A work role perspective of accountants in local government service departments

Rosenberg, David; Tomkins, Cyril; Day, Peter

doi:10.1016/0361-3682(82)90016-2

Cited by 37 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The insights on offer in sociology infused case studies soon confirmed the prescience of these researchers (e.g. Rosenberg et al, 1982;Covaleski & Dirsmith, 1983). …”

Section: Interpretive Sociologymentioning

confidence: 77%

Reflections on the Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Accounting Project

Roslender

Dillard

2003

Critical Perspectives on Accounting

121

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“…The insights on offer in sociology infused case studies soon confirmed the prescience of these researchers (e.g. Rosenberg et al, 1982;Covaleski & Dirsmith, 1983). …”

Section: Interpretive Sociologymentioning

confidence: 77%

Reflections on the Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Accounting Project

Roslender

Dillard

2003

Critical Perspectives on Accounting

121

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“…The complexities with which hybrid expertise dealt but which it also created-for example, through newly established "arms-length companies" owned by local authorities-were fundamentally different from the tasks of policing service directorate spending or even from the role of finance director as "miracle worker" who would use "creative accounting" to help authorise planned service directorate spending in the face of cutbacks from central government during the 1980s (Cochrane, 1993, p. 36). Whereas the 1980s saw a gradually emerging interest in supporting service demands against inflexible finance rules and shifting the odds of the game of guardians against advocates in favour of the latter (Rosenberg et al, 1982), the post-austerity hybridisation of financial and service expertise much more fundamentally led to a rethinking of the nature of services and the need for services, and the role of local authorities in providing them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A revised budgetary roles literature has postulated new roles for accountants and service managers in local government. Here, the distinction between advocates and guardians became frequently blurred contingent upon the ways in which budgetary constraints have been applied by governments (Jönsson, 1982;Rosenberg et al, 1982;Rosenberg and Tomkins, 1983).…”

Section: Review Of the Budgeting Roles And Accountability Literaturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The hybridising of financial and service expertise in English local authority budget control

Ahrens

Ferry

Khalifa

2018

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This article is c Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here http://dro.dur.ac.uk/23928. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Structured abstractPurpose -This paper traces the hybridising of financial and service expertise in English local authority budget control in order to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the contexts that gave rise to hybridisation than do previous accountability research frameworks.Design/methodology/approach -Using practice theory this paper interprets findings from a field study of Newcastle City Council and a review of relevant local authority regulation for England, stretching back to the 1980s.Findings -The hybridisation of financial and service expertise has entailed major changes to the practices on which local authority management depends, fuelled by a changing societal role of local authorities. Frequently, local authorities are no longer providers of public services but enablers who purchase services and manage arms-length contracts. This paper identifies some of the ways in which three structural elements that underpin local authority management practices have evolved to give rise to novel practices.Research implications/limitations -Even though this paper's research into changing regulatory frameworks, rules, and evolving local authority financial practices is based on institutional changes in England since the 1980s, the fieldwork element which fleshes out certain implications for local authority practices has focused on Newcastle City Council. Future research could fruitfully examine these issues in other local authorities.Practical implications -The hybridisation of financial and service expertise has contributed to reshaping local government beyond the rules that are put in place for regulating the sector by giving rise to new practices. Recent key developments include new service delivery arrangements, for example, through council-owned subsidiaries or third sector organisations. It is important that, in an austerity context, new risks to 'off the books' service quality is matched by new control and audit arrangements. Moreover, the professional bodies that service local government should recognise the new forms of hybridisation of finance and service expertise, and ensure arrangements for the changing skill sets of those...

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“…The extent to which they are aware of this power or consciously use it is more open to question . In the authorities we visited, with one possible exception, it was accepted both by the treasurers and other chief officers that the role of the treasurer was more that of a mediator or power-broker than that of a dictator (or potential dictator) (see also Rosenberg, et al ., 1982), but, of course, the ease with which that position is granted to the treasurer may reflect his acknowledged sources of power . Another, and potentially more significant, consequence may be that the process of accounting in local government effectively defines the 'reality' of that local government in such a way that active political intervention by the treasurer is not required .…”

Section: So Far We Have Concentrated On the Politics Of The Local Autmentioning

confidence: 99%