Colwyn Jones
The ABC bandwagon and the juggernaut of modernity
Jones, Colwyn; Dugdale, David
Authors
David Dugdale
Abstract
The paper explores the rise of activity-based costing (ABC). Drawing on actor-network theory, we follow key actors, and their intermediaries, as they construct ABC through a network of human and non-human allies. Drawing on Giddens' discussion of the dynamics of modernity, we show how ABC is formed, and reformed, in processes of disembedding and reembedding, and how it becomes affiliated to 'new wave management'. Through close attention to detail, our story evaporates simple distinctions between invention/discovery and theory/practice in the development of management accounting. We portray ABC as a socio-technical expert system that is formed mutually with the construction of the actor-networks that create it. As an expert system, ABC is both a response, and a contributor, to risks of the modern world-a bandwagon hitched to a juggernaut. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Publication Date | Jan 1, 2002 |
Journal | Accounting, Organizations and Society |
Print ISSN | 0361-3682 |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 27 |
Issue | 1-2 |
Pages | 121-163 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0361-3682%2801%2900035-6 |
Keywords | activity based costing (ABC), management accouting, actor-network theory |
Public URL | https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1080964 |
Publisher URL | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0361-3682(01)00035-6 |
Downloadable Citations
About UWE Bristol Research Repository
Administrator e-mail: repository@uwe.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2024
Advanced Search