EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Exploring accountability in an entrepreneurial firm

Jiafan Li, Julia Smith and Gavin Reid

Chapter 14 in Research Handbook on Accounting and Information Systems, 2024, pp 224-248 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: We present qualitative empirical evidence on the use of accountability within a small entrepreneurial firm. Using the ethnographic approach of participant observation to fully immerse ourselves in the business, we explore how accountability issues that have been commonly acknowledged in Western literature can be addressed and overcome in a developing economy. In doing so, we highlight the tensions and issues that are confronted by a strong owner-manager, with a global perspective and international education. Our analysis considers issues of control, risk, information, communication and monitoring. Overall we present, for the first time, evidence that accountability, as conceived by Western academics, exists in China, but that cultural tensions can lead to difficulties in its implementation. Educating SMEs in developing economies about the advantages of transparent communication is a lesson to be learned from our findings.

Keywords: Business and Management; Economics and Finance; Innovations and Technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781802200621.00025 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:20914_14

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Darrel McCalla ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-31
Handle: RePEc:elg:eechap:20914_14