Weber’s Protestant Work Ethic: a case study of Scottish entrepreneurs, the Coats family of Paisley

This study examines the potential of Weber’s Protestant Work Ethic (PWE) to illustrate the growth, development and business philosophy of J & P Coats, a thread manufacturer from Paisley. The company grew from humble beginnings in 1826 to dominate the world thread market in a comparatively short period of time. The article will begin with a synopsis of the key arguments from the PWE, before moving to a summary of many of the debates, both past and recent, which have been put forward both for and against Weber’s work. The review of this body of work will highlight the continued relevance of Weber’s thesis. The brief history of the J & P Coats firm, and the main family members involved in its rise and progress will be provided, which will then provide a background against which Weber’s theories can be examined. Finally, the article will conclude that Weber’s thesis provides a rationale for understanding the development of the company, and the behaviour of its owners, which will in turn offer more contemporary validation of Weber’s theories

Clive Murray Norris, The financing of John Wesley's Methodism c. 1740-1800 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. Pp. xx+313. 7 figs. 9 tabs. ISBN 9780198796411 Hbk. £65)

No abstract available

The introduction and operation of standard costing at J&P Coats Ltd., 1925-1961: an institutional interpretation

This study provides a history of the introduction and implementation of standard costing at JandP Coats Ltd, the British-based multinational thread manufacturers, between 1925 and 1961. By 1896, the firm had centralised sales and marketing, strategic and treasury management in its head office in Glasgow. The introduction of standard costing was intended to bring financial discipline within each of its home and overseas mills, to add to the central discipline and control which already existed across the company, as well as to facilitate some aspects of central accounting in Glasgow. The study ends in 1961, the year the company merged with Patons and Baldwins, another UK-based textile firm. As a theoretical lens, our history uses institutional theory, as it affects an understanding of the implementation and operation of new management accounting systems. In particular, we explore the concept that the development and use of new accounting systems may well be conditioned by both external and internal ‘institutions’, or ‘ways of doing things’. The Coats study responds to the call for longitudinal analyses of management accounting innovation from an institutional point of view. It shows how institutional factors affected the implementation and use of standard costing within the firm, operating through human actors and changing organisational structures. In addition, the study adds to what is known about the history and chronology of the development of standard costing in the UK, pointing out similarities and differences between what happened at Coats and other adopters. It underscores that what is known about the installation and usage of costing systems would benefit from an understanding of the institutional factors involved

Comprehending the relationship between a company and its accountants, 1894–1967: Evaluating and accommodating Foucauldian and other perspectives

This article analyses the relationship between a Scottish manufacturing company and the accountancy firm which provided it with professional services across its existence (1894–1967). It examines the professional roles fulfilled by the accountants, the work done and the fee income derived from it, in the context of the company’s history. It emphasises the importance of the services provided by accountancy firms for unlisted companies in understanding the development of professional accountancy in the United Kingdom. The material presented is used to test three different explanations of the UK accountancy profession’s rise which relate to the auditing function and has implications for historical methodology and epistemologies. The explanations explored may be categorised as economic rationalist, Foucauldian and jurisdictional points of view

Comprehending the relationship between a company and its accountants, 1894-1967: Evaluating and accommodating Foucauldian and other perspectives

This article analyses the relationship between a Scottish manufacturing company and the accountancy firm which provided it with professional services across its existence (1894–1967). It examines the professional roles fulfilled by the accountants, the work done and the fee income derived from it, in the context of the company’s history. It emphasises the importance of the services provided by accountancy firms for unlisted companies in understanding the development of professional accountancy in the United Kingdom. The material presented is used to test three different explanations of the UK accountancy profession’s rise which relate to the auditing function and has implications for historical methodology and epistemologies. The explanations explored may be categorised as economic rationalist, Foucauldian and jurisdictional points of view

The growth, development and management of J. & P. Coats Ltd, c.1890-1960: An analysis of strategy and structure

The purpose of this article is to investigate the management of one of Britain's most important multinational companies, J. & P. Coats Ltd, in the period 1890-1960, a topic which has not hitherto been examined in detail. In particular, the article examines the system of committees that the enterprise used to control and direct its disparate empire over the time period concerned. As a theoretical focus, the study compares what is found in the writings of Alfred D. Chandler, Jr., who held that, in general, British family capital and management inhibited business growth and development, especially when compared with firms in the USA. The article concludes that Coats did not fit this interpretation. It provides the first in-depth study of the management of one of Britain's largest and most successful multinational companies, clarifying the relationships between organizational structure and financial arrangements, concluding that Coats' approach to management, although in some ways unique, was appropriate to its aims.Business History, Accounting History, Thread Manufacture, Chandler, Committee Control, Paisley,

Optimising a threadbare archive: Researching and publishing on J&P Coats ltd, c2000-present

No abstract available

Use of a Reflective Portfolio to Encourage Learning and to Assess Intended Learning Outcomes in a First-Year Accountancy Course

The Accountancy Profession (TAP) course aims to start the process of socialisation of potential professional accountants and to equip students with key skills for their future studies, such as reflective writing. Traditional assessment methods were tried but found to be limited in their ability to assess intended learning outcomes. An eportfolio was trialled and found to offer significant benefits by including a variety of tasks and encouraging continuous learning. This was the first time that this method of assessment was used on the B Acc and it was judged to be effective. We shared our rationale for using an eportfolio, the approach we used and our findings

Congruence lattices of finite algebras The characterization problem and the role of binary operations

SIGLETIB: RN 2394 (954) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman