L. Moerman
Silencing the noise : asbestos liabilities, accounting and strategic bankruptcy
Moerman, L.; van der Laan, S.
Authors
S. van der Laan
Abstract
The legacy of the global exploitation of asbestos provides an illustrative case to examine corporate strategy in response to the significant financial risk presented by the long-tail liability. The James Hardie group was the dominant asbestos manufacturing concern in Australia and, confronted with the uncertainties of burgeoning long-tail tort claims, embarked on a radical corporate reorganization. At the centre of the reorganization was the creation of a business unit of limited potential to separate asbestos long-tail liabilities from the profitable operations of the corporate group and locate the risk in an alternate legal arena. The strategic recognition of accounting assets and liabilities to construct a ‘bottom line’ and shift organizational boundaries is explored using Delaney’s theory of strategic bankruptcy. This interdisciplinary and critical sociological lens highlights the power of organizations to exploit the malleability of accounting concepts to pursue their strategic goals.
Citation
Moerman, L., & van der Laan, S. (2015). Silencing the noise : asbestos liabilities, accounting and strategic bankruptcy. Critical Perspectives On Accounting, 27, 118-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2014.03.004
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Mar 17, 2014 |
Online Publication Date | Apr 13, 2014 |
Publication Date | Mar 1, 2015 |
Deposit Date | Feb 26, 2014 |
Publicly Available Date | Mar 27, 2014 |
Journal | Critical Perspectives On Accounting |
Print ISSN | 1045-2354 |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 27 |
Pages | 118-128 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2014.03.004 |
Keywords | James Hardie Industries Limited, Strategic bankruptcy, Accountability, Social. |
Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1437784 |
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Copyright Statement
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Critical Perspectives on Accounting. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 27, March 2015, 10.1016/j.cpa.2014.03.004.
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