No such thing as … the language of business: colourless green ideas sleep furiously

Abstract

It is often said, in business and business schools, that accounting is the language of business. This paper attempts to deconstruct this nostrum by demonstrating the possibility of a language of business existing and why accounting is not it. The paper will briefly discuss the technical ability of accounting to behave as a communication medium and finally suggest that other functions may have a stronger claim.

Citation

Rowe, J. (1998), "No such thing as … the language of business: colourless green ideas sleep furiously", Management Decision, Vol. 36 No. 2, pp. 117-122. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251749810204205