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Article
Publication date: 30 July 2018

David Oldroyd, Thomas Tyson and Richard Fleischman

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the labour contract system (LCS) established by the Freedmen’s Bureau after the American Civil War to normalise relations between…

440

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the labour contract system (LCS) established by the Freedmen’s Bureau after the American Civil War to normalise relations between freed-slaves and their former masters and to uphold their rights as free citizens. In particular, it explains the lack of accountability of employers under the LCS and how this contributed to the system’s failure.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts an archive-based approach to develop and illustrate the labour contracting relationship between freed-persons and property owners and the role accounting played in sustaining this relationship in the immediate post-bellum period.

Findings

The paper finds that the LCS was coercive compared to contemporary business practice in the USA; did not conform to the high ideals of contracting as portrayed by the abolition movement; and was adopted by default rather than design. In the event, the reluctance of the federal government to infringe individual autonomy by imposing an over-arching system of regulation to hold employers to account for upholding their contractual obligations prevailed over the desire to defend the freed-people’s property rights.

Research limitations/implications

This research examines the relationship between labour contracting and property rights as well as the role of accounting in sustaining racial prejudice against freed-persons after the American Civil War. As in many archive-based studies, illustrations are selective and not randomised.

Originality/value

The paper examines the various accountings and accountabilities within the LCS in the context of the underlying ideological tensions and priorities in post-conflict US society.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 31 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

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Article
Publication date: 1 June 1994

Keith Hoskin and Richard Macve

In a 1977 publication Alfred Chandler singled out the Springfield Armoryas the site where single‐unit management was pioneered in the UnitedStates, crediting Superintendent…

1203

Abstract

In a 1977 publication Alfred Chandler singled out the Springfield Armory as the site where single‐unit management was pioneered in the United States, crediting Superintendent Roswell Lee (1815‐1833) with establishing a first “managerial” approach to work discipline and labour accounting. However, as economic breakthrough came only in 1841/2, it has since been argued that Lee′s role has been overestimated. Re‐examines archival evidence to show that: the changes of 1842 at Springfield were not due to external economic pressures, but to pressure exerted by West Point graduates in the Ordnance Department; Lee, as the dominant arms manufacturer in the 1820s, was not “held back” by economic factors from implementing any changes he desired; and his system of work organization was never even potentially managerial, with his accounting system in particular having been fundamentally misinterpreted. The evidence reinforces the case for viewing the invention of modern business and managerialism as primarily a disciplinary breakthrough.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

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Article
Publication date: 2 August 2011

Richard K. Fleischman, David Oldroyd and Thomas N. Tyson

The aim of this paper is to focus on the transition from slavery to wage workers in the American South and British West Indies, and the corresponding nature of the reporting and…

1842

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to focus on the transition from slavery to wage workers in the American South and British West Indies, and the corresponding nature of the reporting and control procedures that were established in both venues, in order to create a disciplined workforce, and establish regular relations between employees and employers. It seeks to explain the differences in labour control practices between the two regions and to discuss the impact on these practices of accounting and other quantitative techniques c.1760-1870. In particular, it aims to consider the central role played by government in the process.

Design/methodology/approach

The study forms part of an archival research project, in which the authors have consulted archives in four Southern States (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and North Carolina), three Caribbean island nations, formerly British colonies (Antigua, Barbados, and Jamaica), and record repositories the length and breadth of Great Britain. The records of the Freedmen ' s Bureau (FB), located in the National Archives, Washington, DC, have been likewise visited. These primary sources have been supported by the extensive secondary literature on slavery and its aftermath.

Findings

In the USA, accounting for labour in the transition from slavery was typically ad hoc and inconsistent, whereas in the BWI it was more organised, detailed, and displayed greater uniformity – both within and across colonies. The role of the British Colonial Office (BCO) was crucial here. A range of economic and political factors are advanced to explain the differences between the two locations. The paper highlights the limitations of accounting controls and economic incentives in disciplining labour without the presence of physical coercion in situations where there is a refusal on the part of the workers to cooperate.

Originality/value

There is a relatively small volume of secondary literature comparing US and BWI slavery and its legacy. Likewise, the accounting implications of labour-control practices, during the transition from slavery to freedom, are largely understudied. The research also points to a need to assess the decision-influencing capabilities of management accounting systems in other transitional labour settings.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 24 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

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Article
Publication date: 1 December 2004

Thomas N. Tyson, Richard K. Fleischman and David Oldroyd

The paper focuses on accounting for slave workers during one of the most morally culpable periods in Western civilization and is concerned with issues central to labor – modes of…

2335

Abstract

The paper focuses on accounting for slave workers during one of the most morally culpable periods in Western civilization and is concerned with issues central to labor – modes of production, labor control, and labor productivity. It incorporates secondary sources and examination of records from over 150 different US and BWI plantations to identify contextual factors that motivated planters to organize their workforce in a particular way. The paper specifically describes the ganging and tasking methods of extracting surplus value and indicates how these methods fit within three common paradigmatic interpretations of accounting history – labor process, power/knowledge/discipline, and economic rationalism. In summary, ganging exemplified a pre‐modern approach to organizing labor in which planters relied primarily on physical power to compel work effort and increase output. Tasking incorporated individual work rates and included more sophisticated practices of surveillance, measurement, normalization, and socialization. Tasking became economically rational by responding to changing market conditions and by incorporating procedures and incentives to spur greater productivity. Therefore, tasking may be perceived as a thematic precursor to accounting‐based disciplinary controls like standard costing and a transitionary element from pre‐modern to modern control systems.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 17 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

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Article
Publication date: 28 October 1995

Sameer Prasad and Thomas Tyson

Traditional, single time‐period models of quality cost expenditures assume static conditions and ignore the impact of the learning curve effect on a firm’s product quality, and…

192

Abstract

Traditional, single time‐period models of quality cost expenditures assume static conditions and ignore the impact of the learning curve effect on a firm’s product quality, and that of quality improvement efforts by the competitors. In this paper we incorporate both factors in a dynamic model of quality cost expenditures. The interactions not only show how firms can remain competitive, but also how they can achieve a competitive advantage. In addition, the dynamic model shows that quality learning will always lead to fewer product defects, but that total quality cost on a per unit basis will vary according to the interaction of these two factors. This model should also help managers plan, evaluate, and justify voluntary quality cost expenditures.

Details

American Journal of Business, vol. 10 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1935-519X

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Article
Publication date: 5 April 2022

Jemma Tyson

The purpose of this paper is to explore stressors and facilitators experienced by police officers when engaging with individuals with learning disabilities, within the context of…

686

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore stressors and facilitators experienced by police officers when engaging with individuals with learning disabilities, within the context of policing disablist hate crime.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on qualitative data obtained from research undertaken within a medium-sized police force in the south of England, and which focuses on the lived realities of service providers and service users. Using a triangulatory research approach, this research included a total of 230 h of observations of day-to-day policing, 10 semi-structured interviews with police officers and 4 focus groups with individuals with learning disabilities.

Findings

Stressors, previously identified by sociologist Michael Lipsky – the unpredictability of situations, workload pressures and need for rapid decision making – are discussed within the research, alongside additional stressors regarding the previous experience (internal and external to policing) held by police officers. For some officers, these have the opposite impact and serve as facilitators of positive engagements with individuals with learning disabilities. The discussion is situated within the social model of disability, with an emphasis placed on the impact stressors have on police processes. Finally, the paper suggests practical options for enhancing confidence within the interactions between these two groups, through police training.

Originality/value

The current paper explores an under-researched area of policing and disablist hate crime and utilises a combined approach of the social model of disability and Lipsky's (1980) street-level bureaucrats.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 45 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

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Book part
Publication date: 24 April 2007

C. Richard Baker, Julia Karcher and Thomas Tyson

Abstract

Details

Advances in Accounting Education Teaching and Curriculum Innovations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-867-4

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Article
Publication date: 1 June 1993

Thomas Tyson

In a series of related articles, several authors argue that theestablishment of military superintendency at the US Armories in 1841enabled Daniel Tyler′s “pathbreaking inspection”…

793

Abstract

In a series of related articles, several authors argue that the establishment of military superintendency at the US Armories in 1841 enabled Daniel Tyler′s “pathbreaking inspection” in 1832 to exert disciplinary power over labour and stimulate subsequent productivity improvements. In essence, the authors identify a critical event, place it in a Foucauldian power/knowledge framework, and accredit it with major impact on accounting development. A careful re‐examination of archival material discloses, however, that in these “new” histories, factual material is selectively presented and questionably interpreted, apparently to bolster a disciplinary‐based historical viewpoint. Re‐examines letters, documents, and secondary source material and compares this evidence to the factual material presented in the new Foucauldian histories. Arrives at a more traditional interpretation of events at the Springfield Armory, one that minimizes the historical impact of Tyler′s work and West Point trained superintendency. The overriding contention is that the search for an understanding of accounting history should not be driven by a post‐modern theory of social relations.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

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Book part
Publication date: 5 August 2005

Richard A. Bernardi

Abstract

Details

Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-239-9

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Article
Publication date: 1 June 2001

Douglas Paton and Fiona Wilson

Economist’s conceptualisations of managers as rational utility‐maximising beings stands in contrast to cognitive models which see managers as possessing limited and incomplete…

922

Abstract

Economist’s conceptualisations of managers as rational utility‐maximising beings stands in contrast to cognitive models which see managers as possessing limited and incomplete knowledge which they use to “generate” subjective interpretations and assumptions about competitive strategy and rivalry. Using data from interviews with knitwear producers in the Shetland Isles, Scotland, discusses how perceptions of competition are enacted through social interaction between knitwear producers. In addition to supporting the existence of industry groups, these data suggest that this process occurs at a deeper level of analysis, limiting perceptions of competition at both industry and individual levels. Discusses how membership of a trade association can facilitate marketing and cooperation but may, in the process, inadvertantly constrain managers’ ability to conceptualise and respond to changing market conditions. The implications of these issues for strategic planning are considered.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

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