sciences program volunteered for an exercise in the history of examinations. They had completed a second-year course in anatomy and physiology in which they studied modern texts and took standard contemporary exams. For this historical “experiment,” students studied selected chapters from two 19th century physiology texts (by Foster M. A Textbook of Physiology, 1895; and Broussais FJV. A Treatise on Physiology Applied to Pathology, 1828). They then took a 1-h-long exam in which they answered two essay-type questions set by Thomas Henry Huxley for second-year medical students at the University of London in 1853 and 1857. These were selected from a question bank provided by Dr. P. Mazumdar (University of Toronto). A questionnaire probed their contrasting experiences. Many wrote thoughtful, reflective comments on the exercise, which not only gave them an insight into the difficulties faced by students in the past, but also proved to be a valuable learning experience (average score: 8.6 ± 1.6 SD).


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-262
Author(s):  
Mark Tadajewski ◽  
D.G. Brian Jones

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an historical analysis of an important early contribution to the history of marketing thought literature – the six-book series titled The Knack of Selling – which was published in 1913 and intended as an early training course for salesmanship. Design/methodology/approach This research utilized a close, systematic reading of The Knack of Selling series and places it in the professional and intellectual context of the early twentieth century. Books published about marketing are primary source materials for any study of the history of marketing thought. In this case, The Knack series constitutes significant primary source material for a study of early thinking about personal selling. Findings Echoing A.W. Shaw, Watson offers a more sophisticated interpretation of the “one best way” approach associated with Frederick Taylor. Watson’s advice did not entail the repetition of canned sales talks to each customer. His vision of practice was more complicated. Sales presentations were temporally and locationally relative. They were subject to ongoing evolution. As the marketplace changed, as customer needs and interests shifted, so did organizational and salesperson performances. To keep sales talks relevant to the consumer, personnel were encouraged to undertake rudimentary ethnographic research and interviews. Unusually, there is oscillation in the way power relations between marketer and customer were described. While relational themes are present, so are military metaphors. Originality/value This is the first systematic reading of The Knack of Selling that has been produced. It is an important contribution to the literature inasmuch as this book set is not in wide circulation. The material itself was significant as an input into scholarship subsequently hailed as seminal within sales management.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robbe Geysmans

Purpose This paper aims to provide a detailed account of the evolution of the fair trade discourse of a Belgian fair trade organization, with a specific focus on the changes in the combination of the organization’s trade and social (movement) dimensions. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on an analysis of the organization’s discourse as found in the member magazine at four periods. These four periods cover different phases in the life history of the organization and in the broader fair trade field. Findings Throughout the organization’s history, both social (movement) and trade dimensions know drastic changes, also in their mutual relationship. In the earliest history, trade practices are clearly subordinate to goals of a socialist-inspired societal change, while in the more recent history, trade has permeated the entire discourse, putting the trade dimension in a more central position. However, both dimensions seem to evolve in a connected way, as the discourse shows clear similarities on both, and evolutions can be related to changes in the organization’s broader field. Originality/value Focusing on the discourse of a specific fair trade organization breaks with a tradition of broad notions of a fair trade history. Moreover, this case provides insight into the evolution of the mix of both social and economic dimensions within a specific organization, and connects this to evolutions in the broader (fair trade) field.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian Oliver ◽  
Fiorella Foscarini ◽  
Craigie Sinclair ◽  
Catherine Nicholls ◽  
Lydia Loriente

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on the application of information culture analysis techniques in the workplace. The paper suggests that records managers should use ethnographic sensitivity, if they want to have a constructive dialogue with records creators and users, and effect positive change in their organisations. Design/methodology/approach Two pilot studies were conducted in university settings for the purpose of testing an information culture assessment toolkit. The university records managers who carried out the investigation approached the fieldwork ethnographically, in the sense that they were interested in the perspectives of their end users, and tried to understand their information cultures, rather than imposing their recordkeeping concepts and procedures. Findings Information culture analysis was of practical utility in large complex organisations, providing an insight into behaviours, motivations, and most importantly promoted reflection and dialogue among organisational actors. Originality/value The paper raises awareness of the diversity of professional skills and knowledge required by records practitioners. It emphasises that to remain relevant to their organisations, records managers have to be receptive and sensitive to cultural influences.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 795-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Brivot ◽  
Yves Gendron ◽  
Henri Guénin

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into how a constellation of actors seek to define, shape, and reinvent the notion of organizational control at the confluence of social media (SM) and corporate reputational risk. Design/methodology/approach Following the approach suggested by Janesick (1998) and Denzin and Lincoln (1998), the authors undertook an in-depth qualitative analysis of a large number of data sources including interviews, best-selling books by renowned SM specialists, relevant press articles drawn from a Factiva search, and documents published by the Big Four firms and professional accounting institutes in Canada on how organizations should use SM to protect their reputational capital. Findings Four competing SM reputational risk control perspectives inductively emerged from the analysis: the Beyond Control frame, the Subveillance frame, the De-territorialization frame, and the Re-territorialization frame, with large accounting firms and professional accounting institutes especially promoting the latter. Originality/value The control literature has been criticized by many scholars as being in urgent need of updating. By inductively theorizing four original control frames in the SM arena, the research aims to move management control research in new directions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (9) ◽  
pp. 131-150
Author(s):  
Carlos Larrinaga ◽  
Jan Bebbington

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to provide an account of the period prior to the creation of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): a body that was critical to the institutionalization of sustainability reporting (SR). By examining this “pre-history,” we bring to light the actors, activities and ways of thinking that made SR more likely to be institutionalized once the GRI entrepreneurship came to the fore.Design/methodology/approachThe paper revisits a time period (the 1990s) that has yet to be formally written about in any depth and traces the early development of what became SR. This material is examined using a constructivist understanding of regulation.FindingsThe authors contend that a convergence of actors and structural conditions were pivotal to the development of SR. Specifically, this paper demonstrates that a combination of actors (such as epistemic communities, carriers, regulators and reporters) as well as the presence of certain conditions (such as the societal context, analogies with financial reporting, environmental reporting and reporting design issues) contributed to the development of SR which was consolidated (as well as extended) in 1999 with the advent of the GRI.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper theorizes (through a historical analysis) how SR is sustained by a network of institutional actors and conditions which can assist reflection on future SR development.Originality/valueThis paper brings together empirical material from a time that (sadly) is passing from living memory. The paper also extends the use of a conceptual frame that is starting to influence scholarship in accounting that seeks to understand how norms develop.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Walter Cañarte Ávila ◽  
Ned Quevedo Arnaiz ◽  
Nemis García Arias

Este trabajo investigativo tiene como objetivo determinar las etapas en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje del inglés para las carreras de corte técnico en la Universidad Estatal del Sur de Manabí, Ecuador. Para ello, se basa en el análisis histórico del proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje del inglés, y se analiza y sintetiza actividades en diferentes momentos evolutivos para caracterizar el tratamiento que se le ha brindado a la expresión oral. El mismo se ha dividido en tres períodos a partir de los indicadores establecidos hasta llegar a la tercera etapa comunicativa,  con  los  adelantos  tecnológicos  como  laboratorios  de  idiomas,  pantallas gigantes y proyectores, que modificaron la forma de enseñar y aprender   el inglés en la Universidad y que continúan desarrollando la expresión oral en inglés. Palabras Clave: aprendizaje del inglés, expresión oral, enfoque comunicativo The history of the English teaching and learning process in technical majors in  “Universidad Estatal del Sur de Manabí, Ecuador”   Abstract This research work aims at determining the stages of teaching and learning English for majors with technical functions in “Universidad Estatal del Sur de Manabí, Ecuador”. It is essentially based on the method of historical analysis, but the activities in the different evolutionary stages are analyzed and synthesized as well to characterize the treatment given to speaking. It has been divided into three periods taking into account the different aspects considered for the analysis up to the present third stage, the communicative stage, and 7 in which interaction has been communicative and the method was finally replaced by the communicative approach with technological improvements as labs, giant screens and projectors. These modifications have changed the way of teaching and learning English at the University and the way speaking in English is developed. Keywords: English learning, speaking, communicative approach  


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