Corporate annual reports: towards a non-reductionist approach
Abstract
During the 20th century, numerous philosophers of science highlighted
several problems afflicting scientific communication. Communication in
accounting is also problematic. In both cases (science and accounting)
there seems to be a tension between objectivism and subjectivism. The
former emphasizes the objects of knowledge, while the latter tends to
rely on the human subject. In science one of these approaches seems
to prevail in different periods. In accounting there seems to be an
oscillation or ambiguity between the two tendencies (subjectivism and
objectivism) which remain side by side. A polarity seems to emerge
as statutory disclosures are mainly influenced by objectivism, while
contextual disclosures are inclined towards subjectivism. With reference
to the philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd, subjectivism and objectivism
are interpreted as emphasizing certain modal aspects to the detriment of others. Although this problem can be regarded as the cause of
many challenges in preparing annual reports, this article focuses on
communication problems. It is suggested that a better (non-reductionist)
approach can be adopted by paying attention to all the modal aspects, in
particular to those which tend to be neglected under a certain approach
(objectivism or subjectivism). The final sections of this article provide a
few concrete examples to improve communication.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/20516http://reference.sabinet.co.za.nwulib.nwu.ac.za/sa_epublication/tcwet
Collections
- Faculty of Humanities [2033]