ABSTRACT
An interesting picture has been painted of the state of the art of accounting in networks in this book. A number of theoretical approaches and accounting and managerial tools have been described, analysed, and discussed. It is evident that there are some similar conclusions running through all of the chapters, but there are also some noteworthy differences. By comparing and contrasting the conclusions here, we attempt to construct a platform for our interpretation of the research that needs to be prioritised on accounting in networks. In Chapter 2, Håkan Håkansson and David Ford made a distinction between theoretical and empirical changes explaining the contemporary interest for inter-organisational issues in accounting. The authors developed a 2×2 matrix with the degree of changes in the business landscape on one axis and the degree of changes in theoretical approaches to accounting on the other. The analysis of the four boxes in the matrix illustrated the dynamic interplay between the theoretical and empirical aspects of accounting in inter-organisational relationships and networks and explained and described the large variety of accounting issues and methods. One main conclusion was that both the business landscape and applied theories had changed and that these changes were, at least partly, independent of one another. This creates a complicated mixture of empirical and theoretical issues, of which only some are systematically related. The chapters that followed illustrated and augmented this conclusion.
