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Journal ArticleDOI

[In]visible [in]tangibles: Visual portraits of the business élite

01 Feb 2010-Accounting Organizations and Society (Pergamon)-Vol. 35, Iss: 2, pp 165-183
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors construct a framework from art theory to interpret portraits of the business elite and their associated intangibles, and identify four sets of rhetorical codes in portraiture: physical, dress, spatial and interpersonal.
Abstract: Visual portraits of the business elite are widely disseminated, and form significant sites for communicating messages regarding leadership and associated intellectual, symbolic and social intangibles, yet have been neglected in accounting research. At the same time, accounting for intangibles is recognised to be inadequate. This inter-disciplinary article constructs a framework from art theory to interpret portraits of the business elite and their associated [in]visible [in]tangibles. Four sets of rhetorical codes in portraiture are identified: physical, dress, spatial and interpersonal. Illustrative portraits from annual reports and the media are analysed to indicate how [in]visible [in]tangibles are portrayed through visual rhetoric.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the conditions necessary to anchor knowledge as a new category of value are investigated, not only to changing rules and regulations, but also to the rhetorics of visibility/invisibility, materiality/immateriality, and measurability/immeasurability used to make a case for these transformations.
Abstract: Over the past 15–20 years, the margins of industrial classifications, corporate balance sheets and GDP have been altered to capture knowledge as a new category of value. This has resulted in the institutionalization of categories such as an information economy (1997), intangible assets (2001) and, most recently, a knowledge-adjusted GDP (2013) in these calculating technologies. By harnessing knowledge as a manageable and valuable object, these shifts are responding but also contributing to the concept of a knowledge economy. This paper investigates the conditions necessary to anchor these new categories of value. The analysis attends not only to the changing rules and regulations, but also to the rhetorics of visibility/invisibility, materiality/immateriality, and measurability/immeasurability used to make a case for these transformations.

9 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The use of photographs has become a key feature of corporate reporting in the last decades as discussed by the authors and as a form of impression management, photographs may be designed to influence investors' judgments.

8 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The analysis of an Italian healthcare organisation applying a qualitative research method highlights that the organisation changes its intellectual capital communication slowly over time and that the most important area is that of structural capital.
Abstract: The aim of the paper is to analyse the communication of intellectual capital (IC), or the disclosure of an organisation's IC assets, through supplementary corporate disclosure, in healthcare organisations. We pose two research questions: 1) what are the main components of IC disclosure in a healthcare organisation?; 2) how do these organisations disclose/communicate their IC? To answer these questions the paper analyses the case of an Italian healthcare organisation (University Hospital 'Santa Maria della Misericordia' of Udine) applying a qualitative research method over three years. The analysis highlights that the organisation changes its intellectual capital communication slowly over time and that the most important area is that of structural capital. The form of communication is mainly narrative, although it is possible to highlight differences in the three areas of IC.

8 citations


Cites background from "[In]visible [in]tangibles: Visual p..."

  • ..., 2010), graphs (Penrose, 2008); images (such as illustrations and flowcharts) (Davidson, 2010)....

    [...]

  • ..., 2010), graphs (Penrose, 2008), picture and illustration and flowcharts (Davidson, 2010)....

    [...]

  • ...…Equipment Narrative Organisational process Graphs With reference to the format (or style) of communication we observe the form of IC communication and then the presence of narrative style (Cho et al., 2010), graphs (Penrose, 2008); images (such as illustrations and flowcharts) (Davidson, 2010)....

    [...]

  • ...As a result voluntary and supplementary disclosure has increased in term of page length, adoption of different formats (Beattie et al., 2008) that today includes narrative (Cho et al., 2010), graphs (Penrose, 2008), picture and illustration and flowcharts (Davidson, 2010)....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors investigate whether the confidence of management teams, defined as the certainty about handling what one desires to do, affects the capacity of firms to raise external capital.

8 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, it is argued that the degree of overlap of two individuals' friendship networks varies directly with the strength of their tie to one another, and the impact of this principle on diffusion of influence and information, mobility opportunity, and community organization is explored.
Abstract: Analysis of social networks is suggested as a tool for linking micro and macro levels of sociological theory. The procedure is illustrated by elaboration of the macro implications of one aspect of small-scale interaction: the strength of dyadic ties. It is argued that the degree of overlap of two individuals' friendship networks varies directly with the strength of their tie to one another. The impact of this principle on diffusion of influence and information, mobility opportunity, and community organization is explored. Stress is laid on the cohesive power of weak ties. Most network models deal, implicitly, with strong ties, thus confining their applicability to small, well-defined groups. Emphasis on weak ties lends itself to discussion of relations between groups and to analysis of segments of social structure not easily defined in terms of primary groups.

37,560 citations

Book
01 Jan 1974
TL;DR: The authors described three heuristics that are employed in making judgements under uncertainty: representativeness, availability of instances or scenarios, and adjustment from an anchor, which is usually employed in numerical prediction when a relevant value is available.
Abstract: This article described three heuristics that are employed in making judgements under uncertainty: (i) representativeness, which is usually employed when people are asked to judge the probability that an object or event A belongs to class or process B; (ii) availability of instances or scenarios, which is often employed when people are asked to assess the frequency of a class or the plausibility of a particular development; and (iii) adjustment from an anchor, which is usually employed in numerical prediction when a relevant value is available. These heuristics are highly economical and usually effective, but they lead to systematic and predictable errors. A better understanding of these heuristics and of the biases to which they lead could improve judgements and decisions in situations of uncertainty.

31,082 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors draw upon previous research conducted in the different social science disciplines and applied fields of business to create a conceptual framework for the field of entrepreneurship, and predict a set of outcomes not explained or predicted by conceptual frameworks already in existence in other fields.
Abstract: To date, the phenomenon of entrepreneurship has lacked a conceptual framework. In this note we draw upon previous research conducted in the different social science disciplines and applied fields of business to create a conceptual framework for the field. With this framework we explain a set of empirical phenomena and predict a set of outcomes not explained or predicted by conceptual frameworks already in existence in other fields.

11,161 citations

Book
21 Feb 1986
TL;DR: The first handbook on the sociology of education as discussed by the authors synthesizes major advances in education over the past several decades, incorporating both a systematic review of significant theoretical and empirical work and challenging original contributions by distinguished American, English, and French sociologists.
Abstract: The first of its kind, this handbook synthesizes major advances in the sociology of education over the past several decades. It incorporates both a systematic review of significant theoretical and empirical work and challenging original contributions by distinguished American, English, and French sociologists. In his introduction, John G. Richardson traces the development of the sociology of education and reviews the important classical European works in which this discipline is grounded. Each chapter, devoted to a major topic in the field, provides both a review of the literature and an exposition of an original thesis. The inclusion of subjects outside traditional sociological concern--such as the historical foundations of education and the sociology of special education--gives an interdisciplinary scope that enhances the volume's usefulness.

7,071 citations

Book
01 Jan 1980
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors make a connection between the mind-body problem and the so-called "identity thesis" in analytic philosophy, which has wide-ranging implications for other problems in philosophy that traditionally might be thought far-removed.
Abstract: I hope that some people see some connection between the two topics in the title. If not, anyway, such connections will be developed in the course of these talks. Furthermore, because of the use of tools involving reference and necessity in analytic philosophy today, our views on these topics really have wide-ranging implications for other problems in philosophy that traditionally might be thought far-removed, like arguments over the mind-body problem or the so-called ‘identity thesis’. Materialism, in this form, often now gets involved in very intricate ways in questions about what is necessary or contingent in identity of properties — questions like that. So, it is really very important to philosophers who may want to work in many domains to get clear about these concepts. Maybe I will say something about the mind-body problem in the course of these talks. I want to talk also at some point (I don’t know if I can get it in) about substances and natural kinds.

5,988 citations