IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/fan/ccadaa/vhtml10.3280-cca2018-001005.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A rhetorical situation triggers accounting communication. The case of the conflict between the Bank of German States and the Government in 1955/56

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Hermann

Abstract

The two research questions of this paper are: How does the rhetorical situation trigger the accounting communication in a case of conflict? Which persuasive strategies are chosen to alter the situation? The paper accordingly combines Bitzer?s theory of the rhetorical situation with the Aristotelian framework of persuasive appeals and insights from argumentation theory. The paper empirically demonstrates the usefulness of this framework to deepen our understanding of accounting communication in a historical case study. The historical case is the change of monetary policy of a public financial institution, the Bank deutscher L?nder BdL, and its conflict with the government in 1955/56. The analysis of the rhetorical discourse focuses on the narrative part of BdL?s Annual Report 1955, the G?rzenich hall speech of German Chancellor Adenauer on 23 May 1956, and the Monthly Report of May 1956. The paper demonstrates how the rhetorical situation triggers the accounting communication of the BdL. It also reveals changes in the argumentation strategy and the affective appeals as reactions to the new rhetorical situation created by the Chancellor?s speech.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Hermann, 2018. "A rhetorical situation triggers accounting communication. The case of the conflict between the Bank of German States and the Government in 1955/56," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(1), pages 73-118.
    • Handle: RePEc:fan:ccadaa:v:html10.3280/cca2018-001005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=61816&Tipo=ArticoloPDF
    Download Restriction: Single articles can be downloaded buying download credits, for info: https://www.francoangeli.it/DownloadCredit
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sylvester C. W. Eijffinger & Marco Hoeberichts, 2002. "Central Bank Accountability and Transparency: Theory and Some Evidence," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(1), pages 73-96.
    2. Beattie, Vivien, 2014. "Accounting narratives and the narrative turn in accounting research: Issues, theory, methodology, methods and a research framework," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 111-134.
    3. Niamh M. Brennan & Doris M. Merkl-Davies, 2014. "Rhetoric and argument in social and environmental reporting: the Dirty Laundry case," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(4), pages 602-633, April.
    4. Carolyn J. Fowler & Carolyn J. Cordery, 2015. "From community to public ownership: a tale of changing accountabilities," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(1), pages 128-153, January.
    5. Doris M. Merkl-Davies & Niamh Brennan & Stuart McLeay, 2011. "Impression management and retrospective sense-making in corporate narratives : a social psychology perspective," Open Access publications 10197/2900, Research Repository, University College Dublin.
    6. Higgins, Colin & Walker, Robyn, 2012. "Ethos, logos, pathos: Strategies of persuasion in social/environmental reports," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 194-208.
    7. Miriam Green & Wim Vandekerckhove & Dominique Bessire, 2008. "Accountability discourses in advanced capitalism: who is now accountable to whom?," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(1/2), pages 198-208, March.
    8. Jakob De Haan & Sylvester C.W. Eijffinger, 2000. "The Democratic Accountability of the European Central Bank: A Comment on Two Fairy‐tales," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 393-407, September.
    9. Norreklit, Hanne, 2003. "The Balanced Scorecard: what is the score? A rhetorical analysis of the Balanced Scorecard," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 591-619, August.
    10. Merridee Bujaki & Bruce McConomy, 2012. "Metaphor in Nortel's letters to shareholders 1997‐2006," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(7), pages 1113-1139, September.
    11. Berger, Helge, 1997. "Konjunkturpolitik im Wirtschaftswunder," Beiträge zur Finanzwissenschaft, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, edition 1, volume 2, number urn:isbn:9783161467950, September.
    12. Walter Masocha & Pauline Weetman, 2007. "Rhetoric in standard setting: the case of the going‐concern audit," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(1), pages 74-100, March.
    13. Niamh Brennan & Encarna Guillamon-Saorin & Aileen Pierce, 2009. "Impression management : developing and illustrating a scheme of analysis for narrative disclosures – a methodological note," Open Access publications 10197/2905, Research Repository, University College Dublin.
    14. Doris M. Merkl-Davies & Niamh M. Brennan, 2011. "A conceptual framework of impression management: new insights from psychology, sociology and critical perspectives," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 415-437, December.
    15. Merkl-Davies, Doris M. & Koller, Veronika, 2012. "‘Metaphoring’ people out of this world: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a chairman's statement of a UK defence firm," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 178-193.
    16. Walter Aerts & Beibei Yan, 2017. "Rhetorical impression management in the letter to shareholders and institutional setting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(2), pages 404-432, February.
    17. Garry D. Carnegie & Christopher J. Napier, 2012. "Accounting's past, present and future: the unifying power of history," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(2), pages 328-369, February.
    18. Jorg Bibow, 2009. "On the origin and rise of central bank independence in West Germany," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 155-190.
    19. Doris M. Merkl-Davies & Niamh M. Brennan, 2017. "A theoretical framework of external accounting communication," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(2), pages 433-469, February.
    20. Hossfeld, Heiko, 2018. "Legitimation and institutionalization of managerial practices. The role of organizational rhetoric," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 9-21.
    21. Doris M. Merkl‐Davies & Niamh M. Brennan & Stuart J. McLeay, 2011. "Impression management and retrospective sense‐making in corporate narratives," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(3), pages 315-344, March.
    22. Niamh M. Brennan & Encarna Guillamon‐Saorin & Aileen Pierce, 2009. "Methodological Insights," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(5), pages 789-832, June.
    23. Bruce Gurd, 2008. "Remaining consistent with method? An analysis of grounded theory research in accounting," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(2), pages 122-138, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Beattie, Vivien, 2014. "Accounting narratives and the narrative turn in accounting research: Issues, theory, methodology, methods and a research framework," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 111-134.
    2. Lorenzo Gelmini & Valentina Minutiello & Patrizia Tettamanzi & Maurizio Comoli, 2021. "Rhetoric, Accounting and Accountability: COVID-19 and the Case of Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-21, April.
    3. Kshitij Khanna & Helen Irvine, 2018. "Communicating the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis in Annual Reports: A Study of Australian NGOs," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 28(1), pages 109-126, March.
    4. Michele Gendelsky de Oliveira & Graça Azevedo & Jonas Oliveira, 2021. "The Relationship between the Company’s Value and the Tone of the Risk-Related Narratives: The Case of Portugal," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-28, May.
    5. Maria-Silvia Sandulescu, 2017. "Impression management – an international perspective," The Audit Financiar journal, Chamber of Financial Auditors of Romania, vol. 15(148), pages 605-605.
    6. Tuvana Cüre & Emel Esen & Arzu Özsözgün Çalışkan, 2020. "Impression Management in Graphical Representation of Economic, Social, and Environmental Issues: An Empirical Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, January.
    7. Leung, Sidney & Parker, Lee & Courtis, John, 2015. "Impression management through minimal narrative disclosure in annual reports," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 275-289.
    8. Tiffany Cheng-Han Leung & Robin Stanley Snell, 2021. "Strategies for Social and Environmental Disclosure: The Case of Multinational Gambling Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(3), pages 447-467, January.
    9. Giovanna Michelon, 2012. "Impression management and legitimacy strategies: The BP case," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2012(4), pages 35-64.
    10. Niamh Brennan & Doris M. Merkl-Davies, 2013. "Accounting Narratives and Impression Management," Open Access publications 10197/4949, Research Repository, University College Dublin.
    11. Habersam, Michael & Piber, Martin & Skoog, Matti, 2013. "Knowledge balance sheets in Austrian universities: The implementation, use, and re-shaping of measurement and management practices," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 319-337.
    12. Charles H. Cho & Matias Laine & Robin W. Roberts & Michelle Rodrigue, 2018. "The Frontstage and Backstage of Corporate Sustainability Reporting: Evidence from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Bill," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 865-886, October.
    13. Mohammed Hossain & Md. Tarikul Islam & Mahmood Ahmed Momin & Shamsun Nahar & Md. Samsul Alam, 2019. "Understanding Communication of Sustainability Reporting: Application of Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT)," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 563-586, December.
    14. Brennan, Niamh M. & Edgar, Victoria C. & Power, Sean Bradley, 2022. "COVID-19 profit warnings: Delivering bad news in a time of crisis," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(2).
    15. Semeen, Homaira & Islam, Muhammad Azizul, 2021. "Social impact disclosure and symbolic power: Evidence from UK fair trade organizations," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. La Torre, Matteo & Dumay, John & Rea, Michele Antonio & Abhayawansa, Subhash, 2020. "A journey towards a safe harbour: The rhetorical process of the International Integrated Reporting Council," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    17. Moreno, Alonso, 2024. "Impression management in bilingual corporate reporting: An analysis of textual characteristics in Spanish and English," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PA).
    18. Mélanie Roussy & Michelle Rodrigue, 2018. "Internal Audit: Is the ‘Third Line of Defense’ Effective as a Form of Governance? An Exploratory Study of the Impression Management Techniques Chief Audit Executives Use in Their Annual Accountability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 853-869, September.
    19. Saverio Bozzolan & Giovanna Michelon & Marco Mattei & Andrea Giornetti, 2019. "Signing the letter to shareholders: Does the Signatory?s role relate to impression management?," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(1), pages 37-82.
    20. Brennan, Niamh M. & Daly, Caroline A. & Harrington, Claire S., 2010. "Rhetoric, argument and impression management in hostile takeover defence documents," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 253-268.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fan:ccadaa:v:html10.3280/cca2018-001005. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Stefania Rosato (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/sommario.aspx?IDRivista=178 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.