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Employees and the Operation of Accountability

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Abstract

This article examines a social accounting cycle in a Danish savings bank with specific focus on how employees interacted with the cycle. The case study is based on archival material and observations of employee engagement sessions that were a significant part of the cycle. The article exposes the ways in which the cycle can be understood as an initiative that prompts different forms of accountability. The cycle had the potential to bring different forms of accountability together, but the cycle also faced challenges that threatened its relevance from an employee perspective. These challenges might have implications for the way we perceive social accounting and the role of employees.

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks Anne Loft, Brendan O'Dwyer, Karin Jonnergård, Kim Klarskov Jeppesen and two anonymous JBE reviewers for their helpful comments. In addition, the author is grateful for Bent Hørby's and Thomas Uhlenfeldt's assistance with the empirical work.

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  1. Department of Accounting and Auditing, Copenhagen Business School, Solbjerg Plads 3, C4, Frederiksberg, 2000, Denmark

    Thomas Riise Johansen

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  1. Thomas Riise Johansen
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Correspondence to Thomas Riise Johansen.

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Johansen, T.R. Employees and the Operation of Accountability. J Bus Ethics 83, 247–263 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9615-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9615-x

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