22 June 2016
Leading industry practitioners and esteemed academics joined forces to explore the role of accountancy and the accountancy profession in managing crisis, unknowns and the unexpected, in a variety of different contexts.
Over the two days, topics were divided into three sessions namely:
- Session One: Governing the unknown in major projects whereby Professor Paolo Quattrone (University of Edinburgh) explored governing through numbers and the role of accounting figures as platforms of engagement in the management of major projects such as London Heathrow Terminal 2. Paolo used the settings of major projects to draw broader conclusions on the nature of accounting as a ‘maieutic’ rather than ‘answer’ machine. That is, a visualisation where numbers are used not to represent what has to be measured, but to mediate amongst different rationalities, explore and interrogate what is unknown, uncertain. Therefore, they cannot be made visible in management reports while still be relevant to manage risk.
- Session Two: Natural crisis, war and humanitarian crisis. These talks covered both the role of accountants and accounting in the context of natural and man-made disasters.
Professor Massimo Sargiacomo (G. D’ Annunzio University) spoke on the impact of time and space in extraordinary accounting for natural disasters. He illustrated his argument through the case of an earthquake in Italy, but more generally took the audience through his ongoing research agenda in the field of accounting for crisis.
He was followed by Professor Stephen Walker (University of Edinburgh) who discussed the impact of the First World-War on the UK accounting profession and addressed the challenges and strategies that this crisis posed for the profession and its members. Both papers considered the role that accountants and accounting played in the context of natural and man-made disasters.
After lunch, Marian Gatzweiler (University of Edinburgh) took centre stage and presented his research on the role of performance evaluation systems in complex humanitarian response operations. His case study was used to develop insights on the possibility of designing accounting systems that can build on, rather than avoid, ambiguity and lack of predefined goals.
To wrap up the day, keynote speaker, Rick Cudworth (Deloitte) asked delegates to think about the unthinkable. Risk and crisis management has been transformed by a new world reality characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. He shared a few of the strategies used in the corporate sphere to better prepare for various types of crisis.
- Session Three: Corporate and Financial Crisis. On the day two, Professor Clinton Free (UNSW, Australia) shared the findings of his recent research into the role of audit as a crisis management tool. To illustrate his point, he drew on four case studies taking place in different political, cultural and corporate realms. He was followed by Dr Elisa Henderson (University of Edinburgh) who has researched the manner in which the media covered the financial results of UK banks in the wake of the recent financial crisis.
It was then the chance for practitioners to shed some light on current industry thinking. The distinguished Tony Lomas (PwC) presented fascinating insights into the extraordinary case of Lehman’s Brothers in the recent crisis. As the administrator of Lehman’s in the UK, Mr. Lomas shared some of his perspectives on the role of accounting in challenging situations.
To conclude the conference the final keynote speaker, Stephen Cooper, talked about standard setting and the financial crisis. He took the audience through his 10-year term on the board of the IASB, providing insightful perspectives on the role of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) before, during and after the global financial crisis.
Attendees found the conference both enjoyable and informative. Participants came from both industry and academia which added a great dynamic to discussions and networking. The event demonstrated good things to come from the newly launched Centre of Accounting and Society (CAS).