Outsourcing as Compassion? The Case of the Manufacture of Cigarettes By Poor Catholic Nuns (1817-1819)

Abstract

The rhetoric of dissemination of outsourcing stresses its alignment with organizational strategy and its linkage to the interests of firms' stakeholders. In practice, however, performance improvements attributed to outsourcing are sometimes caused by deliberate malpractices like extensive hiring of children in operations and opportunistic searches for permissive legislations on issues such as environmental protection, social security and employee benefits. This study adopted a historical perspective to trace back outsourcing through examination of the case of cigarette manufacturing by poor Catholic nuns during 1817-1819, that is, from the launch of said product until the cessation of operations as a consequence of low demand. In the context of an absolutist regime, justification for the outsourcing decision drew on arguments of compassion towards poor nunneries. The decision was enacted in a decree signed by King Fernando VII and assigned monitoring of outsourcing to the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville. In this paper, we examined the divergence between public discourse and actual practice from the standpoint of the Foucauldian framework of power/knowledge. Instead of compassion, our findings suggested that actual practice was inspired by the concomitant effects of (i) the deployment of political influences on the RTF management to ensure deterrence of gender conflicts within the manufactory; and (ii) exploitation of the disciplinary tradition of nunneries by the tobacco monopoly.

Accounting for the production of coins: The enactment and implementation of the Spanish Ordinances of the Mints, 1730

“…In most of the cases analysed, researchers have focused on the use of accounting to: improve state income (see, for example, Carmona and Gómez, 2002; Carmona et al, 1997, 2002; Sargiacomo, 2008); develop new and more sophisticated paths to control individual behaviour within public institutions (Carmona et al, 1997; Donoso, 2002: Hoskin and Macve, 1988, 2000); fix accurate prices (Carmona and Gutiérrez, 2005); and improve the quality of final products, particularly in public manufactures where high product value increases state incomes (Álvarez et al, 2002; Gutiérrez and Romero, 2007, 2010). The literature has also addressed how accounting practices have been a focus of government attention and/or have spread throughout countries (Gutiérrez et al, 2005; Loft, 1986; Miller, 1994; Miller and O’Leary, 1987).…”

Educational Reforms Set Professional Boundaries: The Spanish Audit Function, 1850–1988

“…In turn, this made Spain highly dependent on state‐owned enterprises and agriculture (Comín et al ., ). Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1814, the country entered a period of deep crisis aggravated by the loss of Spanish colonies in Latin America (e.g., present‐day Argentina in 1816), which were crucial for the Spanish economy (Carmona and Gutiérrez, ). The first decade of Queen Isabel II's reign (1844–54) coincided with a period of stability that fostered enduring reforms (e.g., the Mon–Santillan tax reform [1845] and the Bravo–Murillo public sector reform [1850]).…”

The History of Management Accounting in France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain

“…The country experienced a severe economic crisis following the loss of its overseas colonies and accentuated by the of the wealthy to spend their money on luxury goods rather than investing it in manufacturing firms. Again, the wealth of the RTF archives has provided a basis for academics investigating the role of cost calculations in nineteenth-century firms in Spain (Carmona and Macías, 2001;Macías, 2002a, b;Carmona and Gutiérrez, 2005). Carmona and Gutiérrez (2005) examined the outsourcing of cigarette manufacturing at the RTF during the economic crisis of 1817-1819.…”

“…Again, the wealth of the RTF archives has provided a basis for academics investigating the role of cost calculations in nineteenth-century firms in Spain (Carmona and Macías, 2001;Macías, 2002a, b;Carmona and Gutiérrez, 2005). Carmona and Gutiérrez (2005) examined the outsourcing of cigarette manufacturing at the RTF during the economic crisis of 1817-1819. The loss of the Spanish colonies diverted colonial remittances and donations from Spanish convents, which then experienced serious financial problems.…”

“…Production demands kept the nuns working all day for minimal compensation, and some of the convents withdrew from the manufacture of cigarettes; convents with other sources of income had refused from the beginning to participate in the program. Nevertheless, Carmona and Gutiérrez (2005) suggest that the system was less intrusive than that of the panopticon, with its visual controls over operators (Bentham, 1787).…”