Sylvain Durocher

IFRS: On the Docility of Sophisticated Users in Preserving the Ideal of Comparability

This paper questions the ideal of comparability, which is often mobilized by standard setters when justifying new – or ‘improvement’ to existing – accounting standards. The target of our analysis is constituted by the thoughts of sophisticated users of financial statements when reflecting about International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) implementation in Europe. Drawing on the work of Mary Douglas on purity and Michel Foucault on docility, it is argued and shown that sophisticated users tend to interpret aberrations – that is to say indications of incomparability which confront users in the flow of their professional lives – in ways that allow the ideal of comparability to be preserved. Important consequences ensuing from the docility of users in purifying aberrations are discussed.

The future of interpretive accounting research: The contribution of McCracken's (1988) approach

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the polyphonic debate on the future of interpretive accounting research (IAR) by addressing the issues of cumulative knowledge and embedment of IAR in wider literatures. Design/methodology/approach - McCrackens method of inquiry, adapted to incorporate meso-level considerations, can be used to help resolve these issues. Accounting-related phenomena can be studied by first identifying the cumulative knowledge contributed by different theoretical perspectives that provides broad skeletal categories to be investigated in the context of an interpretive study. In addition, micro- and macro-level “external” theories are incorporated in a global meso-level framework to provide a high-level lens to guide data generation and analysis, fostering the embedment of IAR in wider literatures. Findings - Meso-level research implies thinking organizationally and behaviourally, and thinking about linkage. By extension, it requires reflecting on the characteristics of the context in which the phenomenon occurs and the actors behave, the nature of the task or decision to perform, and possible links between macro- and micro-factors that help identify “external” theories and frameworks that contribute to understanding the phenomenon. Research limitations/implications - The contribution of the suggested approach is highlighted in the context of financial accounting research. Reflexive accounts on the choice and use of a meso-level approach are presented, and the issue of appropriate balance between theoretical and empirical material is addressed. Originality/value - Creativity is fostered when cumulative knowledge about a specific phenomenon is embedded in wider meso-level theoretical perspectives, leading to the discovery of new insights about the topic under study and contributing to the advancement of knowledge.

Attracting Prospective Professional Accountants Before and After the CPA Merger in Canada

As part of the unification of the Canadian accounting profession, a lot of effort has been devoted to organizational structures and systems. In these times of change, recruitment of prospective professional accountants remains an important factor for the Canadian and international development of the profession. In this paper, we explore professional accountants’ recruitment by accounting associations in Ontario before (CA, CGA, CMA) and after (CPA) the merger of the three professional accounting associations. We use a legitimacy framework to make sense of the recruitment website content of each association. We find, in the post-merger period, that the CPA profession adopts a more passive approach to legitimacy management, focusing mainly on exchange aspects of legitimacy, whereas prior to the merger a wider range of legitimacy management strategies were deployed by the predecessor associations. Important implications ensuing from our study are discussed.

Desingularization and Dequalification: A Foray Into Ranking Production and Utilization Processes

Abstract Although some authors highlight the benefits of journal rankings, previous research is often highly critical of them, insinuating that they can lead to desingularization of academic journals (i.e. their impoverishment and standardization) and dequalification of researchers (i.e. a weakening of researchers’ ability to evaluate academic research). However, as very few authors have empirically assessed these presumptions, we aim to address this gap in the literature. Based on Lucien Karpik’s notions of singularities, judgment devices, forms of involvement, and emulation and rivalry, we assess whether the processes surrounding the production and use of journal rankings might lead to desingularization and dequalification. Our findings support previous research by highlighting that processes where passivity and heteronomy (i.e. lack of autonomy) prevail are conducive to desingularization, rivalry and dequalification. Our findings, however, introduce some nuances into the debate by underscoring instances where emulation logic is employed instead of mere rivalry logic, and where substantial judgment devices and active involvement are mobilized in the production and use of rankings, thereby somewhat alleviating the spread of desingularization and dequalification. Ultimately, our study raises questions that point to a need for serious collective reflection within the academic community on the processes by which published research is evaluated.

Users’ legitimacy perceptions about standard-setting processes

Standard-setting institutions require legitimacy to survive. Prior research infers their legitimacy mainly from the characteristics of standard-setting processes rather than from the legitimacy judgments of important constituencies. Using a survey of financial analysts, we quantitatively assess users’ perceptions about the characteristics of standard-setting processes, the relationships between these characteristics and legitimacy perceptions, and users’ legitimacy perceptions. Our first contribution is to use a sample of sophisticated financial statement users to empirically examine the theoretical proposition that users’ legitimacy perceptions could be a function of the perceived characteristics of standard-setting processes. We find that users’ perceptions about the characteristics of standard-setting processes affect the legitimacy they attribute to these processes. A combination of pragmatic, moral and cognitive legitimacies are at play in such legitimacy assessments. Our second contribution is to point out the importance of separately investigating various types of legitimacy, as users’ perceptions about them vary. Lastly, our third contribution is to highlight that the distinction between users’ perceptions of the characteristics of standard-setting processes and their legitimacy perceptions is not always clear-cut and that there are multiple interrelations among these concepts.

The Diversity of 'Diversity' in Canadian Accounting Firm Recruitment Websites

We examine use of the term ‘diversity’ in the recruitment websites of Canada’s eight largest public accounting firms. We find a range of distinct uses of the term. We note differences in the use of ‘diversity’ between Big Four accounting firms and the next four largest firms. The Big Four vary in their approaches to diversity, with Deloitte’s and KPMG’s websites addressing the most dimensions of diversity and the highest number of references to diversity. Diversity in the discourse of diversity arguably stems from variance in the institutional logics held by accounting firms. Our analysis reveals the business case logic and commercial logic are the most prevalent institutional logics in use. Some Big Four firms also adopt an inclusiveness logic.

Timing the Adoption of the New Canadian GAAP for Private Enterprises

Prior research into the adoption timing decision of organisations in relation to newly promulgated accounting standards has focused exclusively on public enterprises and used economic cost-benefit frameworks as their main method of analysis. The current study draws on the theories of organisational diffusion of innovation and reasoned action to identify the factors that influence the adoption timing decision of private firms in relation to the new Canadian GAAP for private enterprises, published in 2009. It is shown that knowledge, relative advantages, compatibility, complexity and subjective norms play a significant role in managers’ adoption behaviour, as do sponsorship, managerial tenure and work groups. These results have broad implications for private enterprise managers, financial statement users, standard setters and academics.