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My research concerns the organizational and social aspects of accounting and management accounting practices. Particularly, I am interested in the adoption and implementation of performance measurement systems, diffusion of management control technologies, sociology of management ideas, and innovative research methodologies. Most recent research initiatives under development focus on healthcare accounting debate, as well as the use of microfinance to alleviate poverty in less developed economies.
Honours
2012 Listed SSRN's Top Ten download list for Research Methods & Methodology in Accounting eJournal, as of July 20, 2012.
2011 Listed on SSRN's Top Ten download list for Managerial Accounting eJournal, as of 08/15/2011.
2010 Listed on SSRN’s Top Ten download list for Management Accounting, as of July 21, 2010.
2010 Best Paper Award, New public sector seminar: Management consultants and public sector transformation. Edinburgh, November 11-12.
2009 Listed SSRN’s Top Ten download list for History of Accounting, as of April 2009.
2005 Qu, S.Q. (2005). The construction and customization of the Balanced Scorecard: A field study of management consultants in translating and diffusing popular management accounting techniques. Best Paper Award (Best Accounting Paper in English), Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (Accounting), Volume 26, No. 26: 7-23. Toronto.
2004-2005 Ernst Young Faculty Fellowship
2003-2005 Deloitte PhD Fellowship
2003-2004 Bentley PhD Fellowship
2002-2003 Ernst Young Scholarship
2002-2003 Society of Management Accountants Scholarship
2001-2003 University of Alberta FGSR Scholarship
2001-2002 Certified Management Accountants of Alberta PhD Fellowship
2001-2002 KPMG PhD Fellowship
Recent Publications
Cooper, D.J., Ezzamel, M. and Qu, S. (2005), "Popularizing a Management Accounting Idea: The Case of the Balanced Scorecard", Contemporary Accounting Research, 34(2), 991-1025.
KeywordsAbstract
We explore how the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), as a management accounting technique, was developed and marketed as a general management practice. Drawing on actor network theory (ANT), we analyse interviews with key actors associated with the BSC, insights gained from attending BSC training workshops, and other documentary evidence to construct a history of the BSC. Our historical analysis offers theoretical tools to understand how the various features of the accounting technique were translated and transformed, that is shaped and solidified. This translation entailed processes of modification, labelling, framing, and specification of abstract categories and cause-effect relations. We also examine the networks and associations that both shape the form of the BSC and mobilize the interests of various constituencies around it to produce what can be regarded as a global management technology. Finally, we highlight the strategies and actions used to maintain control of this technique through its continuous reinvention, and, by doing so, we emphasize the idea of strategic agency.
Courses Taught
MBA Course:
ACTG6400: Strategic Managerial Accounting & Analysis (MBA)
Undergraduate Courses:
ACTG2010: Introductory Financial Accounting I (BBA)
ACTG2020: Management Accounting Concepts (BBA)
ACTG3000: Financial Statement Analysis (BBA)
ACTG4160: Advanced Financial Accounting (BBA)
ACTG4400: Managerial Cost Accounting & Analysis (BBA)Grants
Project Title Role Award Amount Year Awarded Granting Agency Project TitleMaking the Balanced Scorecard Practical Customizing Management Accounting Ideas RolePrincipal Investigator Award Amount$6,000.00 Year Awarded2008-2009 Granting AgencyCanadian Academic Accounting Association - CMA Grant Program Project TitleCreating and popularizing a global management accounting idea: the case of the Balanced Scorecard (Principal investigator: D. Cooper). RoleCo-Investigator Award Amount$81,000.00 Year Awarded2006-2008 Granting AgencyCIMA (the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) - Research Grant
Sandy Qu
Associate Professor of Accounting