research@hec - Issue#4 - (Page VII)

Transparency and Responsibility Business Ethics as Practice, the book recently coedited by Martin Messner, affirms, “in business, moral questions are not just theoretical; they arise in practice and have to be dealt with in practice.” Accountability, or the giving and receiving of accounts of people’s actions, is one such moral issue and one of M. Messner’s principal fields of interest. He explains that on a basic level, when a person or organization’s actions have consequences for others, the latter have the right to know and understand why particular choices have been made. “Accounting is necessary in order to find out whether a manager’s actions have been appropriate and/or legitimate,” he continues. But can all actions be explained? Though M. Messner views the current trend toward increased accounting requirements and practices in a positive light, he cautions against excessive demands in the way of accounts. His research has led him to argue for allowing managers leeway in terms of reporting, because innovative leaders in particular may not be able to spell out the exact reasons for their actions. In fact, an effective accounting policy requires combining demands for justification with healthy doses of common sense and personal responsibility. Should managers be expected to be able to account for each and every one of their actions? As far as HEC professor Martin Messner is concerned, the short answer to this question is no, because managers sometimes react intuitively. Still, transparency is indispensable in this day and age, so Messner advocates promoting personal responsibility and combining formal and informal reporting practices. Interview with Martin Messner based on the book chapter “Being accountable and being responsible” (from Business Ethics as Practice: Representation, Reflexivity, and Performance, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007) and on two working papers. M THE LIMITATIONS OF EXPLANATIONS: ALLOWING LEEWAY FOR HUMAN OPACITY Corporate scandals and increasing criticism of executive compensation have raised public consciousness—and demand—for managerial accountability and transparency. Such events also sparked Professor Messner’s interest in the capabilities and limits of accounting and accounting practices. Is it legitimate to ask managers to justify their actions in every detail? What about the fact that an account that satisfies one stakeholder may not content another? Incongruent demands and interests make accountability a complex issue. According to Martin Messner, one of the principle limits of accountability is rooted in the instinctive, inexplicable side of human nature. Intuitive decision-making is considered a sign of “great” leadership, and innovation and out-of-the-box thinking are currently considered to be the keys to competitive edge. Consequently, today’s managers are far more likely to be praised for intuitive rather than rational decisions. But by definition, intuition is something that cannot be fully explained; it implies an opaqueness that must be recognized. Yet the business world behaves paradoxically and even hypocritically toward instinctive managers. They are called miracle workers when they are successful…yet brutally condemned when their intuition proves wrong. It is in the latter case that managers are asked to provide detailed justification for each and every one of their actions. They are reprimanded when unable to do so and chastised for not having followed “the rules”. Such a paradoxical perspective needs to be recognized, for unrealistic expectations are both unfair and bound to disappoint. CAREER Martin Messner is an assistant professor in HEC’s Accounting and Management Control department. He joined the HEC Paris faculty in 2006 and currently teaches in the MBA, PhD, and MS Management programs. M. Messner’s research focuses on questions of accountability and responsibility, and he has published numerous articles and book chapters on these topics. He holds a PhD in social and economic sciences from the University of Innsbruck in Austria, where he has also taught. In addition, he has done project work in industry and been a partner in an e-business venture. M.Messner is co-editor with C. Carter, S. Clegg, M. Kornberger, and S. Laske of Business Ethics as Practice: Representation, Reflexivity and Performance (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007). September-October 2008 • research@hec VII http://www.hec.edu/hec/eng/professeurs_recherche/p_liste/p_fiche.php?num=143

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of research@hec - Issue#4

Cover & Contents
What is the role of a research professor?
The Dog That Did Not Bark, by Jacques Olivier
HR and Gender Parity, by Jacqueline Laufer
Transparency and Responsibility, by Martin Messner

research@hec - Issue#4