This study aims to elicit the characteristics of office management control work as presented by documentary filmmakers across four decades in the 20th century. To this end, it investigates office context and culture, office personnel control related activity, and representations of the role of the office.
Departing from conventional textual and photographic evidence, it is a pioneer study in the accounting research literature that employs film elicitation method to investigate office characteristics, interpretations, and performance presentations by film-makers as an alternative window into the backstage office world as traditionally presented.
Backstage office management control is brought to front stage view, presenting organisational rituals that both condition and reflect societal customs and audience expectations. The office emerges as a hub of interactive integrated management control activity. A shifting balance towards staff-machine interaction accompanies the visible central role of management control records. The key characteristic of control via records-in-action is seen to be both historically evident as well as relevant to today’s digital office.
The study illustrates the potential for additional insights into accounting and management control processes and their representation to be gained from application of film elicitation methods.
This study contributes to a further understanding of the 20th century office management control characteristics that underpin the offices of today and can potentially inform office management control design and actions in the future.
The study offers an alternative window into historical office management control operations that augments existing knowledge. It presents a pioneering film elicitation study in the accounting research literature and demonstrates the relevance and importance of understanding historical context for today’s emerging digital office context. Documentary filmmaker representations of the office world and accounting functions and their reflection of societal context are also demonstrated.
