Mind the gap: Accountants at work and play

Haynes, David; Briggs, Susan P.; Copeland, Scott

doi:10.1016/j.cpa.2006.01.014

Cited by 15 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Others contend that stereotypes are self‐fulfilling prophecies (Jones, 1978). This is consistent with accounting research indicating that accountants themselves may be contributing to the continuance of the stereotype by acting in the workplace in ways consistent with that stereotype, reserving more dynamic aspects of their personality for their non‐work time (Haynes et al , 2008). DeCoster and Rhode (1971) found that accounting graduates feel a need to conform to the stereotype to gain employment in the accounting profession, raising complex psychological issues about the predisposition of those who undertake accounting studies versus their socialisation while studying accounting and through later professional experiences.…”

Section: Research Literaturesupporting

confidence: 86%

Jokes in popular culture: the characterisation of the accountant

Miley

Read

2012

Accounting, Auditing &Amp; Accountability Journal

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PurposeThe accountant has been characterised in popular culture as dull and boring. Accounting scholarship consistently describes this stereotype as negative. The purpose of this research is to enhance our understanding of this stereotype by comparing the characterisation of the accountant found in contemporary jokes with a similar characterisation found in commedia dell'arte, which is a form of improvisational theatre.Design/methodology/approachThis research employs netnography to identify the stereotype of the accountant portrayed in jokes on social networking sites. To enrich our understanding of the stereotype of the characterisation of the accountant in contemporary jokes, it is compared with the characterisation of il dottore, the stock character of the professional man in commedia dell'arte.FindingsThe characterisation of the accountant in contemporary jokes is consistent with characterisations of the accountant in other areas of popular culture, confirming that the stereotype is widely entrenched in popular culture. Contemporary jokes provide a more detailed characterisation than previously identified in accounting scholarship. Since the stereotype of il dottore in commedia dell'arte resembles the stereotype of the accountant as portrayed in contemporary jokes, studying commedia dell'arte provides an approach that enhances our understanding of the characterisation of the accountant in popular culture.Originality/valueThe contribution of this research to accounting scholarship is the deployment of commedia dell'arte to capture the essence of the stereotype of the accountant as portrayed in popular culture. Extending the definition of popular culture to include contemporary jokes brings a unique use of netnography to accounting scholarship.

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Section: Research Literaturesupporting

confidence: 86%

Jokes in popular culture: the characterisation of the accountant

Miley

Read

2012

Accounting, Auditing &Amp; Accountability Journal

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“…Most organizations utilize personality tests to identify person-job fit (Jacoby, 1981;Kreiser et al, 1990;Otte, 1983;Schloemer & Schloemer, 1997) and personality is not always stable across time and situations (McCrae, 1999). Researchers have found that personality preferences might not be constant across situations, and may differ significantly between work and social, non-work situations (Haynes, et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because turnover is so costly to organizations (Cloutier, Felusiak, & Hill, 2015), hiring managers often rely on personality assessments to improve the odds of selecting candidates who demonstrate strong fit with positions and organizations (Schloemer& Schloemer, 1997;Taggar & Parkinson, 2007). However, research indicates that personality assessments have many shortcomings when it comes to selecting the best CPA candidates (Haynes, Briggs, & Copeland, 2008).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Analysis of Generational and Job Rank Determinants of Accountants’ Work Styles

Littlefield¹,

Waldo²

2018

IJAT

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Because the recruitment and retention of qualified certified public accountants (CPAs) is vital to an organization's fiscal management and success, it is critical that businesses attract and hire accounting professionals whose work styles align with the skills demanded of the profession. When seeking to fill positions for professionals in high demand occupations with high turnover rates, such as CPAs, finding accountants whose work styles are congruent with positions' work and skill competencies is critical.The problem to be addressed in this study is that organizations need to hire and retain CPAs who possess the work style dimensions that contribute to organizational success, work style dimensions of CPAs are unknown, and organizations need tools to assess CPAs' work style dimensions. Therefore, it is important to assess the CPAs' work style dimensions.The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the extent to which, if any, CPAs'work style dimensions differ according to generation and job rank as measured by the Leading Dimensions Profile (LDP).

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“…This separation of work/life spheres appears to be borne out by Haynes et al (2008) who found that personality tests for accountants at "work" and at "play" revealed significant differences suggesting that "being an accountant" might be more a matter of adopting a particular professional persona and not from any stable fixed personality traits as the beancounter stereotype would lead us to believe. Given that we are working from within a social-constructivist paradigm where self-concept is a function of context-specific object/other relations, we do not find this at all surprising.…”

Section: Identity Workmentioning

confidence: 97%

Bean counters or bright young things?

Warren

Parker

2009

Qualitative Research in Accounting &Amp; Management

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to put forward a "next step" research agenda for investigating accountants' professional identity. Design/methodology/approach -The visual nature of identity construction is discussed, issues of media stereotyping are revisited and recruitment/educational implications are reviewed. Attention is also paid to the accounting profession's attempts to change perceptions of the accounting identity. Findings -A hybrid strategy of research participant generated photographs and semi-structured interviews is exemplified as a fruitful methodology and outlined as a way forward for tapping into the identity construction processes and perceptions of accountants from their particular perspectives.Research limitations/implications -The paper is intended to stimulate further research into accountants' identities from a visual perspective. However, it does not directly report on empirical findings. Practical implications -Questions of identity construction offer us a window into the degree to which public stereotypes are matched by professional accountants' own personal definitions and the bearing these may have on current and future career intentions. Such insights can provide foundations for a range of profession policy issues spanning recruitment, retention, training and professional development.Originality/value -This paper proposes a visual methodology not employed in accounting research before and addresses the neglected area of accountants' identities as individual professionals.

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Mind the gap: Accountants at work and play

Cited by 15 publications

References 33 publications

Jokes in popular culture: the characterisation of the accountant

Jokes in popular culture: the characterisation of the accountant

An Analysis of Generational and Job Rank Determinants of Accountants’ Work Styles

Bean counters or bright young things?

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