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Zusatztext This book shows above all the enviable ability of British accountants to re-invent themselves. It deserves to be read by all accountants who are interested in where their profession has come from, where it stands today, and where it may go tomorrow. - Bob Parker. Accountancy. September 1998 Informationen zum Autor Professor Edwards is editor of the leading international journal Accounting, Business and Financial History Klappentext There are more than a quarter of a million professional accountants in the UK today. This is a staggering statistic and The Priesthood of Industry explores the rise of accountants to their present position as the dominant professional grouping in the boardroom and the top echelons of British Management. The book traces the origins of the major professional bodies and the evolution of `family trees' of the `Big Six' accountancy firms: Coopers & Lybrand, KPMG, Price Waterhouse, Ernst & Young, Arthur Andersen, and Touche Ross. Zusammenfassung The leading professional accounting bodies in Britain today boast more than a quarter of a million qualified members and accountants are moving into top management positions in increasing numbers. Accountants have become the foremost professional grouping in British business management. The Priesthood of Industry documents the rise of the accountancy profession, from the handful of accountants listed in the trade directories of the major cities in the late-eighteenth century to the huge commercially-oriented firms of the late-twentieth century. The authors focus on the individual: the professional accountant, and adopt an economic determinist analysis to explain the rise of public practice and the transfer of staff to industry in increasing numbers. They also consider the routes through which this transfer of skills took place, and identify demand and supply side factors to explain the professional accountant's present hegemony in business management. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface 1: Introduction 2: Roots of the Profession 3: The Rise of the Accounting Function 4: Accountants and Business Management in Victorian and Edwardian Britain 5: Accountants in the Economic Maelstrom: The First World War and the Inter-War Years 6: Rise of the `Priesthood' in the Post-Second World War Era 7: Some Explanations and Conclusions Appendices References ...
