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Event

Essex Accounting Centre (EAC) research seminar

Accountability Sensemaking in Fire and Rescue Services

  • Wed 20 Nov 24

    14:00 - 16:00

  • Online

    Zoom

  • Event type

    Lectures, talks and seminars

  • Event organiser

    Essex Business School

  • Contact details

    Dr. Rafia Afrin

The aim of the Essex Accounting Centre (EAC) research seminar series is to support our world-class research activities in five key areas: accounting and global development; capital Markets, audit, regulation & reporting; publicness and resilience, precarity, exclusion & social justice; and environment, climate change & vulnerability.

The seminar series is also expected to promote inter-disciplinary research that links the work of members of the centre with others both within the university and with external institutions.

Seminar abstract

The paper introduces the concepts of ‘tight’ and ‘loose accountability’ into the accountability literature in accounting to show firefighters make sense of accountability within England's fire and rescue services (FRS). Building on Weick’s (1995) writings on sensemaking and Bourdieu’s (1990) concept of the social field, the present paper draws on document analysis and face-to-face interviews with firefighters to show how the interplay between organisational structure and sensemaking processes, particularly how the hierarchical and masculine ethos of fire rescue services shape the accountability sensemaking. Our findings demonstrate that the hierarchical, technology-driven, and masculine ethos of the FRS promotes tight accountability, which prioritises rule-based, measurable procedures over more flexible and adaptive forms of accountability. This tight accountability, often framed through technical expertise and rigid compliance, contrasts to a loose form of accountability that fosters broader stakeholder engagement, dialogue, and community involvement. Our findings also indicate the need for policy reforms to promote dialogue and community involvement, regular public consultations, participatory risk assessments, and training of firefighters.  Such reforms would help fire and rescue services become more adaptable to changing societal needs, enhance public trust, and support a more person-centred approach to safety.

Speaker bio - Professor Sarah Lauwo

Sarah is a Professor in Accounting. She joined Robert Gordon University in December 2023 having previously been a Senior Lecturer in Accounting at Sheffield University Management School. She previously worked at Goldsmiths University of London, Aston University, University of Essex and University of Kent. She has a financial audit background with Deloitte and Touche and qualified as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). She holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Dar es salaam (Tanzania) and a PhD in Accounting from the University of Essex.

Sarah’s research utilises sociological theories to explore the impact of accounting on our everyday lives in relation to public and private sector accounting models. Her primary research focused on understanding the dynamics of social accounting, specifically issues relating to corporate social responsibility, social and environmental accounting, and accountability issues in the public and private sector. Her published research draws on Foucault, post-structuralist feminist theory and other social theorist and has covered: corporate social responsibility, social and environmental accounting, accounting for human rights, privatisation, corruption, taxation and accountability and sustainable development goals. Her work appears in leading international peer-reviewed journals including Accounting, Auditing and Accountability, Critical Perspectives in Accounting, Accounting Forum and Journal of Business Ethics.

Her research has been funded by the British Academy, Social Science and Humanities Research Council in Canada and Chartered Institute of Taxation. Sarah has acted as a guest speaker at workshops, a panellist speaker at conferences, and held several past external examiner posts. She is currently a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland (ICAS) Sustainability Panel. She is also an Associate Editor of the Sustainability Accounting Management and Policy Journal, and an Editorial Board Member of Accounting Forum and Journal of Applied Accounting Research.

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