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Fashioning the popular masses: accounting as mediator between creativity and control

Author

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  • Ingrid Jeacle
  • Chris Carter

Abstract

Purpose - The paper aims to investigate accounting's role as a mediating instrument between the tensions of creativity and control within the price competitive world of the fashion chain store. Design/methodology/approach - The paper employs a case study approach, gathering interview data from key members within a UK fashion chain, and uses Goffman's work on impression management to inform its theoretical argumentation. Findings - Drawing on Goffman, the paper considers the roles adopted by organizational actors within fashion retailing and the actions they pursue in order to maintain a team performance. The authors suggest that accounting, as a form of stage prop, helps to sustain this team impression by mediating between the creativity and control concerns inherent in fashion design. In the process, they also gain some understanding of the use of accounting by actors beyond the confines of an organization's finance function. Originality/value - Despite the magnitude of the fashion industry and its dominance in the identity construction of both individual and streetscape, the role of accounting within this domain of popular culture has remained remarkably unexplored. This paper attempts to redress such scholarly neglect. It also furthers an understanding of the relatively unexplored role of accounting as a mediating instrument within the complex dialectic of creativity and control.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingrid Jeacle & Chris Carter, 2012. "Fashioning the popular masses: accounting as mediator between creativity and control," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(4), pages 719-751, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:25:y:2012:i:4:p:719-751
    DOI: 10.1108/09513571211225114
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    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
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    Cited by:

    1. Le Theule, Marie-Astrid & Lupu, Ioana, 2016. "Publishing without editors or authors? Competing logics, circulation, and cultural creation in a publishing firm," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 14-33.
    2. Jack, Lisa & Florez-Lopez, Raquel & Ramon-Jeronimo, Juan Manuel, 2018. "Accounting, performance measurement and fairness in UK fresh produce supply networks," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 17-30.
    3. Parker, Lee D. & Schmitz, Jana, 2022. "The Reinvented accounting firm office: Impression management for efficiency, client relations and cost control," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    4. Per Ståle Knardal & Trond Bjørnenak, 2020. "Managerial characteristics and budget use in festival organizations," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 379-402, December.
    5. Ahblom, Per & Sjögren, Ebba, 2019. "Delivering performance: the capital market framing of financial numbers from a preparer perspective," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102819, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Baxter, Jane & Carlsson-Wall, Martin & Chua, Wai Fong & Kraus, Kalle, 2019. "Accounting and passionate interests: The case of a Swedish football club," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 21-40.
    7. Masquefa, Bertrand & Gallhofer, Sonja & Haslam, Jim, 2017. "Developing appreciation of micro-organizational processes of accounting change and indicating pathways to more ‘Enabling Accounting’ in a micro-organizational domain of research and development," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 59-82.
    8. Massimo Sargiacomo, 2018. "Accounting, the ‘Art of Interessment’ and the ‘Good Spokesperson’: innovation in action in luxury high fashion (1959–1979)," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1-2), pages 85-127, May.
    9. Mélanie Roussy & Michelle Rodrigue, 2018. "Internal Audit: Is the ‘Third Line of Defense’ Effective as a Form of Governance? An Exploratory Study of the Impression Management Techniques Chief Audit Executives Use in Their Annual Accountability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 853-869, September.
    10. Eva Lövstål & Anne-Marie Jontoft, 2017. "Tensions at the intersection of management control and innovation: a literature review," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 41-79, February.
    11. Ferry, Laurence & Zakaria, Zamzulaila & Zakaria, Zarina & Slack, Richard, 2018. "Framing public governance in Malaysia: Rhetorical appeals through accrual accounting," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 170-183.
    12. Erkki K. Laitinen & Aapo Länsiluoto & Soila Salonen, 2016. "Interactive budgeting, product innovation, and firm performance: empirical evidence from Finnish firms," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 293-322, November.

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