Abstract The decade and a half since World War II has witnessed considerable activity by industrial managements and the professions serving them in sharpening and polishing management tools that have been in industry's tool sheds for years. However, refurbishing the old tools has been inadequate. During this era industrial products have been radically changed, principles once held inviolate have given way to new ones and the introduction of new industrial processes, techniques, and research methods have radically altered long standing skill requirements. In this environment, if a profession is to survive it can do so only by orienting itself rapidly to the changing circumstances. The accounting profession during the past 20 years has taken many actions in recognition of a changing business environment. During the decade of the 1940's there was for example, considerable activity in describing and codifying accounting principles, standards, guides for professional conduct and the like. During the 1950's there was substantial emphasis on publicizing an image of the professional accountant as an "independent contractor" expert in attesting to and adding credibility to the financial statements of economic organizations.
William L. Campfield (Mon,) studied this question.