The Big Four and the Development of the Accounting Profession in China


Book Description

This volume provides a history of the domination of the Big Four in the Chinese accounting industry, explaining why China was unable to keep the market for its own accounting firms. The book details how easy access to U.S. capital markets led to major accounting scandals, and a clash between U.S. and Chinese regulators.




Rethinking Chinese Politics


Book Description

Understanding Chinese politics has become more important than ever. Some argue that China's political system is 'institutionalized' or that 'win all/lose all' struggles are a thing of the past, but, Joseph Fewsmith argues, as in all Leninist systems, political power is difficult to pass on from one leader to the next. Indeed, each new leader must deploy whatever resources he has to gain control over critical positions and thus consolidate power. Fewsmith traces four decades of elite politics from Deng to Xi, showing how each leader has built power (or not). He shows how the structure of politics in China has set the stage for intense and sometimes violent intra-elite struggles, shaping a hierarchy in which one person tends to dominate, and, ironically, providing for periods of stability between intervals of contention.




The Routledge Companion to Accounting History


Book Description

The Routledge Companion to Accounting History shows how the seemingly innocuous practice of accounting has pervaded human existence in fascinating ways at numerous times and places; from ancient civilisations to the modern day, and from the personal to the political. Placing the history of accounting in context with other fields of study, the collection gives invaluable insights to subjects such as the rise of capitalism, the control of labour, gender and family relationships, racial exploitation, the functioning of the state, and the pursuit of military conflict. An engaging and comprehensive overview also examining geographical differences, this Companion is split into key sections, which explore: changing technologies used to represent financial and other data historical development of accounting theory and practice accounting institutions and those who perform accounting accountancy and the economy accounting, society, and culture the role of accounting in the government, protection and financing of states including chapters on the important role played by accountancy in religious organizations, a review of how the discipline is portrayed in fine art and popular culture, and analysis of sharp practice and corporate scandals. The Routledge Companion to Accounting History has a breadth of coverage that is unmatched in this growing area of study. Bringing together leading writers in the field, this is an essential reference work for any student of accounting, business and management, and history.




The Routledge Companion to Critical Accounting


Book Description

The field of critical accounting has expanded rapidly since its inception and has become recognised as offering a wealth of provocative insights in the wake of the global financial crisis. It is now firmly embedded within accounting literature and in how accounting is taught. Surveying the evolving field of Critical Accounting, including theory, ethics, history, development and sustainability, this Companion presents key debates in the field, providing a comprehensive overview. Incorporating interdisciplinary perspectives on accounting, the volume concludes by considering new directions in which critical accounting research may travel. With an international array of established and respected contributors, this Routledge Companion is a vital resource for students and researchers across the world.




The Rise of Conference Interpreting in China


Book Description

In this landmark project, Professor Zhang and Professor Moratto piece together the history of how conference interpreting developed as a profession in China after the reform and opening up of the late 1970s. Based on interviews with the alumni of the early efforts to develop conference interpreting capabilities between Chinese and English (and French), the authors illuminate the international programs and relationships which were instrumental in bringing this about. While paying tribute to the earliest interpreters who interpreted for the first-generation CPC leaders including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping, they track key cooperative projects between Chinese ministries and both the United Nations and European Union, as well as China’s domestic efforts, which developed into today’s formal programs at major universities. An essential resource for scholars and students of conference interpreting in China, alongside its sister volume Conference Interpreting in China: Practice, Training and Research.




Making Up Accountants


Book Description

First published in 1998, this organizational and professional socialization of trainee chartered accountants reports the findings of an ICAEW funded research project which explored the training and socialization of trainee accountants in two Big Six firms in the UK. The background to the research, particularly the under-researched nature of the socialization of accountants, is outlined. The research issues are located within the institutional context of the accounting profession in the UK and the academic literature on the professions and professional socialization. The main research findings reported concern. The main research findings reported concern the development of trainees’ understandings of their professional indentity; the role of formal processes and informal norms within socialization; the relationship of professional identity to notions of client service, firm identity, divisionalization, and career success.




"Becoming" a Professional


Book Description

This book is founded on the idea that ‘becoming’ is the most useful defining concept for a new ‘professional’ class whose members understand that development in their working lives is an open-ended, lifelong process of refinement and learning. In a world where being a ‘professional’ is an increasingly indistinct notion and where better education and technology are challenging ‘professional’ norms, it is imperative that we no longer think in terms of an exclusive, ‘Anglo-American’, knowledge-rich class of workers. Exploring the implications of this insight for professions including nursing, teaching, social work, engineering and the clergy, this volume aims to encourage informed debate on what it means to be a ‘professional’ in this globalised 21st century. The book argues that ‘becoming’ a professional is a lifelong process in which individual professional identities are constructed through formal education, workplace interactions and popular culture. The book advocates the ‘ongoingness’ of developing a professional self throughout one’s professional life. What emerges is a concept of becoming a professional different from the isolated, rugged, individualistic approach to traditional professional practice as represented in popular culture. It is a book for the reflective professional.




A Matter of Honour


Book Description

The South African-born Chinese community is a tiny one, consisting of 10,000-12,000 members in a population of approximately 45 million. Throughout much of the history of this race-conscious country, this community has been ignored or neglected and officially classed along with people of mixed race or with Indians in the South African category of "Asiatic." Shaped by both external and internal forces, Chinese identities in South Africa are beginning to receive more media and scholarly attention as China's aid, trade, and investment in Africa grow and large numbers of new Chinese immigrants stream into South Africa and other African states. A Matter of Honour examines the shifting social, ethnic, racial, and national identities of Chinese South Africans over time. Using concepts of identity, ethnicity, race, nationalism, and transnationalism, and drawing on comparisons with other overseas Chinese communities, it explores the multilayered identities of the South African group and analyzes the ways in which their identities have altered with each generation. Yoon Jung Park's study breaks away from the often-narrow inquiries into ethnic and national identity in South Africa, offering valuable new perspectives on this shifting terrain of study. Book jacket.




Professions


Book Description

Professions and professionalism have played an integral part in business and society. In this book, Mike Saks provides a thorough overview of this field through an analysis of a range of professions, including, amongst others, accountants, doctors and lawyers. The book offers a critical analysis of such privileged occupational groups in modern societies. Anticipating a positive if changing role for such groups in the years ahead, the book outlines conflicting theoretical perspectives on professions and discusses current developments in an accessible, multi-disciplinary style. The book documents their evolution and contemporary transformation from medieval guilds to fully-fledged professions and international professional service firms, while pointing a path towards their future in the world of work and beyond. With insights into the recent challenges provided by clients, citizens, the state and corporations in neo-liberal societies, Professions provides a concise overview that will be essential reading for students, academics and others interested in the operation of these key occupational groups in business and society.




Epistemic Fluency and Professional Education


Book Description

This book, by combining sociocultural, material, cognitive and embodied perspectives on human knowing, offers a new and powerful conceptualisation of epistemic fluency – a capacity that underpins knowledgeable professional action and innovation. Using results from empirical studies of professional education programs, the book sheds light on practical ways in which the development of epistemic fluency can be recognised and supported - in higher education and in the transition to work. The book provides a broader and deeper conception of epistemic fluency than previously available in the literature. Epistemic fluency involves a set of capabilities that allow people to recognize and participate in different ways of knowing. Such people are adept at combining different kinds of specialised and context-dependent knowledge and at reconfiguring their work environment to see problems and solutions anew. In practical terms, the book addresses the following kinds of questions. What does it take to be a productive member of a multidisciplinary team working on a complex problem? What enables a person to integrate different types and fields of knowledge, indeed different ways of knowing, in order to make some well-founded decisions and take actions in the world? What personal knowledge resources are entailed in analysing a problem and describing an innovative solution, such that the innovation can be shared in an organization or professional community? How do people get better at these things; and how can teachers in higher education help students develop these valued capacities? The answers to these questions are central to a thorough understanding of what it means to become an effective knowledge worker and resourceful professional.