Paper development in qualitative accounting research: bringing social contexts to life

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Ahrens

Purpose Expanding on an invited talk at the 1st Paper Development Workshop of the Qualitative Management Accounting Research Group, the purpose of this study is to offer some suggestions for developing qualitative accounting papers. Emphasis is put on the potential of qualitative research to situate evocative accounts of the organisational functionings of accounting in their wider social contexts. Design/methodology/approach To think about paper development as an exercise in communicating worthwhile findings to the readership by interweaving the researcher’s impressions of the field, recorded field material and different social theories to create qualitative accounting scholarship. Findings Qualitative accounting papers can, through the use of different theories, show the embedding of the organisational in the social. Development of qualitative accounting papers is an achievement that emerges in the process of writing. Practical implications Outlines five summary recommendations for paper development. Originality/value Reflects on paper development designed to create qualitative accounting research.

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivo De Loo ◽  
Stuart Cooper ◽  
Melina Manochin

Purpose – This paper aims to clarify what ‘narrative analysis’ may entail when it is assumed that interview accounts can be treated as (collections of) narratives. What is considered a narrative and how these may be analyzed is open to debate. After suggesting an approach of how to deal with narrative analysis, the authors critically discuss how far it might offer insights into a particular accounting case. Design/methodology/approach – After having explained what the authors’ view on narrative analysis is, and how this is linked with the extant literature, the authors examine the socialisation processes of two early career accountants that have been articulated in an interview context. Findings – The approach to narrative analysis set out in this paper could help to clarify how and why certain interpretations from an interview are generated by a researcher. The authors emphasise the importance of discussing a researcher’s process of discovery when an interpretive approach to research is adopted. Research limitations/implications – The application of any method, and what a researcher thinks can be distilled from this, depends on the research outlook he/she has. As the authors adopt an interpretive approach to research in this paper, they acknowledge that the interpretations of narratives, and what they deem to be narratives, will be infused by their own perceptions. Practical implications – The authors believe that the writing-up of qualitative research from an interpretive stance would benefit from an explicit acceptance of the equivocal nature of interpretation. The way in which they present and discuss the narrative analyses in this paper intends to bring this to the fore. Originality/value – Whenever someone says he/she engages in narrative analysis, both the “narrative” and “analysis” part of “narrative analysis” need to be explicated. The authors believe that this only happens every so often. This paper puts forward an approach of how more clarity on this might be achieved by combining two frameworks in the extant literature, so that the transparency of the research is enhanced.


Author(s):  
Paul Ranson ◽  
Daniel Guttentag

Purpose This study aimed to investigate whether increasing the social presence within an Airbnb lodging environment could nudge guests toward altruistic cleaning behaviors. Design/methodology/approach The study was based around a theoretical framework combining the social-market versus money-market relationship model, nudge theory and social presence theory. A series of three field experiments were conducted, in which social presence was manipulated to test its impact on guest cleaning behaviors prior to departure. Findings The experimental results confirmed the underlying hypothesis that an Airbnb listing’s enhanced social presence can subtly induce guests to help clean their rental units prior to departure. Originality/value This study is the first to examine behavioral nudging in an Airbnb context. It is also one of the first field experiments involving Airbnb. The study findings offer clear theoretical and practical implications.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamini Manikam ◽  
Rebekah Russell-Bennett

Purpose – Despite the importance of theory as a driving framework, many social marketers either fail to explicitly use theory as the basis of designing social marketing interventions or default to familiar theories which may not accurately reflect the nature of the behavioural issue. The purpose of this paper is therefore to propose and demonstrate the social marketing theory (SMT)-based approach for designing social marketing interventions, campaigns or tools. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper proposes a four-step process and illustrates this process by applying the SMT-based approach to the digital component of a social marketing intervention for preventing domestic violence. Findings – For effective social marketing interventions, the underpinning theory must reflect consumer insights and key behavioural drivers and be used explicitly in the design process. Practical implications – Social marketing practitioners do not always understand how to use theory in the design of interventions, campaigns or tools, and scholars do not always understand how to translate theories into practice. This paper outlines a process and illustrates how theory can be selected and applied. Originality/value – This paper proposes a process for theory selection and use in a social marketing context.


Author(s):  
Gwen Adshead

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the basic features of attachment theory, and explore how they relate to the development of the “social mind” and the work of therapeutic communities (TC). Design/methodology/approach – The author describes the essentials of attachment theory in humans; and the development of both secure and insecure states of mind. The author will set out how insecure attachment systems are associated with deficits in mentalising processes which are fundamental to the activity of the social mind. Findings – The author suggests how attachment to a TC can promote mentalising processes. The author draws on the work of other speakers in the conclusions about how to “grow” secure minds and societies. Research limitations/implications – This paper is a brief over view only and does not address attachment process to TC in any depth. Practical implications – Attachment theory could help both service users and therapists who work in TCs understand some of the difficulties people have in engaging at the start. Attachment theory also gives a guide to what a “good enough” experience in a TC might look like. Originality/value – There is little existing discussion of the application of attachment theory to TCs.


Author(s):  
Perttu Salovaara

Purpose It has recently become more acknowledged that there is a quality of “messiness” to the qualitative research process. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the fieldpath approach—a hermeneutically inspired framework—to account for the non-linearity, uncertainty and ambiguity of the research process. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper reviews how the scope of hermeneutics has been partly misunderstood. The paper discusses how the scope of hermeneutics has lately been expanded by works such as Günter Figal’s (2010) Objectivity: The Hermeneutical and Philosophy. Findings The fieldpath approach proposes that a heightened relation to materiality enables the messiness of the process to be preserved, while at the same time offering a way to find one’s footing in the midst of ontologically incomplete phenomena that are still—in a processual fashion—forming and becoming. Research limitations/implications This is a conceptual paper. In addition to the research mentioned here, more studies would be needed to legitimise, test and refine the approach. Practical implications Objectivity provides an additional criterion for researchers to lean on when facing the non-linearity and unexpected turns inherent in the qualitative research process. Social implications The stress on materiality involves an ethical dimension. Post-human ethics are concerned with the future environmental consequences and sustainability of the material world. The way that matter matters in our methodologies is of primary importance. Originality/value First, the paper emphasises that hermeneutics, contrary to the common perception, does offer criteria for evaluating between interpretations. Second, it introduces the notion of hermeneutic objectivity, which stresses the importance of materiality for interpretations. Third, it introduces the fieldpath approach, which, based on the previous criterion of hermeneutic objectivity, allows for the messiness of the research process, while also preserving a tight grip on the hermeneutic imperative of “understanding in a new way”.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 190-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brid Featherstone ◽  
Anna Gupta ◽  
Kate Morris

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to argue for the need to move away from a sole focus on assessing and dealing with individualised risk factors in order to more fully engage with and understand the social determinants of many of the harms that are manifest in families. Design/methodology/approach It draws from a number of research studies being conducted by the authors and a literature on psycho-social approaches to social suffering. Findings It highlights the evidence on the contribution of poverty and inequality to many of the problems encountered within families. It explores how hurt, shame and loss are experienced by those who are marginalised and struggling to live well and care safely for themselves and others. Practical implications It highlights the practice implications of adopting an approach that engages with both the social and the psychological and understands their inter-relationship. It offers some thoughts on how the social in psycho-social might receive the attention it deserves, a situation which does not pertain currently. Originality/value It offers an original contribution to thinking in the area of child protection where the focus is primarily on individualised risk factors. It highlights the importance of understanding the social determinants of many of the harms experienced in families and offers some pointers towards thinking and practising differently.


2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 20-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Alan Grossberg

Purpose Delineate the strategic implications for three new marketing trends based on digital technology. Design/methodology/approach The author looks at how strategy is being affected by: Marketing automation, where artificial intelligence is used to help win a customer and optimize the search for such potential prospects. Social media, which blends the personal and the businesslike and provides opportunities for engagement with the client on an almost real-time, personalized basis. The manipulation of huge quantities of “Big Data” to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing automation and of deriving value from social media. Findings Under all emerging digital technology scenarios, the marketer’s job becomes more complex and more central to the interaction between the customers and the corporation. Practical implications Social marketing will increasingly involve co-creation of product and brand story with customers, experienced-based marketing and more sophisticated management of the interface between the social media platform and automated marketing. Originality/value This article identifies the integral relationship between advances in marketing technology and strategic opportunities for marketing innovation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 4-6

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings – The great number of concepts found in literature are organized into a framework that distinguishes relevant inputs that can affect team functioning; relevant mediators for team creativity (TC) and TC outcomes. The framework is reviewed and discussed within the context of the social systems in which the team is embedded. Practical implications – The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Zeegers ◽  
Ian Francis Clark

Purpose – This study investigated whether a course which focused on raising students' awareness of sustainability, from a balanced perspective, that is, one which gives equal consideration to the social and economic aspects as well as the environmental would produce graduates with the knowledge and commitment required to drive the sustainability agenda forward. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – An analysis of students' final entries in their reflective journal was used to explore whether their views on sustainability reflected a balanced view. Findings – The findings of this research confirmed previous studies showed that initially students do have an enviro-centric bias. It also showed that despite experiencing a pedagogical approach which challenged views by encouraging discussion, debate, and reflection and which provided what was considered to be a balanced view of sustainability, many of the students still leaned towards an environmentally focused perspective of sustainability. Research limitations/implications – The conclusions are based on one data set but are supported by other data described in the paper. Practical implications – The finding led the authors to conclude that a concerted holistic effort within and across courses is needed within tertiary institutions if students' views about sustainability are to be challenged. Originality/value – The outcomes demonstrate that students' reflective journals can be used to gather information about the change in students' perceptions about sustainability.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Witanti Prihatiningsih ◽  
Ninis Agustini Damayani ◽  
Asep Suryana ◽  
Susie Perbawasari

Purpose The Opentable strategy is considered a taboo because of its ability to take advantage of peoples’ grief. Therefore, this study aims to explore the Opentable (Exhibition) as a marketing strategy for modern Muslim funeral products, considered a luxury by most people in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative research with a phenomenological approach used to collect data from six Memorial Advisors (MAs) through interviews. Findings The result showed that the Opentable strategy was carried out to introduce the concept of a modern Muslim funeral home and its products. Furthermore, MA does not encourage sales during Opentable, rather, it uses the process to obtain complete data from potential customers. Practical implications This research serves as a guidance for MA and other similar professions to socialize products uncommon or considered taboo in society. It also provides a repertory of new marketing strategies, especially for targeted and uncommon products. Originality/value To the best of the knowledge, this is the first research to explore Opentable (Exhibition) as a marketing strategy for modern Muslim funeral products in Indonesia. Therefore, future research is needed on other marketing strategies.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document