Managerial discourse and the link between theory and practice: From ROI to value-based management

Building on Thrift's (2005) concept of the cultural circuit of capitalism using critical discourse analysis, the paper investigates the influence of management accounting concepts on practice. The paper proposes that the way that academic theories in management accounting affect practice depend...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Management accounting research 2010-06, Vol.21 (2), p.95-109
Main Author: Seal, Will
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accounting research
Business accounting
Capitalism
Conceptualization
Critical discourse analysis
Discourse analysis
Investment returns
Management accounting
Managerial knowledge
Practice
Return on investment
Strategic management
Strategic management accounting
Studies
Value-based management
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Summary:Building on Thrift's (2005) concept of the cultural circuit of capitalism using critical discourse analysis, the paper investigates the influence of management accounting concepts on practice. The paper proposes that the way that academic theories in management accounting affect practice depends on the origin of the early texts, the extent to which the texts become discourses and the relative institutional support for the discourse. The approach is illustrated by focusing on three particular management accounting concepts: return on investment (ROI), value-based management (VBM) and strategic management accounting (SMA) and empirically contextualised through the case history of GEC/Marconi. The paper explains that, whilst ROI and VBM have, to varying degrees, become part of managerial discourse, SMA has remained a loose collection of academic texts and has had a negligible impact on managerial discourse and practice.
ISSN:1044-5005
1096-1224
DOI:10.1016/j.mar.2010.02.007