Cogs in the Wheel or Spanners in the Works? A Phenomenological Approach to the Difficulty and Meaning of Ethical Work for Financial Controllers

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to propose a new perspective on the difficulty and meaning of ethical work for financial controllers. This is achieved by drawing on concepts from Michel Henry's phenomenology of life in the field of business ethics. The French philosopher Michel Henry (1922-2002) is distinguished by his identifying two modes of appearing:-intentionality‖ (appearing of the world through representations) and-affectivity‖ (appearing of life). Henry suggests that relying only on abstract representations constitutes a specific ideology that causes individuals at work to ignore the actual experience of being affected, and hinders the appearance of life to guide their actions, in turn hindering ethics. Empirical illustrations are provided by a case study that explores the practices of management accountants in a travel retail corporation. By observing the empirical practices of management accountants, a body of professionals whose role is largely dependent on Information Technology (IT), abstraction and technical expertise to trace organisational flows and transactions, we shed light on the difficult ethical issues associated with their role of surveillance and control of other managers' work. The case study illustrates a wide range of everyday working practices among management accountants. Some convey the impression that they lack empathy and consideration for other individuals, while others engage in close cooperation and ethical practices despite the constraining configuration of their role. A significant result of this research is that it illustrates and interprets, based on Henry's phenomenology, a wide range of working practices. Consistent with Henry, we argue that the source of business ethics lies beyond professional standards, codes and values.

Understanding the human in stakeholder theory: a phenomenological approach to affect-based learning

“…Indeed, to Henry (1996: 79), ‘being born’ amounts to ‘coming to life’, that is, a relation to life understood as transcendental affectivity. This point of entry into Henry’s phenomenology might account for the general lack of attention of management researchers (for exceptions, see Deslandes, 2016, 2017; Faÿ, 2009; Pérezts et al, 2015; Puyou and Faÿ, 2013) in a philosophy which itself seems to show no interest in any form of representation. Indeed, studies of organisations, generally claiming to be objectivist, focus more on the objects and symbols with which they deal and which fascinate them than on a vital praxis, which nevertheless may be the only source of any ‘production’ (Deslandes, 2016; Faÿ, 2009).…”

“…In the end, such roles maintain the distance between people and groups, each defending their own interests. This strategy casts the other as an obstacle, a means, or an adversary, instead of another human being that shares a wide range of affects (Faÿ, 2009; Puyou and Faÿ, 2013) and reduces relations to mere instrumental ties instead of fostering empathical and ethical ones. As a result, SHT has difficulty connecting various levels of stakeholder relations.…”

“…We seek to address this shortcoming by drawing on the humanities and more specifically on the phenomenology of Michel Henry (1922–2002) for whom ethics (for us, the possibility for normative engagement), praxis (in our study reflecting on work and collective action) and even life itself (understood as an immanent flow connecting all beings), are rooted in affective subjectivity (Henry, 1946, 1963/2011). His phenomenological contribution to the field of organisation and management studies is attracting growing interest (Deslandes, 2017; Faÿ, 2009; Pérezts et al, 2015; Puyou and Faÿ, 2013) and allows us to bring back the Latin notion of affectus (as a noun) to theoretically strengthen our understanding of the human as it operates within the stakeholder label.…”

The Role of the Management Accountant

“…The management accountants' attitude to IT colleagues is very similar to the attitude they criticize in operationals towards themselves. 10 Management accountants' work has been strongly affected by the generalization of certain IT software packages (Puyou and Faÿ, 2015), from data warehouses to ERP systems, via consolidation, budgeting and investment management software. These types of software have made it possible to automate a large number of tasks, although some tasks are still performed manually, as reflected in the extensive use of spreadsheets.…”

Ethics, embodied life and esprit de corps: An ethnographic study with anti-money laundering analysts

“…In response to this exogenous perspective, the recently developed business ethics as practice approach, hereafter, BEAP (Clegg et al, 2007;Loacker and Muhr, 2009;Painter-Morland, 2008), has already moved beyond this somewhat instrumental approach to reclaim an endogenous ethics with a subjective nature. This perspective seeks to be more organizationally relevant (Barker, 2002;Pullen and Rhodes, 2013) by conceiving ethics as ongoing organizational phenomena (Ibarra-Colado et al, 2006;Pérezts, 2014;Puyou and Faÿ, 2013;Wray-Bliss, 2002, implying one's responsibility to others (Bevan and Corvellec, 2007;Roberts, 2001) and, thus, the ethical self as personally committed to the practices in which it engages (Deslandes, 2013;Ibarra-Colado et al, 2006;Loacker and Muhr, 2009;McMurray et al, 2011). Following this line, this article considers ethics endogenously and as pertaining to being, which links us back to an epicenter of ethics as embedded in ethical subjects instead of codes of ethics, or other tools designed to either implement or measure ethics (Baker and Roberts, 2011).…”