Accountant and Accounting beyond Jokes: an Analysis of Cartoons (1925-2003)
Source: By:Ana Paula Paulino da Costa, Elionor Weffort, Joanília Neide de Sales Cia, Josilmar Cordenonssi Cia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/jbar.v3i1.1725
Abstract:The main purpose of our paper is to identify and analyse the underlying stereotype attributes concerning accountant, accounting and users through cartoons. Doing so, we aim to capture insights of how this spectrum of society perceives actors involved on accounting issues. Our study also differs from others as our period of analysis is long, 79 years, from 1925 to 2003. As we have the advantage of a long period and a popular non-professional database, we can work with multiple actors as accountant, accounting and users, instead of focusing on single one. And the richness of database also allowed splitting these main actors in 7 actors. In order to capture stereotype nuances of multiple actors from a cartoon database, we use discourse analysis method that has been used on other studies of identity but not to study accounting issues. As cartoons are composed by images and texts to give a message, it is richer to analyze discourse beyond images and texts. Our results are mainly consistent with previous studies although we found some different results when considering different periods of time as well new findings about tax actors such as taxpayers, tax agent and tax accounting.
References:[1]M. Alvesson. Organization: From substance to image?[J]. Organization Studies, 1990, 11(3): 373-394.https://doi.org/10.1177/017084069001100303 [2]T. Dimnik, S. Felton. Accountant stereotypes in movies distributed in North America in the twentieth century[J]. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 2006, 31(2): 129–155.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2004.10.001 [3]R. Andrew. Funny business[J]. CA Magazine, 2000, 133(3): 22-26. [4]P. D. Bougen. Joking apart: the serious side to the accountant stereotype[J]. Accounting. Organizations and Society, 1994, 19(3): 319–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-3682(94)90039-6 [5]A. Hopwood. Accounting and everyday life: an introduction[J]. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 1994, 19(3): 299–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-3682(94)90037-X [6]M. Smith, S. Briggs. From bean-counter to action hero: changing the image of the accountant[J]. Management Accounting, 1999, 1: 28–30. [7] F. Anderson-Gough, C. Grey, K. Robson. Tests of time: organizational time-reckoning and the making of accountants in two multinational accounting firms[J]. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 2001, 26(2):99-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0361-3682(00)00019-2 [8] A. Friedman, S. Lyne. The bean counter stereotype: towards a general model of stereotype generation[J]. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 2001, 12(4): 423–51. https://doi.org/10.1006/cpac.2000.0451 [9] E. Goofman. The presentation of self in everyday life[M]. Anchor Books, 1959: 259. [10] C. Deegan. Introduction: The legitimising effect of social and environmental disclosures – a theoretical foundation[J]. Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal, 2002, 15: 282–311.https://doi.org/10.1108/09513570210435852 [11] G. D. Carnegie, C. J. Napier. Traditional accountants and business professionals: Portraying the accounting profession after Enron[J]. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 2010, 35: 360-376.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2009.09.002 [12] F. Anderson-Gough, C. Grey, K. Robson. Making up accountants: The organizational and professional socialization of trainee chartered accountants[M]. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998. 13] S. Felton, T. Dimnik, D. Bay. Perceptions of accountant’s ethics: evidence from their portrayal in cinema[J]. Journal of Business Ethics, 2008, 83: 217-232. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9613-z [14] I. Jeacle. Beyond the boring grey: the construction of the colourful accountant[J]. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 2008, 19: 1296-1320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2007.02.008 [15] V. Beard. Popular culture and professional identity: accountants in the movies[J]. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 1994, 19(3): 303–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-3682(94)90038-8 [16] L. Evans, A. M. Fraser. The accountant’s social background and stereotype in popular culture: the novels of Alexander Clark Smith[J]. Working paper. SSRN, 2010. https://www.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1657832 [17] G. Baldvinsdottir, J. Burns, H Nørreklit, R. W. Scapens. The image of accountants: from bean counters to extreme accountants[J]. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 2009, 22(6): 858-892. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513570910980445 [18] D. Decoster, J. G. Rhode. The accountant’s stereotype: real or imagined, deserved or unwarranted[J]. The Accounting Review, 1971, 46(4): 651–69. [19] C. Grey. The real world of Enron’s auditors[M]. Organization, 2003, 10(3) 572-576. https://doi.org/10.1177/13505084030103015 [20] A. Strauss, J. Corbin. Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory[M]. Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage Publications, Inc, 1998: 288. [21] J. L. Cullather. Musing II: Revising the New Yorker’s business ethics cartoons[J]. Business Horizons, MayJune, 1986, 29(3): 23-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/0007-6813(86)90004-2 [22] R. Mankoff, (ed.). The complete cartoons of the New Yorker[M]. New York, NY: Workman Publishing Company, 2004. [23] N. Phillips, M. L. Di Domenico, M.L. Discourse Analysis in Organizational Research: Methods and Debates[M]. In D. Buchanan and A. Bryman (eds.), The Handbook of Organizational Research Methods, London: Sage, 2009, 32: 549-565. [24] M. Alvesson. Talking in Organizations: Managing Identity and Impressions in an Advertising Agency[J]. Organization Studies, 1994, 15(4): 535-563. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F017084069401500403 [25] N. Fairclough, R. Wodak. Critical Discourse Analysis[M]. In T. A. Van Dijk (Ed.), Discourse as Social Interaction: Discourse Studies: A Multidisciplinary Introduction[M], 1997, 2: 258-284. Sage Publications, Inc. [26] N. Phillips, C. Hardy. No Joking Matter: Discursive Struggle in the Canadian Refugee System[J]. Organization Studies, 1999, 20(1): 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840699201001 [27] S. Albert, D. A. Whetten. Organizational Identity[M]. Research in Organizational Behavior, 1985, 7: 263– 295. [28] M. Alvesson. Understanding Organizational Culture[M]. Sage Publications, 2002. http://dx.doi. org/10.4135/9781446280072 [29] J. Baudrillard. Simulacres et simulation[M]. Éditions Galilée, 1981. [30] S. Langer. Problems of art: ten philosophical lectures[M]. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1957. [31] N. Phillips, C. Hardy. Discourse Analysis: Investigating Processes of Social Construction[M]. Sage University Papers on Qualitative Research Methods, 2002, 50, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. [32] F. Anderson-Gough, C. Grey, K. Robson. “Work hard, play hard”: an analysis of organizational cliché in two accountancy practices[J]. Organization, 1998, 5(4): 565–92. https://doi. org/10.1177/135050849854007 [33] P. Andon, K. M. Chong, P. Roebuck. Personality preferences of accounting and non-accounting graduates seeking to enter the accounting profession. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 2010, 21: 253-265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2010.01.001 [34] B. E. Ashforth, V. Anand. The normalization of corruption in organizations[J]. Research in Organizational Behavior, 2003, 25: 1-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-3085(03)25001-2 [35] V. Anand, B. E. Ashforth, M. Joshi. Business as usual: The acceptance and perpetuation of corruption in organizations[J]. Academy of Management Executive, 2004, 18(2): 39-52. https://doi.org/10.5465/AME.2004.13837437