"Seeing without being seen": Toward an archaeology of controlling science
Journal
International Studies of Management and Organization
ISSN
0020-8825
ISSN-Digital
1558-0911
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2001-10-01
Author(s)
Abstract
What is the relationship between current German management accounting techniques (referred to as "controlling" in German-speaking areas), Taylorism, and an 18th-century prison design by Jeremy Bentham, the Panopticon? Using a Foucauldian "archaeological" approach combined with "genealogical" concerns, it is argued that panopticism as a disciplinary instrument and as an organizing metaphor can still be discerned in current German management accounting concepts as well as in one of its conceptual ancestors, Taylorism. This analysis constitutes a critical reflection of the impacts of panopticism as an underlying metaphor for present-day German management accounting, especially with regard to the "successful" implementation of management accounting tools and their organizational consequences.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Routledge, Taylor & Francis
Publisher place
Abingdon, Oxon
Volume
31
Number
3
Start page
113
End page
135
Pages
23
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
20352