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Representations of the CFO in comicbook business fiction
[Les représentations du DAF dans les fictions d’affaires en bandes dessinées]

Author

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  • Sébastien Rocher

    (CEREFIGE - Centre Européen de Recherche en Economie Financière et Gestion des Entreprises - UL - Université de Lorraine)

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study of public representations of the chief financial officer in comicbook business fiction. From an analysis of 11 characters, 4 profiles have been identified: the realist, observing the possibilities of the company from its accounting situation; the inventive, proposing external growth opportunities to the manager; the profiteer, abusing his position of power within the company; and the fraudster, involved in financial scandals. It emerges from this typology that dishonesty characterizes most of the characters, and that the CFO is, in the imagination, the one who contributes to spreading a financial logic that benefits the shareholder, without considering the consequences on the other actors of the company. This image seems to be the consequence of the financial scandals that animated the economic world in the early 2000s, with the CFO becoming the target of a criticism of capitalism conveyed in the comicbooks studied.

Suggested Citation

  • Sébastien Rocher, 2021. "Representations of the CFO in comicbook business fiction [Les représentations du DAF dans les fictions d’affaires en bandes dessinées]," Post-Print hal-03557492, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03557492
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03557492
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Feng, Mei & Ge, Weili & Luo, Shuqing & Shevlin, Terry, 2011. "Why do CFOs become involved in material accounting manipulations?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 21-36.
    2. Richardson, Peter & Dellaportas, Steven & Perera, Luckmika & Richardson, Ben, 2015. "Towards a conceptual framework on the categorization of stereotypical perceptions in accounting," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 28-46.
    3. Mark Christensen & Sébastien Rocher, 2020. "The persistence of accountant beancounter images in popular culture," Post-Print hal-03032782, HAL.
    4. Jean C. Bedard & Rani Hoitash & Udi Hoitash, 2014. "Chief Financial Officers as Inside Directors," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 787-817, September.
    5. Sébastien Rocher, 2017. "Le comptable par la bande," Post-Print hal-02537706, HAL.
    6. Mark Christensen & Sébastien Rocher, 2020. "The persistence of accountant beancounter images in popular culture," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 33(6), pages 1395-1422, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    CFO; Business fiction; image; comicbooks; Fiction d'affaires; bandes dessinées; DAF;
    All these keywords.

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