Reflection on the life cycle of an accountant.
Abstract
Purpose
Reflection on the life cycle of an accountant.
Design/methodology/approach
Fictional poem.
Findings
A lack of time permeates the human condition
Research limitations/implications
Professional achievements need to be held in appropriate tension with times relentless march.
Originality/value
Reflection on the finite resource of time helps to sharpen multiple perspectives.
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Focusing on Sanitarium, a commercial‐charity operating as a department of a church, the paper aims to use Mashaw's taxonomy to examine this organisation's informal reporting in…
Abstract
Purpose
Focusing on Sanitarium, a commercial‐charity operating as a department of a church, the paper aims to use Mashaw's taxonomy to examine this organisation's informal reporting in the context of accountability.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts a case study approach and draws on data gathered from primary and secondary archival sources, interviews with key informants, and reports in the public media.
Findings
The paper examines Sanitarium, a hybrid organisation that has made informal account giving its primary means of reporting to constituents and the general public. It reveals that while the informal reporting blurs the boundaries of reporting regimes, the informal account always discloses something more, has the spirit of accountability and provides insight into the organisation that otherwise would not be accessible. The paper shows the usefulness of applying Mashaw's framework to examine the accountability practices of organisations in the third sector.
Originality/value
The paper extends understanding into the nature of accountability by highlighting the contribution of informal account giving, the role of stakeholder perceptions in determining what counts as accountability, and the benefits of using a framework that can be applied to all commercial organisations, including faith organisations. The paper focuses on an area of study that has been acknowledged as under‐researched and contributes to the knowledge of accountability in religious organisations.
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This paper offers a critique of the sacred and secular dichotomy, a theoretical framework recently introduced into the accounting and accountability literature primarily by…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper offers a critique of the sacred and secular dichotomy, a theoretical framework recently introduced into the accounting and accountability literature primarily by Laughlin and Booth. The divide has been used to interpret the ambiguous roles of accountants and accounting practices within religious organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The present paper examines the divide by drawing on H. Richard Niebuhr's narrative theology, and in particular, the distinction that he draws between “internal history” and “external history”. Niebuhr's discussion of internal/external history and his typology of social action are used to demonstrate the many ways that religious communities balance faith and social practice.
Findings
The paper argues that the activities and contributions of accountants and accounting practices are not by virtue of their secularity antithetical to the values of religious organizations. It contends that within many religious settings, secular activities, such as accounting, often co‐exist, promote and are used to support religious beliefs and practices.
Research limitations/implications
The paper challenges the dominant paradigm by highlighting the importance of adopting flexible theoretical frameworks.
Originality/value
It will be of value to accounting and accountability researchers who are seeking to gain a better understanding of the fit between accounting practices and the internal histories of religions.
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Feminization of medicine in France has come about in several stages, in connection with student and medical specialists recruitment. Its dynamics show that it can’t be considered…
Abstract
Feminization of medicine in France has come about in several stages, in connection with student and medical specialists recruitment. Its dynamics show that it can’t be considered as a virtually definitive gender reversal, but should rather be viewed as a dynamic recomposition closely related to societal changes and economic situations. I explain the way women succeeded in entering medicine via the concours, and how their situation has often given rise to wrongful interpretations concerning their ‘choices’. Finally, I reflect on the complex connections between feminization and the democratization of medical recruitment, on the one hand, and with the transformations within the liberal model in medicine, on the other. I conclude that the feminization of medicine questions a wide array of social relations in the domains of family, health, economics and politics, as a complex social fact.
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Avant‐propos sous les auspices de l'Institut international de Coopération intellectuelle, paraissait en 1934 le t. I, consacré à l'Europe, du Guide international des Archives. Le…
Abstract
Avant‐propos sous les auspices de l'Institut international de Coopération intellectuelle, paraissait en 1934 le t. I, consacré à l'Europe, du Guide international des Archives. Le questionnaire envoyé à tous les États européens comportait sous les points 4 et 6 les questions suivantes: ‘Existe‐t‐il un guide général pour les diverses catégories d'Archives ou des guides particuliers pour l'une ou l'autre d'entre elles?’ et ‘Existe‐t‐il des catalogues imprimés, des publications tant officielles que privées, susceptibles de constituer un instrument complet de référence pour tout ou partie importante des fonds d'archives?’ Les réponses des divers pays à ces questions, malgré leur caractère très inégal, ont fait du Guide international un bon instrument d'information générale sur les Archives. Malheureusement les circonstances ont empêché la publication du volume consacré aux États non européens, tandis que le temps qui s'écoulait tendait à rendre périmés les renseignements fournis sur les Archives européennes.
Les découvertes importantes faites par des équipes de préhistoriciens et d'anthropologues entre les an‐nées 1950 – 1970 dans la région du Nil moyen (KENYA,TANZANIE, ETHIOPIE)…
Abstract
Les découvertes importantes faites par des équipes de préhistoriciens et d'anthropologues entre les an‐nées 1950 – 1970 dans la région du Nil moyen (KENYA,TANZANIE, ETHIOPIE), mettant à jour des milliers de fossiles concernant les premiers éges de la vie de l'homme il y a 1 500 000 ans (sites d'Oldu‐vai et d'Omo), nous permettent aujourd'hui de repenser le comportement erratique de nos lointains anctres sur la planète Terre dans une vision beaucoup plus large.
Les flux touristiques internationaux sont le plus souvent récents dans les pays pauvres. Leur taux de croissance et le volume de recettes qui s'y attache en ont fait dans quelques…
Abstract
Les flux touristiques internationaux sont le plus souvent récents dans les pays pauvres. Leur taux de croissance et le volume de recettes qui s'y attache en ont fait dans quelques pays un élément important de l'économie et permettent aux autres d'espérer par ce moyen aider à leur développement. Cette expérience limitée, joint à des méthodes d'approche approximatives ont conduit à des jugements fort variés. D'un côté, les thuriféraires du développement touristique y voient l'occasion inespérée pour ces pays de se doter d'un secteur permettant d'accroître le produit national, les emplois, les recettes en devises, dans des proportions considérables. De l'autre, les censeurs, s'élèvent de plus en plus contre ces prétendus bénéfices économiques, et assimilent le tourisme à une calamité sociale.