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What are recommended accounting textbooks teaching students about corporate stakeholders?

Author

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  • Ferguson, John
  • Collison, David
  • Power, David
  • Stevenson, Lorna

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a content analysis of the preface and preliminary chapters of 21 introductory accounting textbooks as recommended by 12 accounting degree-awarding institutions in Scotland. The investigation builds on previous research which suggests that accounting education is heavily influenced by neo-classical economic theory and, as a consequence, inculcates students with the notion that primacy should be given to shareholders above all other stakeholder groups. Accounting education may be deficient by neglecting other theoretical perspectives and marginalising the interests of other stakeholder groups; arguably this may inhibit the ethical development and critical awareness of accounting students. This research investigates the extent to which recommended accounting textbooks explicitly consider different stakeholders. Findings from the study indicate that the interests of shareholders are predominant within financial accounting and financial management textbooks, while management accounting texts have a more pronounced managerial orientation.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferguson, John & Collison, David & Power, David & Stevenson, Lorna, 2005. "What are recommended accounting textbooks teaching students about corporate stakeholders?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 23-46.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:37:y:2005:i:1:p:23-46
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bar.2004.08.002
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    Cited by:

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    2. Paisey, Catriona & Paisey, Nicholas J., 2010. "Developing skills via work placements in accounting: Student and employer views," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 89-108.
    3. Irene Gordon, 2011. "Lessons to be Learned: An Examination of Canadian and U.S. Financial Accounting and Auditing Textbooks for Ethics/Governance Coverage," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 29-47, June.
    4. Duff, Angus & Marriott, Neil, 2017. "The teaching-research gestalt in accounting: A cluster analytic approach," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 413-428.
    5. Christopher Humphrey, 2005. "'In the aftermath of crisis: Reflections on the principles, values and significance of academic inquiry in accounting': Introduction," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 341-351.
    6. Weetman, Pauline, 2006. "Discovering the ‘international’ in accounting and finance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 351-370.
    7. Margaret Milner & Wan Ying Hill, 2008. "Support for Graphicacy: A Review of Textbooks Available to Accounting Students," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 173-185.
    8. Khaled O. Alotaibi & Mohammad M. Hariri, 2021. "Content Analysis of Shariah-Compliant Investment Equity Funds in KSA: Does Social Justice Matter?," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(6), pages 1-1, July.
    9. Crawford, Louise & Helliar, Christine & Monk, Elizabeth & Veneziani, Monica, 2014. "International Accounting Education Standards Board: Organisational legitimacy within the field of professional accountancy education," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 67-89.
    10. Donna Mangion, 2006. "Undergraduate education in social and environmental accounting in Australian universities," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 335-348.
    11. Murphy, Tim & O’Connell, Vincent, 2017. "Challenging the dominance of formalism in accounting education: An analysis of the potential of stewardship in light of the evolution of legal education," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-29.
    12. Collison, David & Ferguson, John & Kozuma, Yoshinao & Power, David & Stevenson, Lorna, 2011. "The impact of introductory accounting courses on student perceptions about the purpose of accounting information and the objectives of business: A comparison of the UK and Japan," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 47-60.
    13. Dellaportas, Steven & Hassall, Trevor, 2013. "Experiential learning in accounting education: A prison visit," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 24-36.
    14. Ferguson, John & Collison, David & Power, David & Stevenson, Lorna, 2009. "Constructing meaning in the service of power: An analysis of the typical modes of ideology in accounting textbooks," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(8), pages 896-909.
    15. John Ferguson, 2007. "Analysing accounting discourse: avoiding the “fallacy of internalism”," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(6), pages 912-934, October.

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