Jane Davison

Rhetoric, repetition, reporting and the “dot.com” era: words, pictures, intangibles

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to add to theoretical and empirical work on the rhetoric of narratives and pictures in annual reporting by using the lens of repetition to examine the Design/methodology/approach - The study constructs a conceptual framework of repetition in signifiants (from rhetoric) and signifies (from philosophy, notably Barthes, Deleuze, Eliade and Jankelevitch). Signifiants are established by reference to rhetorical figures based in repetition: anadiplosis, anaphora, alliteration/rhyme and lists. Signifies are indicated as conscious rhetorical emphasis, and unconscious reflections of sameness and difference; networks and links; and, of particular interest during the “dot.com” years, exuberance and compulsion; differentiation, ritual and reassurance. The framework is used to analyse BT plcs Findings - The application of the framework is enlightening: repetition is shown to be prevalent in BT plcs Research limitations/implications - The paper provides a model which may be applied to the wealth of discretionary narratives and pictures in contemporary annual reporting. It would also benefit from the assessment of readership impact. Practical implications - The analysis is of interest to accounting researchers, practitioners, trainees, auditors and any user of accounting and accountability statements. It illuminates the way in which discretionary words and pictures highlight and supplement accounting information. Originality/value - The paper augments theoretical and empirical work on the significance of narratives and pictures in accounting.

Sacred vestiges in financial reporting

Accounting research has mirrored the annual report in its eclecticism. There remain, however, notable gaps in the research profile, including theological perspectives and the analysis of visual images. The contribution of this present study is twofold: to advance a general philosophical reading of sacred vestiges within financial reporting, and to add to the interpretation of visual images within financial reporting. The examination takes as its primary guide the philosopher and religious historian, Mircea Eliade, and also draws on the work of C.G. Jung. The paper first suggests that archaic traces of a sacred concept of cyclical and repeatable time may be perceived in the periodic preparation of financial statements and associated ritual. It is further contended that the visual space of financial reporting may bear traces of archaic religious attitudes; specific images are analysed and illuminated by religious and cultural associations with ascension.

Imag[in]ing accounting and accountability

Purpose - This paper aims to set out several of the key issues and areas of the inter-disciplinary field of visual perspectives on accounting and accountability, and to introduce the papers that compose this Design/methodology/approach - This takes the form of a discussion paper, exploring several key issues related to visual perspectives on accounting and accountability. Findings - The paper suggests that there has been some myopia with regard to the importance of the visual in accounting and accountability, and introduces a variety of theoretical, methodological and empirical approaches. Research limitations/implications - It is hoped that the issues and approaches explored in this paper, together with those of the various papers of this Practical implications - The analyses of the ways in which the visual is implicated in accounting are of interest to accounting researchers, practitioners, trainees and auditors. Originality/value - The paper surveys past work on visual perspectives in accounting and organization studies, provides an overview of challenges in the area, and sets an agenda for future research.

Communication and antithesis in corporate annual reports: a research note

The paper aims to identify one of the communication techniques which creative designers may use in the Annual Review/Annual Report and Accounts, described by Hopwood (1996) as a ‘largely unresearched document’. It offers a new dimension to add to existing work on graphs, accounting narratives, readability and visual images by Armenic & Craig (2000), Beattie & Jones (1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000), Courtis (1995, 1998), Graves et al (1996), McKinstry (1996), Preston et al (1996), Walters-York (1996). Using analytical methods from within artistic disciplines, the paper examines the use of antithesis in structure, visual material and text of Reuters 2000 Annual Review and Report and Accounts. It is suggested that the framing and communicative power of such techniques may supplement the accounting disclosures. Further possible applications and lines of enquiry are outlined.

Icon, iconography, iconology: Visual branding, banking and the case of the bowler hat

Purpose - This paper aims to explore the entangling of economic, social and cultural values which circulate in visual branding, reflect business practice and add intangibles to organisations. Design/methodology/approach - The study is placed in the context of the difficulties and shortcomings of accounting for brands. A conceptual framework is constructed, based in critical theory from arts disciplines, notably from the thought of Barthes, Panofsky and Peirce. The icon is a primary denotation or representation. Iconography is a secondary level of coded meaning. Iconology is an interpretation that calls on the unconscious. Intermingling of the icon and the logos is considered. This accounting context and arts framework are used to compare the financial statements of the Bradford & Bingley Bank with its visual branding. Findings - The financial statements are almost silent regarding brands, in line with regulation. In response to the greater competition that accompanied deregulation and globalisation, the Banks lending and funding practices become more innovative. The visual framework reveals a changing iconography and iconology where class, detectives, music hall and the bowler-object may be discerned. An iconology is suggested of dreamlike connotations and magical powers in the collective unconscious. The Bradford & Bingley have actively managed their visual branding to reflect and appeal to a changing society, and a more competitive business environment. Research limitations/implications - The study provides a model which may be applied to visual aspects of financial reporting and branding. It would benefit from an assessment of readership impact. Practical implications - The analysis is of interest to accounting researchers, practitioners, trainees and auditors. It illuminates the ways in which visual branding interacts with business practices and conveys intangible values that are not reflected in the accounts. Originality/value - The paper augments theoretical and empirical work on visual images in accounting.

Exploring the visual in organizations and management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss how “the visual” might be conceptualised more broadly as a useful development of qualitative methodologies for organizational research. The paper introduces the articles that form the basis of this special issue of QROM, including a review of related studies that discuss the analysis of organizational visuals, as well as extant literature that develops a methodological agenda for visual organizational researchers.Design/methodology/approach – The Guest Editors’ conceptual arguments are advanced through a literature review approach.Findings – The Guest Editors conclude that studying “the visual” holds great potential for qualitative organizational researchers and show how this field is fast developing around a number of interesting image‐based issues in organizational life.Research limitations/implications – A future research agenda is articulated and the special issue that this paper introduces is intended to serve as a “showcase” and inspiration for quali...

Visualising accounting: an interdisciplinary review and synthesis

This paper offers the first wide-ranging review and synthesis of visual research in accounting. It aims to shape, order and evaluate the field for the first time. Visual forms are important to accounting because of their power and their ubiquity in an increasingly visual society. Visual forms constitute representation (incremental information) or construction (impression management) or both. The paper defines the visual broadly to include pictures, photographs, film, architecture, diagrams, advertisements and web pages that appear in a wide variety of documentary and geographical locations. It encompasses papers that examine a wide range of issues (from impression management, visual rhetoric, professional identity, gender and diversity to corporate social responsibility, intellectual capital, myth and religion). First is an overview of the ‘visual turn’ in contemporary society, critical thought and accounting. The second part brings together for the first time a wide range of work on the visual in accounting. It gives order by means of a framework constructed from the interdisciplinarity that is fundamental to the field, from arts disciplines, through sociology, to psychology and economics. The third section is an evaluative discussion of the strengths and challenges of the field. Finally, a rich agenda for future research is outlined.

Visual rhetoric and the case of intellectual capital

Visual images abound in accounting-related media and are powerful tools for communicating messages regarding all aspects of organisations. This is particularly important in the case of intellectual capital, where a deficient accounting framework for intangibles leads stakeholders to seek enlightenment beyond the financial statements. The central contribution of the work presented here is the development of theory to guide the interpretation of visual rhetoric in pictures and photographs. Within an over-arching framework of Barthesian visual semiotics, a model of visual rhetoric and repetition is developed by reference to the work of Durand and others. Four types of visual repetition are identified: identity, similarity, accumulation and series. In the light of this model, illustrative examples of visual images from annual reports are analysed to indicate how visual rhetoric contributes to the communication of intellectual capital.

Looking back: ten years of visual qualitative research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the development of visual qualitative research in organizations and management over the past ten years, the experience of editing a special issue of Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management entitled “Exploring the visual in organizations and management”, and the potential contributions this journal could make to the advancement of this significant area of research. Design/methodology/approach – This paper provides an overview and critical reflections on visual qualitative research in the study of organizations and management. Findings – The authors note that organization studies have been slow to develop visual research compared to other disciplines, especially the humanities and branches of the social sciences. However, development has been rapid over the past decade, and the authors comment on the diverse visual empirical material and the range of conceptual approaches. Research limitations/implications – The paper is a condensed reflectio...

Accounting narratives: storytelling, philosophising and quantification

Accounting-related narratives are found in various media, and written by various stakeholders. Preparer-created narratives are now acknowledged as a crucial component of the business reporting package (IASB 2010), and the role of the reader in their interpretation is well understood. Research into accounting narratives (broadly defined as written or spoken discourse) has been developing for some time and covers a broad spectrum from large-scale positivist economicsrooted quantitative analyses, more recently assisted by computerised linguistic techniques (e.g. Li 2010, Schleicher and Walker 2010), to content analysis supported by theory from the social sciences (e.g. Merkl-Davies and Brennan 2011), to finely worked qualitative case studies, using methods from the humanities (e.g. Czarniawska 2008, Davison 2008). Beattie (2014) argues for the importance of both the positivist tradition and the interpretive/critical approaches in examining accounting-related narratives, discusses key issues, theory, methodology and methods and offers a framework for thinking about research in accounting narratives. In the social sciences, the ‘narrative turn’ has permeated many disciplines and is associated with a shift away from realism and positivism (Riessman 2008). Storytelling is a specific narrative form of particular significance because stories help people make sense of events (Gabriel 2000, Weick 1995). A range of devices (such as structure, plot, viewpoint, character and rhetorical techniques) are employed in storytelling. Yet, narrative theory and analysis remains a relatively neglected area of accounting research. A special issue of Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal in 2007 (Volume 20, Number 6, Editors Llewellyn and Milne) was devoted to Accounting as codified discourse, taking accounting language as an example of codified discourse, through its use of technical terminology. In 2012, Accounting Forum published a special issue entitled Analyzing the Quality, Meaning and Accountability of Organizational Communication (Volume 36, Number 3, Editors Tregidga, Milne and Lehman) that encouraged qualitative and interpretive approaches to accounting communication more generally. Given the importance of narratives to accounting, we were surprised that there had been no special issue devoted specifically to accounting narratives. This special issue was therefore designed to encourage the broad spectrum of research into narratives. We encouraged papers adopting any theoretical or methodological perspective, including blended theory papers. We suggested, for example, studies based in economics, psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, (social) linguistics, sociology and literary criticism, that could be large-scale positivist studies through to qualitative case studies. We also welcomed work on types of accounting-related narrative source material that had previously been relatively or entirely neglected. Although we had anticipated a good degree of interest, we were overwhelmed by both the number and quality of submissions. We received almost 60 papers, taking a very broad range