Dr Damien Lambert, Monash University

'Accounting Numbers as Weapons: A study of Competition Repertoires of Accounting in the battle for Shareholders’ Votes' co-authored with Bernard Leca and Chrystelle Richard
Wednesday 4 May, 10am-11.15am
Zoom online seminar

Register at business-events@glasgow.ac.uk

Abstract

We analyse how the board of a company and its opponent, an activist hedge fund, use accounting numbers as weapons to compete for shareholders’ votes. We complement the existing research by showing how accounting numbers are ‘weaponised’, pointing to two different uses – as proof, and for predictions. We highlight significant differences between those two uses and show that what makes accounting numbers effective as weapons is not just what they are, but also how they are presented and communicated. We also develop the concept of the “competition repertoire of accounting” to analyse how opponents use such tactics, noting the flexibility of those repertoires, and also identifying hysteresis and path dependence as important restrictions on that flexibility. Finally, this study contributes to the ongoing research exploring the evolution of corporate governance and shareholder activism. It extends existing research to explore how activists take struggles into the public arena and the media to force open the doors of corporate boardrooms and achieve their goals, and also highlights the need for board members to acquire new skills to cope with this kind of threat. Incidentally, the present study contributes to research on the evolution of capitalism, as the inner circle of the corporate elite is now fractured.

Biography

Dr Damien Lambert joined Monash University as a lecturer in August 2017, after defending his PhD at ESSEC Business School (France). His dissertation relies on qualitative research methods to investigate a new actor in corporate governance, the proxy advisor. Damien’s research interests include the value of auditing, shareholder activism, water pricing and standard-setting in the Not-For-Profit sector. Before starting his PhD, Damien was an Audit Manager at a Big 4 Audit Firm, specialized in the asset management and banking industry. He obtained his Chartered Accountant designation (Reviseur d’Entreprises Luxembourg) in 2009.

Further information: business-events@glasgow.ac.uk

First published: 27 April 2022

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