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A proliferation of rankings and league tables increasingly permeate everyday life. An objective of this paper is to explain the profusion of such rankings, in particular on-line user review rankings, in contemporary society and what this means for our understanding of the role of accounting. The online travel website TripAdvisor and its hotel ranking system is a prominent example of this new phenomenon. The site increasingly appears to play the role of trusted intermediary for the 'independent traveller' who spurns the services of the traditional travel agent in favour of making their own holiday arrangements. In this paper, we undertake netnographic research to consider the way in which TripAdvisor rankings engender trust. Drawing on the site's own operational features together with an analysis of the traveller commentaries hosted within the site, we argue that the case of TripAdvisor is a powerful illustration of an internet mediated abstract system (Giddens, 1990, 1991) that draws on calculative practices to construct trust. In addition, we speculate as to the implications of the proliferation of such internet mediated expert systems, both on the accounting profession, and on future accounting research.

The change in schedule of paclitaxel from once every 3 weeks to a more frequent administration significantly improved the ability to eradicate invasive cancer in the breast and lymph nodes.

Traditionally, accounting has been described as a gendered profession. Recently, account-ing firms, and especially the Big Four, have made very public commitments to promote greater gender equality. Yet they struggle to retain women, especially at more senior levels. Drawing on a recent empirical field study of managers in one of the Big Four accounting firms (pseudonym Sky Accounting), we explore the effects of a flexible work initiative that was developed with the aim of creating ''the best professional workplace for women". The paper addresses the flexibility program as a key organizational practice that was specifi-cally designed to enhance the progression and retention of talented women at senior levels. We show how the initiative that was designed to challenge the status quo was, in practice, translated into a mechanism that actually reinforced gender barriers. In order to theorize our findings, we draw on contemporary theoretical approaches to gender from both accounting and organization theory and suggest several critical reflections on the dynamics of bringing about change in relation to gender inequality.

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Feminist news researchers have long argued that in the macho culture of most newsrooms, journalists' daily decisions about what is newsworthy remain firmly based on masculine news values. As such, issues and topics traditionally seen to be particularly relevant to women tend to be pushed to the margins of the news where the implicit assumption is that they are less important than those which interest men. In so doing, men's views and voices are privileged over women's, thereby contributing to the ongoing secondary status of women's participation as citizens. In this article, we draw upon data we collected from the UK and the Republic of Ireland as part of the larger, 108-country study, which comprised the 2010 Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP). We argue that while there have been some positive improvements in women's representation as news actors, sources and journalists in the British and Irish news media since the first GMMP day of monitoring in 1995, women's voices, experiences and expertise continue to be regarded by news industries as less important than those of men. Such a situation undermines and under-reports women's contribution to social, economic and cultural life and in so doing, diminishes democracy.

The meaning of professionalism is changing, with the commercial pressures of globalization exerting dramatic pressures on the nature of professional work and the skill sets required of professionals. This article engages with this debate by reporting on a qualitative, empirical study undertaken in a domain that has been largely neglected by sociology: professional accounting. Focusing on the elite 'Big 4' accounting firms, the ways in which partners and other senior accountants embody institutional logics into their habitus are analysed. It is shown that the embodiment of different logics is inextricably linked to the establishment of hierarchy within the Big 4, with a commercial-professional logic accorded a significantly higher status than a technicalprofessional logic. Further, the article responds to critics of Bourdieu's notion of habitus, highlighting how habitus does not merely denote the passive internalisation of external structures, but is also capable of disembodying constraining institutional logics, thereby highlighting scope for professional self-determination.

Purpose-Recent years have witnessed an increasing number of cities develop corporate strategies. Strategy has become an obligatory point of passage for many city managers. This paper starts by posing an ostensibly simple question: Why do cities need strategies? The commonsense answer to the question is: because cities compete with each other. This paper aims to problematise the seemingly natural link between cities, competition and strategy. Design/methodology/approach-The paper explores the role that calculative practices play in creating city league tables that, in turn, function as the a priori condition that generate competition between cities. It is interdisciplinary and draws on accounting, organization theory and strategy. The argument unfolds in four steps: first, it briefly provides some theoretical background for the analysis and relates it back to strategizing and accounting as a calculative practice; second, scrutinizes league tables as an a priori of competition; third, it discusses the implications of the argument for city management and accounting studies; finally, it concludes with a discussion of the power effects of those calculative practice that shape strategizing in cities through the production of competition. Findings-City strategizing is best understood as a set of complex responses to a new competitive arena, one rendered visible through calculative practices that manifest themselves in city rankings. The paper makes five key contributions: one, league tables reduce qualities to a quantifiable form; two, league tables create an order amongst a heterogeneous ensemble of entities; three, league tables stimulate the very competition they claim to reflect; four, once competition is accepted, individual players need a strategy to play the game; five, league tables have important power effects that may result in unintended consequences. Practical implications-The paper contributes to understanding how calculative practices relate to strategy; it explores the organizational environment in which city managers strategize; in addition, it discusses the problem of civic schizophrenia. Originality/value-The paper seeks to open up an agenda for studying city management, strategy and accounting.