Technical accounting resources as performative topoi for sustainability
Journal of Applied Accounting Research
ISSN: 0967-5426
Article publication date: 16 March 2023
Issue publication date: 30 October 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the potential for technical accounting resources to help professional accountants exercise their performative agency.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors combine the integrative learning theory of truth and the concept of performativity, including two approaches to sustainability education and interventions, to construct a grid for coding the technical resources provided by the UK's Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, a pioneer in sustainability advocacy.
Findings
The findings suggest the dominance of the “predetermined and expert-determined” approach. They also reveal the emergence of three levels of performative topoi based on the relative presence of the “predetermined and expert-determined” and “process-of-seeking” approaches to professional interventions toward sustainability. The results show the profession's evolving contribution to the construction of actionable knowledge.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this research is that it draws on a limited corpus. In addition, the use of a binary code to represent the presence/absence of a code does not convey the code's quantitative importance.
Practical implications
The results are useful for those wanting to produce technical accounting resources that are more likely to help professionals build actionable knowledge and contribute to accountants' interventions toward sustainability.
Social implications
Findings suggest the need for reflection on how the accounting profession can best contribute to implementing sustainability in organizations.
Originality/value
Few studies deconstruct professional technical resources to see how a profession can contribute to a process of societal change.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the financial support of the accounting department at Université du Québec à Montréal, École des sciences de la gestion.
Citation
Caron, M.-A. and Fortin, A. (2023), "Technical accounting resources as performative
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited