Account books as a mediating technology of organization

Francois-Regis Puyou, Paolo Quattrone

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Using examples from Rome, the Renaissance, and modernity, this chapter takes an historical view on how accounts allow organizations to coalesce. This phenomenon is described as a process of composition where the visual and material spaces of accounts prompt their users to perform ordered classifications of arguments that make organizations tangible.Organizing is thus conceived as the regular encounter between people and artefacts. Such encounters support the coexistence of different interconnected organizings, resulting from multiple engagements with the signs and words in account books, as illustrated by the outcomes of budgetary discussions between engineers and traders in a hydroelectric company.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Oxford Handbook of Media, Technology, and Organization Studies
EditorsTimon Beyes, Robin Holt, Claus Pias
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherOxford University Press
Chapter1
Pages4-14
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)9780191882395
ISBN (Print)9780198809913
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Feb 2020

Keywords

  • accounts
  • organization
  • account books
  • Roman accounting
  • accounting history

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