Costing for strategy development and analysis in an emerging industry: The Newcastle Upon Tyne Electric Supply Company, 1889–1914

McLean, Tom; McGovern, Tom

doi:10.1016/j.bar.2017.01.002

Cited by 6 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Quaker religion and practices underwent a transformation as Friends sought to survive in a rapidly changing world. The Richardson family networks founded and developed world-leading limited companies in new industries of the Second British Industrial Revolution (McGovern and McLean, 2016; McLean and McGovern, 2017). The authors constructed rich case studies of individual industrialists in the Richardson family networks in these two phases by collecting and utilising “fine-grained qualitative data” (Langley, 1999, p. 691).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the early-mid 19th century, Newcastle, the regional capital, was a focus of the British Industrial Revolution, with a base in coal mining, locomotive building and engineering (McCord and Rowe, 1977), but it also provided a wide range of employment in domestic service, clothing and food and drink. The late 19th-early 20th century saw Newcastle as a centre for industries of the Second British Industrial Revolution (McGovern and McLean, 2016; McLean and McGovern, 2017), such as metal shipbuilding, electricity supply and electrical engineering. Newcastle experienced rapid economic and social change alongside a growing population: c. 28,000 in 1800; c. 87,000 in 1850; and c.250,000 in 1914 (Fraser, 1981, p. 7).…”

Section: The Richardson Family Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quaker accountability regimes: the case of the Richardson family networks, 1840–1914

McLean

McGovern²,

Slack³

et al. 2022

AAAJ

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PurposeThis paper aims to explore the development of the accountability ideals and practices of Quaker industrialists during the period 1840–1914.Design/methodology/approachThe research employs a case study approach and draws on the extensive archives of Quaker industrialists in the Richardson family networks, British Parliamentary Papers and the Religious Society of Friends together with relevant contemporary and current literature.FindingsFriends shed their position as Enemies of the State and obtained status and accountabilities undifferentiated from those of non-Quakers. The reciprocal influences of an increasingly complex business environment and radical changes in religious beliefs and practices combined to shift accountabilities from the Quaker Meeting House to newly established legal accountability mechanisms. Static Quaker organisation structures and accountability processes were ineffective in a rapidly changing world. Decision-making was susceptible to the domination of the large Richardson family networks in the Newcastle Meeting House. This research found no evidence of Quaker corporate social accountability through action in the Richardson family networks and it questions the validity of this concept. The motivations underlying Quakers’ personal philanthropy and social activism were multiple and complex, extending far beyond accountabilities driven by religious belief.Originality/valueThis research has originality and value as a study of continuity and change in Quaker accountability regimes during a period that encompassed fundamental changes in Quakerism and its orthopraxy, and their business, social and political environments.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Richardson Family Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quaker accountability regimes: the case of the Richardson family networks, 1840–1914

McLean

McGovern²,

Slack³

et al. 2022

AAAJ

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…Whilst there has been a substantial volume of work done on the professionalisation of public accountancy (see chapter 11), there has been comparatively less carried out on similar processes for management accountants. In the British context, the limited but developing literature on management accounting in the new industries of the Second BIR of the late nineteenth-early twentieth centuries explores the continuing importance of engineers, rather than accountants, in the costing function of a diverse range of industries such as: vehicle making (McKinstry 1999); chemicals (Matthews et al 2003); metal, engine-powered shipbuilding (McLean, 2013); electrical engineering (McLean et al 2015); and electricity supply (McLean and McGovern 2017). However, Loft (1986Loft ( , 1990 Fleischman and Tyson (2000) explored struggles for dominance between engineers and cost accountants in the U.S..…”

Section: The Professionalization Of Management Accountingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Management accounting

Fleischman¹,

McLean²

2020

The Routledge Companion to Accounting History

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“…Delany (2002, p. 19) (Shiel, 2003). He was thus a key figure in the electrification of Ireland and contributed to the management and direction of the organisation (McLean and McGovern, 2017).…”

Section: Re-packaging Of Extant Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a related sector, McInnes (2002) reported on how accounting costs as conveyed in financial statements produced by British Gas were used by various actors. Finally, although in a contemporary accounting journal, McLean and McGovern (2017) provide some useful historical context of the emergence of strategic costing information at the Newcastle Upon Tyne Electric Supply Company from 1889 to 1914. Although their study is of a private company, they noted the adoption of formal processes around strategic costing information was due to three factors, the complexity and novelty of an emerging power generation sector; the regulation of the sector; and the drive of key individuals.…”

Section: Prior Historic Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

New public management a re-packaging of extant techniques?

Quinn

Warren

2017

QRAM

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PurposeThe objective of this paper is to explore, if like some other management initiatives, New Public Management may be a repackaging of already existent concepts. Emerging in the 1970s and 1980s as an innovative way to manage public sector elements, New Public Management has affected both the ownership and management of public sector companies, services, and utilities.Minimal research has been undertaken previously, using historic archival sources of public entities, to explore if elements of the concept originated prior to the 1970s. Design/methodology/approachThis research draws on archival records from a publicly-owned electricity company, covering about three decades from 1946, during which a large investment project was undertaken by the company. We draw on key tenets of what is today called New Public Management, examining prior research to ascertain if similar elements were present in the case organisation. FindingsWhen reviewing the progress of the investment project, many of the key elements of New Public Management emerged, even during the early part of the project. Originality/valueThere is little historical research on the origins of New Public Management, and the findings here suggest it may not be entirely new. While this does not at all invalidate existing research, it suggests New Public Management may be to an extent a repackaging of previously extant techniques. This opens up possibilities for future historic research in terms of how and why it was repackaged, and also what was/was not repackaged.

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Costing for strategy development and analysis in an emerging industry: The Newcastle Upon Tyne Electric Supply Company, 1889–1914

Cited by 6 publications

References 58 publications

Quaker accountability regimes: the case of the Richardson family networks, 1840–1914

Quaker accountability regimes: the case of the Richardson family networks, 1840–1914

Management accounting

New public management a re-packaging of extant techniques?

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