Lessons we never wanted to learn: pandemic as pedagogy

• Published in: Journal of accounting & organizational change 2020-12, Vol.16 (4), p.621-627
• Main Author: Fogarty, Timothy J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Baby boomers; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Disease transmission; Economic expansion; Education; Generations; Globalization; Independent study; Medical supplies; Pandemics
• ISSN: 1832-5912; 1839-5473
• DOI: 10.1108/JAOC-08-2020-0109

Purpose The purpose of this paper is a reflective account in which one person who has been around long enough to see a good bit considers how COVID-19 might change the general contours of the world. Design/methodology/approach This paper follows a broadly based and relatively unstructured approach, based on personal understandings and whatever rigor might have been gained by a life spent thinking about research design and the limits of methodology. Findings The opposite of what many others believe will happen is argued for. Things will change more than we wish. Most will change for the worse. Research limitations/implications Accounting research will have a role to play, but to have impact, this study will require that researchers adopt a much more critical perspective about capitalism and its consequences than before. Practical implications Everyone must do the best they can. Everyone must learn to accept the new and not rage to restore that which existed in before times. Social implications Harsher climate of interpersonal relations will be realized. Originality/value This paper is more about change than about accounting. A 30,000-foot level analysis that does not try to provide many examples. An effort to rise above the specifics that vary across the world.