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Rationalities, domination and accounting control: A case study from a traditional society

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  • Uddin, Shahzad

Abstract

Previous studies on management control in less developed countries have mainly concentrated on the state and privatised enterprises. Drawing upon Weber's work [Weber M. The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. New York, NY: Scribner; 1958; Weber M. General economic history. New York, NY: Collier Books; 1961; Weber M. Economy and society: an outline of interpretive sociology (two volumes). New York, NY: Bedminster; 1968; Weber M. Economy and society. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; 1978] on traditional society, and a Weberian framework developed by [Colignon R, Covaleski M. A Weberian framework in the study of accounting. Accounting, Organiztions and Society 1991;16(2):141–57], this paper seeks to understand ‘private management practices’, including accounting, in a stock exchange listed company (public limited company). The case study evidence indicates that organisational controls are biased to serve the dominant owners or family/sponsors of the company instead of general shareholders. The paper argues that family dominance is facilitated by the external and internal layers within which the company is operating. The greater understanding of traditional societies developed in Weber's works [Weber M. Economy and society. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; 1978] is very useful in explaining why managers work to serve the family. Domination by family via trusted managers using accounting calculations instead of bureaucracy is highly relevant, as the case study shows. These findings are not dissimilar to those of previous studies conducted in privatised and family-owned companies in Bangladesh and elsewhere. The paper calls for more research on management accounting practices employing Weber's works, especially in traditional societies.

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  • Uddin, Shahzad, 2009. "Rationalities, domination and accounting control: A case study from a traditional society," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 782-794.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:20:y:2009:i:6:p:782-794
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2007.11.004
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    2. Hopper, Trevor & Lassou, Philippe & Soobaroyen, Teerooven, 2017. "Globalisation, accounting and developing countries," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 125-148.
    3. Shahzad Uddin & Javed Siddiqui & Muhammad Azizul Islam, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures, Traditionalism and Politics: A Story from a Traditional Setting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 409-428, August.
    4. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & D. T. Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-00676570, HAL.
    5. Lee, Bill & Cassell, Catherine, 2017. "Facilitative reforms, democratic accountability, social accounting and learning representative initiatives," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 24-37.
    6. Stergiou, Konstantinos & Ashraf, Junaid & Uddin, Shahzad, 2013. "The role of structure and agency in management accounting control change of a family owned firm: A Greek case study," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 62-73.
    7. Sherif, Mohamed & Chen, Jiaqi, 2019. "The quality of governance and momentum profits: International evidence," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(5).
    8. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & D. T. Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Post-Print hal-00676570, HAL.
    9. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & Danture Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-01661685, HAL.
    10. Daniel Ruiz-Palomo & Julio Diéguez-Soto & Antonio Duréndez & José António C. Santos, 2019. "Family Management and Firm Performance in Family SMEs: The Mediating Roles of Management Control Systems and Technological Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-22, July.

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