Employee voice through open-book accounting : the benefits of informational transparency
Abstract
This paper explores the concept of open-book accounting. It illustrates the benefits of open-book reporting policies in terms of their potential ability to correct informational asymmetries, and it sets out some ideas for a future research agenda centred around the concept. The discussion is grounded in large part in the experiences of employee-owned businesses because such organisations are at the forefront of informational transparency innovations in social accounting. But the broader principle of sharing organisational information with employees and training them to process financial and strategic information is applicable to any organisation. It is argued that open-book accounting, especially in the context of employee-owned businesses, provides an exciting alternative to mainstream accounting and financial controls and a welcome addition to the social accounting literature.
Citation
Timming , A R & Brown , R C 2015 , ' Employee voice through open-book accounting : the benefits of informational transparency ' , Social and Environmental Accountability Journal , vol. 35 , no. 2 , pp. 86-95 . https://doi.org/10.1080/0969160X.2015.1022196
Publication
Social and Environmental Accountability Journal
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0969-160XType
Journal article
Rights
Copyright 2015 Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0969160X.2015.1022196
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