The EEC's pharmaceutical policy was first formulated in 1965. But today it has scarcely advanced past its first proposal.
A FEW WEEKS AGO, Harold Geneen, chairman and chief executive officer of the now famous International Telephone and Telegraph Company, formally opened the giant 23‐storey ITT…
Abstract
A FEW WEEKS AGO, Harold Geneen, chairman and chief executive officer of the now famous International Telephone and Telegraph Company, formally opened the giant 23‐storey ITT tower. It is the new headquarters of the corpora‐tion's European activities, on Brussels' well‐to‐do Avenue Louise. In banner headlines, the house magazine proudly announced ‘We're in! Europe under one roof’. It went on to praise the multinational effort involved in perfecting the new building (Bell Telephones—Belgium, Standard Elektrik Lorenz of Germany, LMT Pompes Salmson of France, Barking Brassware—UK, IVAC of Belgium, ITT Controls—UK), each one part of the worldwide network.
DURING THE TEN weeks before New Year—the deadline set by the Paris Summit of 1972 for the establishment of the various new European policies—Commission President François‐Xavier…
Abstract
DURING THE TEN weeks before New Year—the deadline set by the Paris Summit of 1972 for the establishment of the various new European policies—Commission President François‐Xavier Ortoli is determined to see the ‘human face’ of his giant institution firmly established.
A RADICAL NEW look at the European shipbuilding industry is being greatly influenced by the recently‐published Booz‐Allen Report.
ROLLS‐ROYCE, according to new Commission planning, is to form part of a multi‐national research team of European aircraft engine manufacturers.
THE PRESENT VISIT to Europe—and more particularly Brussels—by Masayoshi Ohira, the Japanese Foreign Minister, is noteworthy if only for its timing.
ANYONE WHO DOUBTED the European Commission's serious intention with its anti‐trust policy will now realise that Director‐General Willy Schlieder and his Competition Department…
Shona Russell, Markus J. Milne and Colin Dey
The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesise academic research in environmental accounting and demonstrate its shortcomings. It provokes scholars to rethink their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesise academic research in environmental accounting and demonstrate its shortcomings. It provokes scholars to rethink their conceptions of “accounts” and “nature”, and alongside others in this AAAJ special issue, provides the basis for an agenda for theoretical and empirical research that begins to “ecologise” accounting.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilising a wide range of thought from accounting, geography, sociology, political ecology, nature writing and social activism, the paper provides an analysis and critique of key themes associated with 40 years research in environmental accounting. It then considers how that broad base of work in social science, particularly pragmatic sociology (e.g. Latour, Boltanksi and Thévenot), could contribute to reimagining an ecologically informed accounting.
Findings
Environmental accounting research overwhelmingly focuses on economic entities and their inputs and outputs. Conceptually, an “information throughput” model dominates. There is little or no environment in environmental accounting, and certainly no ecology. The papers in this AAAJ special issue contribute to these themes, and alongside social science literature, indicate significant opportunities for research to begin to overcome them.
Research limitations/implications
This paper outlines and encourages the advancement of ecological accounts and accountabilities drawing on conceptual resources across social sciences, arts and humanities. It identifies areas for research to develop its interdisciplinary potential to contribute to ecological sustainability and social justice.
Originality/value
How to “ecologise” accounting and conceptualise human and non-human entities has received little attention in accounting research. This paper and AAAJ special issue provides empirical, practical and theoretical material to advance further work.
Details
Keywords
Carla Rhianon Edgley, Michael John Jones and Jill Frances Solomon
The purpose of the research was to discover the process of social and environmental report assurance (SERA) and thereby evaluate the benefits, extent of stakeholder inclusivity…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the research was to discover the process of social and environmental report assurance (SERA) and thereby evaluate the benefits, extent of stakeholder inclusivity and/or managerial capture of SERA processes and the dynamics of SERA as it matures.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper used semi‐structured interviews with 20 accountant and consultant assurors to derive data, which were then coded and analysed, resulting in the identification of four themes.
Findings
This paper provides interview evidence on the process of SERA, suggesting that, although there is still managerial capture of SERA, stakeholders are being increasingly included in the process as it matures. SERA is beginning to provide dual‐pronged benefits, adding value to management and stakeholders simultaneously. Through the lens of Freirian dialogic theory, it is found that SERA is starting to display some characteristics of a dialogical process, being stakeholder inclusive, demythologising and transformative, with assurors perceiving themselves as a “voice” for stakeholders. Consequently, SERA is becoming an important mechanism for driving forward more stakeholder‐inclusive SER, with the SERA process beginning to transform attitudes of management towards their stakeholders through more stakeholder‐led SER. However, there remain significant obstacles to dialogic SERA. The paper suggests these could be removed through educative and transformative processes driven by assurors.
Originality/value
Previous work on SERA has involved predominantly content‐based analysis on assurance statements. However, this paper investigates the details of the SERA process, for the first time using qualitative interview data.
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Keywords
Ian Thomson, Colin Dey and Shona Russell
The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical and empirical insights into the effective use of external accounts by social activists in conflict arenas in order to bring…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical and empirical insights into the effective use of external accounts by social activists in conflict arenas in order to bring about change.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a longitudinal case study of Action on Smoking and Health UK (ASH) and their use of external accounts and other activist practices during the period 1999-2010. The authors explore these practices from the perspective of one organisation engaged in conflict arenas concerning the (un)acceptability of tobacco production, consumption and governance. The authors conduct the exploration based upon a dynamic conflict arena framework that attends to the range of external accounting and activist practices, tactical intentions and states of conflict used by ASH to confront the tobacco industry and bring about change in tobacco governance.
Findings
The study identifies the use of a diverse range of external accounts and other activist practices. This assemblage of practices was used to confront, counter-act and to co-operate with actors engaged in tobacco-related conflicts. The evidence suggests that the deployment of different types of external accounts by ASH was aligned to the context of the particular conflict arena involved, and was influenced by the strategy and engagement tactics of the activists and other actors, as well as power dynamics and acceptability of the tobacco governance in the conflict arena. Whilst ASH used different external accounts in specific episodes of activism, these individual accounts also contributed to an emerging holistic account of the unacceptable consequences of tobacco production, consumption and governance.
Originality/value
This study provides new theoretical and empirical insights into how external accounts can contribute to the problematisation of governance and development of social and environmental change agendas. The dynamic conflict arena framework developed in this paper creates new visibilities and possibilities for developing external accounting practices and for researching this fast-developing area of social and environmental accounting.