Calculative devices: Accounting in its social context

Abstract: Customer accounting (CA) is associated with the financial measurement of customers (Lind & Strömsten, 2006). However the techniques have been criticized for not being involved in a dialogue with customers but instead "the customer is taken into account on terms determined by an accountant qua storyteller" (Roslender & Hart, 2010). The intention of this paper is to explore if CA can be expanded from the passive role of storytelling to take an active role to influence the value of the customer relationship. We explore the creation of value argumentation material as calculative devices (Callon & Muniesa, 2005) and investigate how these devices are adjusted and used in the customer interface through the theoretical lens of marketing theory (Kjellberg & Helgesson, 2007). We have conducted a case study in a global IT company and focused on six different customer deals. Our findings suggest that a calculative device will be coloured by the context in which it is created. The empirical data further suggest that calculative devices are embedded in a social context. Thus, (i) different market configurations will affect the content that is included in a device and (ii) the timing of the sales cycle will affect the potential influencing power a calculative device can have on a customer. Our conclusions stress that the potential of using calculative devices as tools to influence the value of a relationship hinges on factors in the social context.