The annual general meeting for Australian football clubs: An accountability and entertainment event

Halabi, Abdel K.

doi:10.1177/1032373220953509

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…“Go on, go on,” from the front (1911 GM). Halabi (2021) characterises Australian football club AGMs in the 1890s as theatre, at which there was cheering, applause, etc., similar to the audience engagement at our AGMs. Biehl-Missal (2012) claims AGM audiences play an interactive role, and shareholders can create their own experiences alongside the order of the event pre-determined by the board.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Shareholder sentiment at general meetings: speculating on colonialism

Power

Brennan

2022

AAAJ

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PurposeAnnual general meetings have been variously described as dull rituals for accountability versus entertaining theatre at the expense of accountability. The research analyses director and shareholder participation and dialogic interactions at annual and extraordinary general meetings of Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company (BSAC). The BSAC was incorporated under a royal charter in 1889 in return for power to exploit a huge territory, Rhodesia/now Zimbabwe. The BSAC's administration ceased in 1924/25. Thus, the BSAC had a dual mandate as a private for-profit listed company and to occupy and develop the territories on behalf of the British government.Design/methodology/approachThe article analyses 29 BSAC general meeting minutes, comprising 25 full sets of verbatim minutes between 1895 and 1925. The study adopts manual content analysis. First, the research adopts conversational analysis to analyse director and shareholder turn-taking and moves by approving and dissenting shareholders. Second, the study identifies and analyses incidents of shareholder sentiment from the shareholder turns/moves. Finally, the article assesses how shareholder sentiment changed throughout the period and whether the BSAC's share price reflected the shareholder sentiment.FindingsThe BSAC's general meetings were associated with the greater colonial project of building the British Empire. The authors find almost 1,500 incidents of shareholder sentiment. Directors and shareholders take roughly an equal number of turns (excluding shareholder sentiment). Ritual and ceremony dominate director and shareholder turns and moves, while accountability to shareholders was minimal. The BSAC share price spiked in the early years of the project, waning after that. Shareholder sentiment, both positive and negative, reflect the share price behaviour.Originality/valueA unique database of verbatim general meeting minutes records shareholders' reactions to what they heard in the form of sounding off through cheering, “hear, hears,” laughter and applause (i.e. shareholder sentiment).

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…She reconstructs the AGM as a play, focussing on the aesthetic experience of the event. Halabi (2021) considers the interrelationships between AGM accountability and social roles. He analyses newspaper narratives of Australian Football Club AGMs in the 1890s.…”

Section: Annual General Meetings For Dialoguementioning

confidence: 99%

Shareholder sentiment at general meetings: speculating on colonialism

Power

Brennan

2022

AAAJ

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“…Within the accountability literature, we are particularly interested in the stream looking at routine staged events, i.e. events held in order to discharge accountability or celebrate achievements on an annual basis including annual general meetings (AGMs) (Hodges et al, 2004;Cordery, 2005;Carrington & Johed, 2007;Biehl-Missal, 2011;Halabi, 2021) and award ceremonies (Anand & Watson, 2004;Grigg & Mann, 2008;Jeacle, 2008Jeacle, , 2014. While the events we study were neither occasions for celebration nor AGMs, they were part of a routine of communication between directors and other stakeholders; this literature is therefore highly resonant with our case.…”

Section: The Discharging Of Accountability At Staged Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…She extends the possibilities of the AGM, arguing that they have an important role to play, not only in the performance of a ritualized form of accountability but also in engaging with criticism and, echoing Hodges et al (2004), in building a sense of community. In his study of Australian football clubs' AGMs in the late nineteenth century, Halabi (2021) suggests an additional role for the AGM as a richly ceremonial and symbolic affair offering an "intertwining of pure accountability and entertainment".…”

Section: The Discharging Of Accountability At Staged Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grassroots accountability: the practical and symbolic aspects of performance

Millar

Mueller

Carter

2023

AAAJ

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PurposeThe paper provides a theoretical framework for interdisciplinary accounting scholars interested in performances of accountability in front of live audiences.Design/methodology/approachThis is a processual case study of “Falkirk in crisis” that covers the period from September 2021 to September 2022. The focus of this paper is two-fan-Q&A sessions held in October 2021 and June 2022. Both are naturally occurring discussions between two groups such as are found in previous research on routine events and accountability. This is a theoretically consequential case study.FindingsA key insight of the paper is to identify the practical and symbolic dimensions of accountability. The paper demonstrates the need to align these two dimensions when responding to questions: a practical question demands a practical answer and a symbolic question requires a symbolic answer. Second, the paper argues that most fields contain conflicting logics and highlights that a complete performance of accountability needs to cover the different conflicting logics within the field. In this case, this means paying full attention to both the communitarian and results logics. A third finding is that a performance of accountability cannot succeed if the audience rejects attempts to impose an unpalatable definition of the situation. If these three conditions are not met, the performance is bound to fail.Research limitations/implicationsAn important theoretical coontribution of the study is the application of Jeffery Alexander’s work on political performance to public performances of accountability.Practical implicationsThe phenomenon explored in the paper (what the authors term “grassroots accountability”) has broad applicability to any situation in organizational or civic life where the power apex of an organization is required to engage with a group of informed and committed stakeholders – the “community”. For those who find themselves in the position of the fans in this study, the observations set out in the empirical narrative can serve as a useful practical guide. Attempts to answer a practical complaint with a symbolic answer (or vice versa) should be challenged as evasive.Social implicationsThis paper studies an engagement of elite actors with ordinary (or grassroots) actors. The study shows important rules of engagement, including the importance of respecting the power of practical questions and the need to engage with these questions appropriately.Originality/valueThis paper offers a new vista for interdisciplinary accounting by synthesizing the accountability literature with the political performance literature. Specifically, the paper employs Jeffery Alexander’s work on practical and symbolic performance to study the microprocesses underpinning successful and unsuccessful performances of accountability.

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“…An examination of the history of any specific football club highlights that most (whether small clubs or members of the topflight of the game) started as local, community-based organisations, serving the needs of that specific community. Any “success” that an individual club attains is built on and is a direct result of, the hard work and resources from the local community in which it was originally based (Halabi, 2021; Morrow, 1999). Those giving their time and resources do so on the understanding that football has so much value to give to the local community in return.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review Papers Examining accountability in relation to local football communities

Burns

Jollands

2022

AAAJ

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PurposeMost football clubs were founded by members of the local community within which they are based. The success of a club is built on the time, effort and resources given by these locals, which is offered due to the benefits that football promises to the community in return. However, the game has increasingly been dominated by a focus on financial (monetary) value, at the expense of such benefits being delivered to the clubs' local communities. This article examines a need for deliberation over what accountability is owed by football clubs to their local communities in the context of questioning what and for whom football is for.Design/methodology/approachThis exploration is undertaken within the context of the English game, where a series of issues has resulted in the UK Government undertaking a “fan led review of football governance”. The report produced by this review is analysed to understand whether the contents and recommendations enters the debate over what accountability is owed to local communities.FindingsWhile the UK Government's fan led review recognises the pivotal role of local communities in the formation of the English game, its focus and resulting recommendations are mostly on the financial sustainability of the clubs. The analysis demonstrates that, due to their focus on financial value, the implementation of the report's recommendations is more likely to exacerbate the underlying issues rather than resolving them.Originality/valueThe call for deliberation over whether and what accountability is owed to local communities has been repeated over time. The UK Government's fan led review provided an important opportunity to engage in that deliberation. However, the dominance of financial value within football has all but silenced any call for and action regarding this.

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The annual general meeting for Australian football clubs: An accountability and entertainment event

Cited by 7 publications

References 49 publications

Shareholder sentiment at general meetings: speculating on colonialism

Shareholder sentiment at general meetings: speculating on colonialism

Grassroots accountability: the practical and symbolic aspects of performance

Review Papers Examining accountability in relation to local football communities

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