Gaetan Breton - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Gaetan Breton

For a Definition of Accounting

The impact of the commercialization process on the operating and financial performance of state-owned firms

Social Science Research Network, 2009

This paper wants to explore the use of semiotics analysis to better understand the annual report.... more This paper wants to explore the use of semiotics analysis to better understand the annual report. We start with the idea that the annual report is telling stories to the reader. As a form of novel, we can analyse it with the same instrument. Our purpose here is methodological. We want to propose an organized body of techniques that will allow anybody to conduct analysis from it. Therefore we use uniquely one example, to illustrate the method. The advantages of semiotics over content analysis are numerous. Content analysis remains quite trivial (counting words) while semiotics analysis take into account the structure of the story at many levels. Framed by the categories of the Aristotle's rhetoric, we develop a method that is replicable with a limited background in the source disciplines. Our results suggest that the annual report is clearly telling stories and respond quite positively to this kind of approach.

Theories and Schools of Thought

The Psychological Aspects of Accounting

Narratives vs Numbers in the Annual Report: Are They Giving the Same Message to the Investors?

Review of Accounting and Finance, Feb 1, 2005

The annual report has two parts, financial statements and narrative sections. Commentators have r... more The annual report has two parts, financial statements and narrative sections. Commentators have raised doubts about the harmony of the two parts. The financial statements are audited, therefore submitted to a form of control. The narrative sections are free style, open to confusion and manipulation. Users are potentially exposed to contradictory messages producing an effect of dissonance. We do not test the presence of dissonance for the users, but the presence of contradictory information prone to produce dissonant effect. We conduct a content analysis of the president letter and we build an index of the level of optimism contained in it. Then, we compare this index with the change in key numbers or ratios from the financial statements. Our results indicate a moderate level of divergence between the narrative sections and the accounting data. However, this level is sufficient to raise questions about the necessity to regulate the discourse accompanying the financial statements.

Financial Accountability and Management, Nov 1, 2002

Considering the waves of privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) during the last two deca... more Considering the waves of privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) during the last two decades in our western societies, it is more than ever interesting to compare their performance with that of the privately owned enterprises. One of the alleged goals of privatization is to increase the performance or internal efficiency of public firms (Ernst, 1995). This notion is based on the widely-held belief that private enterprise performs better than its public counterpart and that privatization becomes the only way to improve the performance of SOEs. Public firms are, thus, very often perceived as being mismanaged and squandering assets and resources. Three main theories: property rights (

Accounting in the Scientific Institution

Society and Business Review, Feb 8, 2008

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to revisit the foundations of profit and then consider the c... more Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to revisit the foundations of profit and then consider the central role of the profit in the society inspired by the accounting practice, through its influence in the social construction of the accountant's competency, and of the use accounting profession itself. Design/methodology/approach-Inspired largely by the sociology of the professions, this paper also borrows from classical economic theory to understand the contradictory role and functioning of the conventional notion of profit in the society. Findings-The paper presents the accountant as the master and great academic of this convention, and the profit as constituting for him a key resource in establishing an undisputed consensus around his competency based on a social valorization. This sacralization originates from the emptying of the economic concept while referring constantly to it. Therefore, the meaning is noisy and then, can be manipulated. Originality/value-The profit is the main product sell by the accounting profession and the accounting notion most widely discussed in the society. Therefore, to understand its social functioning is essential to understand the social role of accounting and the social statute of accountants.

Restoring social legitimacy: discursive strategies used by a pharmaceutical industry leader

Society and Business Review, Feb 1, 2013

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to understand discursive strategies used by organizations to rest... more PurposeThe aim of this paper is to understand discursive strategies used by organizations to restore their fading legitimacy. This longitudinal case study is built around two events representing a threat to the legitimacy of the pharmaceutical industry. This study describes some subtle techniques employed to restore legitimacy during those difficult periods.Design/methodology/approachThis research analyzes the president's letter of the annual report using semiotic tools designed to catch the essence and goals of the narrative sections. This case study covers 20 of Pfizer most recent annual reports (1988‐2007).FindingsThe paper suggests that some narrative sections are built to protect legitimacy on two fronts. Most of the time, the discourse maintains legitimacy in front of the salient stakeholder by presenting the firm's main “object of desire” as the enhancement of shareholder's value. In a period of crisis, the narratives are built to restore legitimacy in the eyes of the general public. To do so, they substitute a screen object (related to the theme of the crisis) as the goal of the companies' action.Research limitations/implicationsThe annual report appears as a selling document, discussing “political issues” rather than economic rendition of accounts. However, it is impossible to expose the controversies here, and it is not the purpose of the paper.Originality/valueThe paper brings together multiple elements of narrative sections to show how pharmaceutical firms built their discourse to restore legitimacy by adapting their defensive texts to specific screen objects as a response to a crisis.

Telling the privatization story: a study of the president's letter

Society and Business Review, Jun 28, 2013

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the use of narrative instruments, mainly storytelling, to sell ... more PurposeThis paper aims to explore the use of narrative instruments, mainly storytelling, to sell the privatization of State‐owned enterprises (SOE) to the general public by their CEO.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a semiotic analysis approach. It uses specific semiotic analysis instruments: Greimas' actantial model and Propp‐Bremond function model. These main instruments can be backed on time by other devices. The analysis is centered on the president's letters in the pre‐privatization period of Canadian SOEs.FindingsThe paper finds evidence of the use, by the CEO, of discourse in general and specifically accounting discourse to advocate for the privatization. The paper also finds that the general structure of storytelling in the presidents' letters studied implies the use of narrative instruments to surreptitiously convey specific messages in accordance with the surrounding ideology.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper studies only SOE that had been privatized. However, top managers of every SOE are facing the same legitimating problematic. The context is strictly Canadian. Therefore, further research may examine Canadian non‐privatized SOEs or foreign SOE, privatized or not.Practical implicationsPrivatization is a political decision, i.e. being decided ultimately by citizens. Therefore, CEOs of SOEs do not have to intervene in the debate using their privileged standpoint. Moreover, they will not do it except if backed by politicians promoting the same interests, although tacitly. Citizens must be aware of the manoeuvres done to orientate them toward the “good” decision.Originality/valueThe paper shows that the apparent objectivity of the financial results can be used to promote political agendas. It says that accounting is not a pure reflection of reality but a language used to promote specific interests. It also shows that accounting is telling stories that are used in other parts of the annual report, such as the president's letter.

The Traditional Vision of Accounting Theory

Emerald Publishing Limited eBooks, Nov 14, 2018

Accounting: The State and the Firm

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Jun 28, 2000

This paper is a review of the literature on accounts manipulations in the U.S., but also in sever... more This paper is a review of the literature on accounts manipulations in the U.S., but also in several other countries, including Canada, UK, and France. Although we tried to follow a comprehensive approach of this topic, we might have forgotten some references. We make our apologies to the authors who have not been cited. We wish to thank participants of the 2000 EAA Annual Meeting (Munich). Hervé Stolowy would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Research Center of the HEC School of Management and thanks Etienne Lacam for his research assistance.

Social Science Research Network, 2010

Despite a still low level of theorization of firm's management, w e have some proposals pointing ... more Despite a still low level of theorization of firm's management, w e have some proposals pointing in the direction of an effect of the Board composition on the performance. The Resource based view of the firm w ould explain this relationship by the social capital (netw orks) of Board's members. This study examines the influence of social relationships of board of directors' members on the performance of the firm using a sample of the 100 largest listed Canadian companies. Social relationships are measured by three factors: economic affiliations, political affiliations and social affiliations. The performance of the firm is measured by the return on assets. The results of regression analysis suggest that only the political affiliations of board of directors' members have a significant although negative impact on the performance of the firm. These results suggest that separating business and politics might be a good idea as politics appear to be har mful to business.

Social Science Research Network, 2001