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Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 31 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2018

Rania Kamla and Naoko Komori

The purpose of this paper is to break the silence surrounding the politics of translation that influence cross-language/cultural accounting research. It gives due consideration to…

1032

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to break the silence surrounding the politics of translation that influence cross-language/cultural accounting research. It gives due consideration to the ways in which translation gaps are produced and re-produced in qualitative interdisciplinary accounting research (IAR).

Design/methodology/approach

First, the authors discuss backstage insights and the authors’ own life experiences vis-à-vis translating cross-cultural/language research. The authors provide a critical self-reflection on the process as non-Western female researchers publishing in English-language accounting journals. Second, the authors carry out a content analysis to examine reported translation practices in three long-established interdisciplinary accounting journals from 2015 to 2017. The conclusion integrates these analyses to discuss the reproduction process of the translation gap in accounting research and its outcomes.

Findings

The study identifies inherent contradictions in IAR and its emancipatory agenda, where translation gaps are structural outcomes of overlaps between the politics of translation and the politics of publishing IAR. The study highlights the IAR community’s lack of awareness regarding political and methodological sensitivities in dealing with particularities in cultural contexts. The authors argue that this reflects the institutional norms for publishing in IAR, which contributes to neutralising cultural diversity and complex translation processes in the name of objectivity. This could ultimately lead to further marginalisation of non-Western cultural knowledge and values, while producing academic “elites” within the IAR community, meanwhile missing opportunities for innovation.

Originality/value

By opening the “black box” pertaining to translation gaps in the context of cross-language/cultural accounting research, the study calls for IAR scholars to help raise awareness of their role and identity as “cultural brokers”.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 31 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 September 2012

Rania Kamla, Sonja Gallhofer and Jim Haslam

This paper adds to a focus of the social accounting literature (on perceptions and attitudes to social accounting) by seeking to offer insights into Syrian accountants' attitudes…

14276

Abstract

Purpose

This paper adds to a focus of the social accounting literature (on perceptions and attitudes to social accounting) by seeking to offer insights into Syrian accountants' attitudes towards, and perceptions of, social accounting in Syria in the first decade of the twenty‐first century, with particular attention to its role, future development and implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of an analysis of interviews of Syrian accountants; contextual analysis (and an appreciation of the prior literature).

Findings

Syrian accountants' perceptions are shaped by developments in Syria's socio‐political and economic context, encompassing imperialism/colonialism, globalisation and cultural specificities, including Islam. Interviewees perceived a significant role for a social accounting – that would parallel the Western form of social accounting – in enhancing well‐being in the dynamic context. At the same time, they were reluctant to see the development and implementation of this accounting in Syria as an urgent issue, so that this social accounting might be left initially at least with an even more marginal part to play than in the West. The study suggests that a combination of forces – global developments, Western imperialism and Syria's colonial history – have had a substantively repressive rather than progressive impact on the development of social accounting in Syria vis‐à‐vis its more positive potential.

Research limitations/implications

All limitations of interview research apply. This study focuses on Syria in a context when economic transition was a major issue. Further studies of economies in transition would be of interest.

Practical implications

An awareness of how the local and the global interact in debates over social accounting can provide insights for policy makers concerned with accounting regulation.

Originality/value

The focus on Syria, a non‐Western country, enriches the social accounting literature, which focuses mainly on Western developments.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 25 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 August 2013

Rania Kamla and Hussain G. Rammal

This study examines social reporting by Islamic banks with special emphasis on themes related to social justice. By using critical theory and “immanent critique”, the study…

6417

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines social reporting by Islamic banks with special emphasis on themes related to social justice. By using critical theory and “immanent critique”, the study attempts to explain and delineate reasons for disclosures and silences in Islamic banks ' annual reports and web sites vis-à-vis social justice.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach taken was a content analysis of annual reports and web sites of 19 Islamic banks.

Findings

Islamic banks ' disclosures emphasise their religious character through claims that they adhere to Sharia ' s teachings. Their disclosures, however, lack specific or detailed information regarding schemes or initiatives vis-à-vis poverty eradication or enhancing social justice.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations associated with content analysis of annual reports and internet web sites apply. This study focuses on Islamic banks ' social roles. Further studies of banks ' social roles in society in general are of interest.

Practical implications

Drawing attention of Islamic banks and other stakeholders to the gap between the rhetorical religious and ethical claims of Islamic banks and their activities (as depicted through their disclosures) opens up the possibility of a positive change in Islamic banks ' actual social roles.

Originality/value

The study fills a gap in both social accounting and Islamic accounting literatures with its emphasis on social justice and poverty eradication. The study contributes to the very scarce literature linking religion (especially Islam), critical theory, social accounting and Islamic accounting. It goes beyond previous research in Islamic accounting literature by exposing contradictions in the Islamic banking industry ' s rhetoric regarding their social role in society.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 26 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 May 2010

Rania Kamla and Clare Roberts

This paper aims to examine GCC companies' use of visual images to interplay modernity and globalism with tradition, Islam and local culture. The analysis aims to bring attention…

2688

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine GCC companies' use of visual images to interplay modernity and globalism with tradition, Islam and local culture. The analysis aims to bring attention to the way that businesses in the GCC use visual images to engage with or influence debates in their societies concerning the tension between modernity, globalisation and traditional values in the Arab‐Islamic world.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis is critical and discursive and based on a close reading of the visual images reported in the 2005 annual reports of companies listed on GCC stock markets.

Findings

The analysis suggests that GCC companies on many occasions used visual images to depict and represent the possibility of a successful profitable, modern and global business that is also sympathetic to tradition and operates within the framework of Islamic principles.

Originality/value

While visual images are increasingly used in companies' annual reports they have been largely ignored in accounting research. Furthermore, when this research manifests, it has been concerned with investigating Anglo‐American and Western contexts. This paper instead emphasises the significance of researching the use of visual images in a variety of contexts and locations. It critically and contextually explores the use of visual images in a largely unexplored, non‐Western and a significantly Islamic context.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 23 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 July 2021

Laura Aibolovna Kuanova, Rimma Sagiyeva and Nasim Shah Shirazi

This paper aims to study the main trends of scientific research in Islamic finance’s social aspects to clarify place, role and functions, especially in the context of increasing…

2389

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the main trends of scientific research in Islamic finance’s social aspects to clarify place, role and functions, especially in the context of increasing social problems. To achieve this goal, this paper focuses on the social component of Islamic finance, analyzes publications on social Islamic finance in the Web of Science database, covering the period from 1979 to 2020, specify the geographical localization of research networks, determines the most cited authors and their scientific position.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have applied several literature review techniques, a bibliometric citation and co-citation analysis, a co-authorship analysis and a review of the most cited papers. The analyzes’ results allow us to offer five future questions in Islamic social finance, zakat and waqf, which have not been investigated before and could influence Islamic social finance and Islamic finance research.

Findings

The authors also derive and summarize five leading future research questions.

Research limitations/implications

This is a limitation of using only the Web of Science Core Collection database as the premier resource and the most trusted citation index for the world’s scientific and scholarly research. Further study might expand the types of analyzed units, include more keywords and include other databases, such as Scopus.

Originality/value

This paper can be considered as an inspirational one to future researchers and policymakers in Islamic social finance.

Details

Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, vol. 12 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-0817

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 November 2019

Garry D. Carnegie

Expanding upon the special issue entitled “The special issue: AAAJ and research innovation”, published in 2012, this introduction to the second special issue of the genre is…

Abstract

Purpose

Expanding upon the special issue entitled “The special issue: AAAJ and research innovation”, published in 2012, this introduction to the second special issue of the genre is concerned with selected thematic special issues of AAAJ appearing during the second decade of publication from 1998 to 2007. The paper explores research innovation by means of the thematic issues addressed from this decade.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper provides a background to this special issue and an outline of the articles included. The issue features seven retrospective/prospective articles written by the guest editors of special thematic issues published during 1998 to 2007, supplemented where appropriate by other co-authors or, in one instance, by a new author team.

Findings

The guest editors and other contributing authors sought to identify and discuss the progression of each field since the AAAJ special issue was published, and to assess the impacts of the special issues to this progression, and to propose future research developments in the designated fields.

Research limitations/implications

This commentary on articles published is no substitute for carefully reading these contributions. The papers provide a comprehensive review of key developments in the literature until most recently and explore the opportunities for further innovative interdisciplinary accounting research.

Originality/value

This AAAJ special issue, and the earlier 2012 prototype, constitute a different approach to producing special issues, where the original special issues are revisited with a view to assessing research trends and impacts and to identifying research developments which are ripe for pursuing in each of these interdisciplinary accounting fields.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 32 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2015

Nihel Chabrak

The purpose of the paper is to propose a model of integrity to help assess corporate responsiveness to this new wave of pressure in the backdrop of the prevailing Shareholder…

1797

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to propose a model of integrity to help assess corporate responsiveness to this new wave of pressure in the backdrop of the prevailing Shareholder Value Maximization doctrine. In a context of ecological crisis, sustainability is considered in an intergenerational perspective on well-being. Nations are required to maintain the productive base, composed of manufactured, natural and human capitals, to continue producing future generations’ well-being. Such macroeconomic challenges require businesses to contribute to human and natural capitals’ conservation.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper applies the integrity model to the historical case of the New Lanark mills from Owen’s (1991/1813-1816) new view of society. Owen’s deeds are compared to his promises in light of community expectations in that time to assess Owen’s commitment to social responsibility through “his honoring his word”.

Findings

The findings show the importance of the concept of “workability” for a business to create an opportunity set for “performance”. Such workability is determined by the business being a person of integrity.

Research limitations/implications

Future researches are invited to use this model to build empirical evidence of corporate irresponsibility in dealing with the new challenges.

Practical implications

This paper’s contribution resides in the capacity to uncover any attempt by businesses to subsume their corporate social responsibility and sustainability commitment to the doxic shareholder value maximization (SVM) ideology.

Social implications

The findings recall the importance for corporate activities to be re-embedded in their social and ecological contexts. This requires an overhaul of the business logic.

Originality/value

The originality of the model of integrity resides in its simplicity and practicality.

Details

Society and Business Review, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5680

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 September 2018

Dominic Detzen and Lukas Loehlein

The purpose of this paper is to examine how professional service firms (PSFs) manage the linguistic tensions between global Englishization and local multilingualism. It achieves…

5379

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how professional service firms (PSFs) manage the linguistic tensions between global Englishization and local multilingualism. It achieves this by analysing the work of Big Four audit firms in Luxembourg, where three official languages co-exist: Luxembourgish, French, and German. In addition, expatriates bring with them their native languages in a corporate environment that uses English as its lingua franca.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper combines the institutionalist sociology of the professions with theoretical concepts from sociolinguistics to study the multifaceted role of language in PSFs. Empirically, the paper draws from 25 interviews with current and former audit professionals.

Findings

The client orientation of the Big Four segments each firm into language teams based on the client’s language. It is thus the client languages, rather than English as the corporate language, that mediate, define, and structure intra- and inter-organizational relationships. While the firms emphasize the benefits of their linguistic adaptability, the paper reveals tensions along language lines, suggesting that language can be a means of creating cohesion and division within the firms.

Originality/value

This paper connects research on PSFs with that on the role of language in multinational organizations. In light of the Big Four’s increasingly global workforce, it draws attention to the linguistic divisions within the firms that question the existence of a singular corporate culture. While prior literature has centred on firms’ global–local divide, the paper shows that even single branches of such firm networks are not monolithic constructs, as conflicts and clashes unfold amid a series of “local–local” divides.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 31 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 August 2018

Christopher Nobes and Christian Stadler

The purpose of this paper is to examine translation in the context of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by taking the example of the English term “impairment” in…

1209

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine translation in the context of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by taking the example of the English term “impairment” in IAS 36, and following it into 19 translations. The paper then examines the terms used for impairment in English translations of annual reports provided by firms. Consideration is given to the best approach for translating regulations and whether that is also suitable for the translation of annual reports.

Design/methodology/approach

The two empirical parts of the paper involve: first, identifying the terms for impairment used in 19 official translations of IAS 36, and second, examining English-language translations of reports provided by 393 listed firms from 11 major countries.

Findings

Nearly all the terms used for “impairment” in translations of IAS 36 do not convey the message of damage to assets. In annual reports translated into English, many terms are misleading in that they do not mention impairment, peaking at 39 per cent in German and Italian reports in one year.

Research limitations/implications

Researchers should note that the information related to impairment in international databases is likely to contain errors, and the authors recommend that data should be hand-collected and then carefully checked by experts. The authors make suggestions for further research.

Practical implications

Translators of regulations should aim to convey the messages of the source documents, but translators of annual reports should not look only at the reports but also consult the terminology in the original regulations. The authors also suggest implications for regulators and analysts.

Originality/value

The paper innovates by separately considering regulations and annual reports. The authors examine a key accounting term systematically into a wide range of official translations. The core section of the paper is a new field of research: an empirical study of the translations of firms’ financial statements.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 31 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

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