[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/aosoci/v58y2017icp32-49.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Goffman's theory of frames and situated meaning-making in performance reviews. The case of a category management approach in the French retail sector

Author

Listed:
  • Lorino, Philippe
  • Mourey, Damien
  • Schmidt, Géraldine
Abstract
Following the scholarly view of accounting as a social practice, this research explores the role of accounting in managers' ongoing efforts to effectively understand and influence organizational change in the course of a series of review meetings. To study the role of accounting in meaning-making processes - i.e. collective processes of ascribing meanings to experienced social situations - we develop a processual and semiotic view of Goffman's theory of frames. Central to the paper's argument is the concept of framing, defined as an ongoing social process of context production in an unfolding situation. In this perspective, accounting numbers are viewed as signs mediating situated interactions. This theoretical framework is applied to complex situations of negotiation between a retailer and sixteen suppliers, under a category management approach. The crucial finding of our research, illustrated empirically, is the plurality of competing frames and the occurrence of frame-shifting episodes, the process by which one frame is suddenly replaced with another frame that has a deeply different way of narrating the situation: this process is triggered by a specific event, and the frame shift has potentially significant effects on practices. The case study highlights the mediating role of frames, and the plasticity and vulnerability of framing processes. It exemplifies the dual nature of accounting numbers in situated meaning-making: they can be viewed simultaneously as generic models - parts of social frames - and singular events - parts of the current situation. Due to this dual nature, they can act as mediators between a singular situation and socially-constructed, generic classes of meaning.

Suggested Citation

  • Lorino, Philippe & Mourey, Damien & Schmidt, Géraldine, 2017. "Goffman's theory of frames and situated meaning-making in performance reviews. The case of a category management approach in the French retail sector," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 32-49.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:aosoci:v:58:y:2017:i:c:p:32-49
    DOI: 10.1016/j.aos.2017.03.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361368217300168
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.aos.2017.03.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ahrens, Thomas & Chapman, Christopher S., 2006. "Doing qualitative field research in management accounting: Positioning data to contribute to theory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 819-841, November.
    2. Roberts, John & Jones, Megan, 2009. "Accounting for self interest in the credit crisis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(6-7), pages 856-867, August.
    3. Haridimos Tsoukas & Robert Chia, 2002. "On Organizational Becoming: Rethinking Organizational Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(5), pages 567-582, October.
    4. Vollmer, Hendrik, 2007. "How to do more with numbers: Elementary stakes, framing, keying, and the three-dimensional character of numerical signs," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 577-600, August.
    5. Scapens, Robert W. & Macintosh, Norman B., 1996. "Structure and agency in management accounting research: A response to Boland's interpretive act," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 21(7-8), pages 675-690.
    6. Pentland, Brian T., 1993. "Getting comfortable with the numbers: Auditing and the micro-production of macro-order," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 18(7-8), pages 605-620.
    7. Hall, Matthew, 2010. "Accounting information and managerial work," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 301-315, April.
    8. Ahrens, Thomas & Chapman, Christopher S., 2007. "Management accounting as practice," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(1-2), pages 1-27.
    9. Solomon, Jill F. & Solomon, Aris & Joseph, Nathan L. & Norton, Simon D., 2013. "Impression management, myth creation and fabrication in private social and environmental reporting: Insights from Erving Goffman," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 195-213.
    10. Boland, Richard Jr., 1993. "Accounting and the interpretive act," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 18(2-3), pages 125-146, April.
    11. Lise Justesen & Jan Mouritsen, 2011. "Effects of actor‐network theory in accounting research," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(2), pages 161-193, February.
    12. Skærbæk, Peter & Tryggestad, Kjell, 2010. "The role of accounting devices in performing corporate strategy," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 108-124, January.
    13. Kastberg, Gustaf, 2014. "Framing shared services," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 743-756.
    14. Baxter, Jane & Chua, Wai Fong, 2003. "Alternative management accounting research--whence and whither," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 97-126.
    15. Chenhall, Robert H. & Hall, Matthew & Smith, David, 2013. "Performance measurement, modes of evaluation and the development of compromising accounts," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 51294, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Frances, Jennifer & Garnsey, Elizabeth, 1996. "Supermarkets and suppliers in the United Kingdom: System integration, information and control," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 591-610, August.
    17. Quattrone, Paolo & Hopper, Trevor, 2005. "A 'time-space odyssey': management control systems in two multinational organisations," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(7-8), pages 735-764.
    18. Boland, Richard Jr. & Pondy, Louis R., 1986. "The micro dynamics of a budget-cutting process: Modes, models and structure," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 11(4-5), pages 403-422, July.
    19. Mouritsen, Jan & Thrane, Sof, 2006. "Accounting, network complementarities and the development of inter-organisational relations," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 241-275, April.
    20. Graham, Cameron, 2008. "Fearful asymmetry: The consumption of accounting signs in the Algoma Steel pension bailout," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(7-8), pages 756-782.
    21. Boland, Richard Jr., 1989. "Beyond the objectivist and the subjectivist: Learning to read accounting as text," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 14(5-6), pages 591-604, October.
    22. Free, Clinton, 2008. "Walking the talk? Supply chain accounting and trust among UK supermarkets and suppliers," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 629-662, August.
    23. Swieringa, Robert J. & Weick, Karl R., 1987. "Management accounting and action," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 293-308, April.
    24. Chua, Wai Fong, 1986. "Theoretical constructions of and by the real," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 11(6), pages 583-598, October.
    25. Hall, Matthew, 2010. "Accounting information and managerial work," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 28539, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    26. Ho, Joanna L.Y. & Wu, Anne & Wu, Steve Y.C., 2014. "Performance measures, consensus on strategy implementation, and performance: Evidence from the operational-level of organizations," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 38-58.
    27. Nahapiet, Janine, 1988. "The rhetoric and reality of an accounting change: A study of resource allocation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 333-358, June.
    28. Mouritsen, Jan & Kreiner, Kristian, 2016. "Accounting, decisions and promises," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 21-31.
    29. Haridimos Tsoukas, 2009. "A Dialogical Approach to the Creation of New Knowledge in Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(6), pages 941-957, December.
    30. Briers, Michael & Chua, Wai Fong, 2001. "The role of actor-networks and boundary objects in management accounting change: a field study of an implementation of activity-based costing," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 237-269, April.
    31. Yang, ChunLei & Modell, Sven, 2015. "Shareholder orientation and the framing of management control practices: A field study in a Chinese state-owned enterprise," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-23.
    32. Dechow, Niels & Mouritsen, Jan, 2005. "Enterprise resource planning systems, management control and the quest for integration," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(7-8), pages 691-733.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Corrigan, Lawrence T., 2018. "Budget making: The theatrical presentation of accounting discourse," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 12-32.
    2. Durocher, Sylvain & Georgiou, Omiros, 2022. "Framing accounting for goodwill: Intractable controversies between users and standard setters," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    3. Vollmer, Hendrik, 2019. "Accounting for tacit coordination: The passing of accounts and the broader case for accounting theory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 15-34.
    4. Aziza Laguecir & Bernard Leca, 2018. "Strategies of visibility in contemporary surveillance settings: Insights from misconduct concealment in financial markets, Critical Perspectives on Accounting," Post-Print hal-01914996, HAL.
    5. Casarin, Veronica, 2023. "Calculative frames, compromising metrics, and the multiple values of innovation: The case of technology incubation in the UK," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    6. Ahblom, Per & Sjögren, Ebba, 2019. "Delivering performance: the capital market framing of financial numbers from a preparer perspective," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102819, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Clotilde Coron, 2020. "Equal pay index for men and women: The performative power of quantification conventions," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1418-1437, November.
    8. Palermo, Tommaso & Power, Michael & Ashby, Simon, 2022. "How accounting ends: self-undermining repetition in accounting lifecycles," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115278, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Hayoun, Shaul, 2019. "How fair value is both market-based and entity-specific: The irreducibility of value constellations to market prices," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 68-82.
    10. Ronzani, Matteo & Gatzweiler, Marian Konstantin, 2022. "The lure of the visual: Multimodality, simplification, and performance measurement visualizations in a megaproject," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    11. Laguecir, Aziza & Leca, Bernard, 2019. "Strategies of visibility in contemporary surveillance settings: Insights from misconduct concealment in financial markets," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 39-58.
    12. Clotilde Coron, 2020. "Equal pay index for men and women: The performative power of quantification conventions," Post-Print hal-04152609, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Englund, Hans & Gerdin, Jonas & Burns, John, 2011. "25 Years of Giddens in accounting research: Achievements, limitations and the future," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 494-513.
    2. Chenhall, Robert H. & Hall, Matthew & Smith, David, 2013. "Performance measurement, modes of evaluation and the development of compromising accounts," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 51294, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Giovannoni, Elena & Quarchioni, Sonia, 2019. "Exploring the generative power of performance measurement systems design," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 211-225.
    4. Mouritsen, Jan & Kreiner, Kristian, 2016. "Accounting, decisions and promises," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 21-31.
    5. Baxter, Jane & Carlsson-Wall, Martin & Chua, Wai Fong & Kraus, Kalle, 2019. "Accounting and passionate interests: The case of a Swedish football club," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 21-40.
    6. Vollmer, Hendrik, 2019. "Accounting for tacit coordination: The passing of accounts and the broader case for accounting theory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 15-34.
    7. Ahblom, Per & Sjögren, Ebba, 2019. "Delivering performance: the capital market framing of financial numbers from a preparer perspective," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102819, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Kastberg, Gustaf, 2014. "Framing shared services," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 743-756.
    9. Kilfoyle, Eksa & Richardson, Alan J. & MacDonald, Laura D., 2013. "Vernacular accountings: Bridging the cognitive and the social in the analysis of employee-generated accounting systems," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 382-396.
    10. Muhammad Kaleem Zahir-ul-Hassan & Reinald A. Minnaar & Ed Vosselman, 2016. "Governance and control as mediating instruments in an inter-firm relationship: towards collaboration or transactions?," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(4), pages 365-389, June.
    11. Granlund, Markus, 2011. "Extending AIS research to management accounting and control issues: A research note," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 3-19.
    12. Casarin, Veronica, 2023. "Calculative frames, compromising metrics, and the multiple values of innovation: The case of technology incubation in the UK," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    13. Allan Hansen, 2011. "Relating performative and ostensive management accounting research," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 8(2), pages 108-138, June.
    14. Constable, Philip & Kuasirikun, Nooch, 2020. "From cosmological to commercial form: A Buddhist theory of ‘form’, ‘space’ and ‘stream of re-becoming’ in mid-19th century Thai accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    15. Sundström, Andreas & Catasús, Bino, 2023. "Let the right one in: ‘Accounting proxemics’ in the design of performance indicators," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    16. Bay, Charlotta, 2018. "Makeover accounting: Investigating the meaning-making practices of financial accounts," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 44-54.
    17. Giuliani, Marco & Skoog, Matti, 2020. "Making sense of the temporal dimension of intellectual capital: A critical case study," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    18. Boedker, Christina & Chong, Kar-Ming & Mouritsen, Jan, 2020. "The counter-performativity of calculative practices: Mobilising rankings of intellectual capital," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    19. Crvelin, David & Becker, Albrecht, 2020. "‘The spirits that we summoned’: A study on how the ‘governed’ make accounting their own in the context of market-making programs in Nepal," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    20. Palermo, Tommaso & Power, Michael & Ashby, Simon, 2022. "How accounting ends: self-undermining repetition in accounting lifecycles," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115278, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:aosoci:v:58:y:2017:i:c:p:32-49. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/aos .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.