Ethical positionings in the self-reflective accounts of professional accountants
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.36881Keywords:
account analysis, accounting profession, discursive strategies, ethical dilemmas, ethical practice, positioning, professional identityAbstract
Ethical aspects of professional practice are increasingly the focus of attention and scholarly investigation, nowhere more so than in the field of financial accounting. In this paper we examine how three experienced accountants responded to a query about the ethics of everyday accounting practice. From a corpus of 18 interviews, we chose three "accounts" representing three disparate ethical positions. The interviewees developed their positions tentatively and incrementally, and each employed a distinctive range of rhetorical and discursive strategies. They had time to reflect on the topic in question, i.e. to reflect while actually speaking and to reflect on and react to what they had said so far. And they had time to consider the consequences of each impromptu formulation for their public identity as ethically responsible, trustworthy professionals as well as for their inner self-conceptions as ethical and moral agents. Our findings suggest that ethical self-understandings evolve over time, as individual agents react to the challenges or dilemmas they happen to confront, and that that process may well be accelerated through the activity of account giving - a process that simultaneously illuminates the impersonal corporate forces that organise our society.
References
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Atkinson, P. and Atkinson, P. A. (1995) Medical Talk and Medical Work. London: Sage.
Bamberg, M. (2005) Narrative discourse and identities. In J. C. Meister, T. Kindt and W. Schernus (eds) Narratology Beyond Literary Criticism: Mediality, Disciplinarity, 213–237. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110201840.213
Candlin, C. N. (2006) Accounting for interdiscursivity: Challenges to professional expertise. In M. Gotti and D. S. Giannoni (eds) New Trends in Specialized Discourse Analysis, 21–45. Bern: Peter Lang.
Davies, B. and Harré, R. (1990) Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 20 (1): 43–63. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5914.1990.tb00174.x
Gaa, J. C. and Thorne, L. (2004) An introduction to the special issue on professionalism and ethics in accounting education. Issues in Accounting Education 19 (1): 1–6.
Garfinkel, H. (1967) Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Goffman, E. (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday Anchor.
Hanlon, G. (1996) ‘Casino capitalism’ and the rise of the ‘commercialised’ service class – An examination of the accountant. Critical Perspectives on Accounting 7 (3): 339–363. https://doi.org/10.1006/cpac.1996.0038
Heritage, J. (1984) Garfinkel and Ethnomethodology. New York: Polity.
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Hoey, M. (2001) Textual Interaction: An Introduction to Written Discourse Analysis. London: Routledge.
Holt, E. and Drew, P. (2005) Figurative pivots: The use of figurative expressions in pivotal topic transitions. Research on Language and Social Interaction 38 (1): 35–61. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327973rlsi3801_2
Jackling, B., Cooper, B. J., Leung, P. and Dellaportas, S. (2007) Professional accounting bodies’ perceptions of ethical issues, causes of ethical failure and ethics education. Managerial Auditing Journal 22 (9): 928–944. https://doi.org/10.1108/02686900710829426
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Labov, W. and Waletzky, J. (1967) Narrative analysis. In J. Helm (ed.) Essays on the Verbal and Visual Arts, 12–44. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Liu, C., Yao, L. J and Hu, N. (2012) Improving ethics education in accounting: Lessons from medicine and law. Issues in Accounting Education 27 (3): 671–690. https://doi.org/10.2308/iace-50150
McCabe, D. (2016) Numericalizing the other: A critical analysis of a strategy discourse in a UK bank. Organization 23 (4): 525–549. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508415581443
Mills, C. W. (1940) Situated actions and vocabularies of motive. American Sociological Review 5 (6): 904–913. https://doi.org/10.2307/2084524
Noordegraaf, M. (2007) From ‘pure’ to ‘hybrid’ professionalism: Present-day professionalism in ambiguous public domains. Administration & Society 39 (6): 761–785. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399707304434
Orbuch, T. L. (1997) People’s accounts count: The sociology of accounts. Annual Review of Sociology 23: 455–478. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.23.1.455
Pomerantz, A. (1986) Extreme case formulations: A way of legitimizing claims. Human Studies 9 (2–3): 219–229. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00148128
Reamer, F. G. (2013) Social Work Values and Ethics. Fourth edition. New York: Columbia University Press.
Sarangi, S. (2010) Practising discourse analysis in healthcare settings. In I. Bourgeault, R. Dingwall and R. de Vries (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Methods in Health Research, 397–416. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446268247.n21
Sarangi, S. (2012) Owning responsible actions/selves: Role-relational trajectories in counselling for childhood genetic testing. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice 9 (3): 295–318. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v9i3.25743
Sarangi, S. and Clarke, A. (2002) Constructing an account by contrast in counselling for childhood genetic testing. Social Science & Medicine 54 (2): 295–308. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(01)00029-6
Sarangi, S. and Roberts, C. (1999) The dynamics of interactional and institutional orders in work-related settings. In S. Sarangi and C. Roberts (eds) Talk, Work and Institutional Order: Discourse in Medical, Mediation and Management Settings, 1–57. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110208375.1.1
Schön, D. A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books.
Schmid, H.-J. (2001) ‘Presupposition can be a bluff’: How abstract nouns can be used as presupposition triggers. Journal of Pragmatics 33 (10): 1529–1552. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(01)00027-3
Scott, M. B. and Lyman, S. M. (1968) Accounts. American Sociological Review 33 (1): 46–62. https://doi.org/10.2307/2092239
Shipman, H., Clarke, A. J. and Sarangi, S. (2014) Accounts of consent: Orienting to self-other relations regarding motivations to participate in cancer bio-banking. Communication & Medicine 11 (1): 69–84. https://doi.org/10.1558/cam.v11i1.17324
Schweiker, W. (1993) Accounting for ourselves: Accounting practice and the discourse of ethics. Accounting, Organizations and Society 18 (2–3): 231–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-3682(93)90035-5
Sin, S. (2011) An Investigation of Practitioners’ and Students’ Conceptions of Accounting Work. Linköping: Linköping University Press.
Sin, S., Reid, A. and Dahlgren, L. O. (2011) The conceptions of work in the accounting profession in the twenty-first century from the experiences of practitioners. Studies in Continuing Education 33 (2): 139–156. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2010.544524
Sin, S., Reid, A. and Jones, A. (2012) An exploration of students’ conceptions of accounting work. Accounting Education 21 (4): 323–340. https://doi.org/10.1080/09639284.2012.661604
Sterponi, L. A. (2003) Account episodes in family discourse: The making of morality in everyday interaction. Discourse Studies 5 (1): 79–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614456030050010401
Sterponi, L. A. (2009) Accountability in family discourse: Socialization into norms and standards and negotiation of responsibility in Italian dinner conversations. Childhood 16 (4): 441–459. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568209343269
Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Van Peursem, K. (2005) Conversations with internal auditors: The power of ambiguity. Managerial Auditing Journal 20 (5): 489–512. https://doi.org/10.1108/02686900510598849
Walter, I. (2005) Conflicts of interest and market discipline in financial services firms. In M. Frenkel, M. Rudolf and U. Hommel (eds) Risk Management, 25–51. Berlin: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-26993-2_2
White, P. (1997) Death, disruption and the moral order: The narrative impulse in mass-media ‘hard news’ reporting. In F. Christie and J. R. Martin (eds) Genre and Institutions: Social Processes in the Workplace and School, 101–133. London: Continuum.
White, S. and Wastell, D. (2011) Theoretical vocabularies and moral negotiation in child welfare: The saga of Evie and Seb. In C. N. Candlin and S. Sarangi (eds) Handbook of Communication in Organisations and Professions, 259–276. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Ahrens, T. and Chapman, C. S. (2000) Occupational identity of management accountants in Britain and Germany. European Accounting Review 9 (4): 477–498. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638180020024070
Antaki, C. (1994) Explaining and Arguing: The Social Organization of Accounts. London: Sage.
Aquino, K. and Reed, A. (2002) The self-importance of moral identity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83 (6): 1423–1440. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1423
Armstrong, M. B. (1993) Ethics and professionalism in accounting education: A sample course. Journal of Accounting Education 11 (1): 77–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/0748-5751(93)90019-F
Arribas-Ayllon, M., Sarangi, S. and Clarke, A. (2009) Professional ambivalence: Accounts of ethical practice in childhood genetic testing. Journal of Genetic Counseling 1 (2): 173–184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-008-9201-0
Arribas-Ayllon, M., Sarangi, S. and Clarke, A. (2011) Genetic Testing: Accounts of Autonomy, Responsibility and Blame. London: Routledge.
Atkinson, P. and Atkinson, P. A. (1995) Medical Talk and Medical Work. London: Sage.
Bamberg, M. (2005) Narrative discourse and identities. In J. C. Meister, T. Kindt and W. Schernus (eds) Narratology Beyond Literary Criticism: Mediality, Disciplinarity, 213–237. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110201840.213
Candlin, C. N. (2006) Accounting for interdiscursivity: Challenges to professional expertise. In M. Gotti and D. S. Giannoni (eds) New Trends in Specialized Discourse Analysis, 21–45. Bern: Peter Lang.
Davies, B. and Harré, R. (1990) Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 20 (1): 43–63. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5914.1990.tb00174.x
Gaa, J. C. and Thorne, L. (2004) An introduction to the special issue on professionalism and ethics in accounting education. Issues in Accounting Education 19 (1): 1–6.
Garfinkel, H. (1967) Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Goffman, E. (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday Anchor.
Hanlon, G. (1996) ‘Casino capitalism’ and the rise of the ‘commercialised’ service class – An examination of the accountant. Critical Perspectives on Accounting 7 (3): 339–363. https://doi.org/10.1006/cpac.1996.0038
Heritage, J. (1984) Garfinkel and Ethnomethodology. New York: Polity.
Heritage, J. (1988) Explanations as accounts: A conversation analytic perspective. In C. Antaki (ed.) Analysing Everyday Explanation: A Casebook of Methods, 127–144. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hoey, M. (2001) Textual Interaction: An Introduction to Written Discourse Analysis. London: Routledge.
Holt, E. and Drew, P. (2005) Figurative pivots: The use of figurative expressions in pivotal topic transitions. Research on Language and Social Interaction 38 (1): 35–61. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327973rlsi3801_2
Jackling, B., Cooper, B. J., Leung, P. and Dellaportas, S. (2007) Professional accounting bodies’ perceptions of ethical issues, causes of ethical failure and ethics education. Managerial Auditing Journal 22 (9): 928–944. https://doi.org/10.1108/02686900710829426
Jones, A. and Sin, S. (2013) Achieving professional trustworthiness: Communicative expertise and identity work in professional accounting practice. In C. N. Candlin and J. Crichton (eds) Discourses of Trust, 151–166. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Labov, W. and Waletzky, J. (1967) Narrative analysis. In J. Helm (ed.) Essays on the Verbal and Visual Arts, 12–44. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Liu, C., Yao, L. J and Hu, N. (2012) Improving ethics education in accounting: Lessons from medicine and law. Issues in Accounting Education 27 (3): 671–690. https://doi.org/10.2308/iace-50150
McCabe, D. (2016) Numericalizing the other: A critical analysis of a strategy discourse in a UK bank. Organization 23 (4): 525–549. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508415581443
Mills, C. W. (1940) Situated actions and vocabularies of motive. American Sociological Review 5 (6): 904–913. https://doi.org/10.2307/2084524
Noordegraaf, M. (2007) From ‘pure’ to ‘hybrid’ professionalism: Present-day professionalism in ambiguous public domains. Administration & Society 39 (6): 761–785. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399707304434
Orbuch, T. L. (1997) People’s accounts count: The sociology of accounts. Annual Review of Sociology 23: 455–478. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.23.1.455
Pomerantz, A. (1986) Extreme case formulations: A way of legitimizing claims. Human Studies 9 (2–3): 219–229. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00148128
Reamer, F. G. (2013) Social Work Values and Ethics. Fourth edition. New York: Columbia University Press.
Sarangi, S. (2010) Practising discourse analysis in healthcare settings. In I. Bourgeault, R. Dingwall and R. de Vries (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Methods in Health Research, 397–416. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446268247.n21
Sarangi, S. (2012) Owning responsible actions/selves: Role-relational trajectories in counselling for childhood genetic testing. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice 9 (3): 295–318. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v9i3.25743
Sarangi, S. and Clarke, A. (2002) Constructing an account by contrast in counselling for childhood genetic testing. Social Science & Medicine 54 (2): 295–308. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(01)00029-6
Sarangi, S. and Roberts, C. (1999) The dynamics of interactional and institutional orders in work-related settings. In S. Sarangi and C. Roberts (eds) Talk, Work and Institutional Order: Discourse in Medical, Mediation and Management Settings, 1–57. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110208375.1.1
Schön, D. A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books.
Schmid, H.-J. (2001) ‘Presupposition can be a bluff’: How abstract nouns can be used as presupposition triggers. Journal of Pragmatics 33 (10): 1529–1552. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(01)00027-3
Scott, M. B. and Lyman, S. M. (1968) Accounts. American Sociological Review 33 (1): 46–62. https://doi.org/10.2307/2092239
Shipman, H., Clarke, A. J. and Sarangi, S. (2014) Accounts of consent: Orienting to self-other relations regarding motivations to participate in cancer bio-banking. Communication & Medicine 11 (1): 69–84. https://doi.org/10.1558/cam.v11i1.17324
Schweiker, W. (1993) Accounting for ourselves: Accounting practice and the discourse of ethics. Accounting, Organizations and Society 18 (2–3): 231–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-3682(93)90035-5
Sin, S. (2011) An Investigation of Practitioners’ and Students’ Conceptions of Accounting Work. Linköping: Linköping University Press.
Sin, S., Reid, A. and Dahlgren, L. O. (2011) The conceptions of work in the accounting profession in the twenty-first century from the experiences of practitioners. Studies in Continuing Education 33 (2): 139–156. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2010.544524
Sin, S., Reid, A. and Jones, A. (2012) An exploration of students’ conceptions of accounting work. Accounting Education 21 (4): 323–340. https://doi.org/10.1080/09639284.2012.661604
Sterponi, L. A. (2003) Account episodes in family discourse: The making of morality in everyday interaction. Discourse Studies 5 (1): 79–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614456030050010401
Sterponi, L. A. (2009) Accountability in family discourse: Socialization into norms and standards and negotiation of responsibility in Italian dinner conversations. Childhood 16 (4): 441–459. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568209343269
Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Van Peursem, K. (2005) Conversations with internal auditors: The power of ambiguity. Managerial Auditing Journal 20 (5): 489–512. https://doi.org/10.1108/02686900510598849
Walter, I. (2005) Conflicts of interest and market discipline in financial services firms. In M. Frenkel, M. Rudolf and U. Hommel (eds) Risk Management, 25–51. Berlin: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-26993-2_2
White, P. (1997) Death, disruption and the moral order: The narrative impulse in mass-media ‘hard news’ reporting. In F. Christie and J. R. Martin (eds) Genre and Institutions: Social Processes in the Workplace and School, 101–133. London: Continuum.
White, S. and Wastell, D. (2011) Theoretical vocabularies and moral negotiation in child welfare: The saga of Evie and Seb. In C. N. Candlin and S. Sarangi (eds) Handbook of Communication in Organisations and Professions, 259–276. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Published
2018-12-31
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Articles
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Equinox Publishing Ltd.
How to Cite
Jones, A., & Sin, S. (2018). Ethical positionings in the self-reflective accounts of professional accountants. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 13(1-3), 145-166. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.36881
