Forensic accounting, management control and governance research
Explore our work in this area as part of our Accounting research
Fraud and financial crime is a growing problem with the potential to cause great financial, personal and professional pain. Modern organisations need to understand how such crime affects their business and employees – and what is required to stop it.
New technologies are also shifting the expectations of employees, government, customers and other stakeholders, and organisations have to know how best to manage themselves, and respond to fast-changing environments.
Good governance is also more important than ever, and businesses today have obligations beyond their financial statements. It's vital that companies understand how best to disclose their activities, so they can produce outcomes that are not only profitable but beneficial to society and the environment.
Our research in Forensic Accounting, Management Control and Governance deals with all these issues and challenges – and delivers evidence-based insights that are helping organisations and individuals to make better decisions for their stakeholders.
For example, we're studying the factors – such as board composition and reporting – that contribute to excellence in company financial and social welfare performance, helping omni-channel retailers to better understand the cost of returns, and examining how effective corporate governance benefits organisations.
We're also investigating how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in traceability and assurance systems could impact industry and accounting practice, conducting linguistic analysis of company reports and other documents to reveal indicators of fraudulent activity, and exploring how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can protect themselves against fraud.
Our research covers the following key topics
- Performance measurement in agri-food systems
- Budgetary and other management control systems in organisations
- Understanding supply chains and their accounting
- Lean accounting and management systems
- Social theory-based interpretative studies of accounting in organisations and industries
- Food safety management systems
- Evidence of fraud and regulatory violations
- How SMEs protect themselves against fraud
- Food fraud
- Social, environmental and corporate governance disclosures and firm value
We use a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods in our research – from archival analysis, regressions and structural equation models, to interviews, focus groups and observation.
Partners and funders
Recent project partners and funders include ECR Retail Loss, the Wine and Spirits Trade Association, the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants (CIMA) and the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies.
Projects and publications
The outputs of our research are frequently published by leading academic journals in the field, such as Accounting, Organizations and Society, the Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, and the Journal of Accounting and Public Policy.
Project highlights
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Philippou, C. (2023). Expert perceptions on anti-bribery and corruption policies in sports governing bodies: implications for ethical climate theory. Journal of Business Ethics.
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Clarkson, B., Plumley, D., Philippou, C., Wilson, R., & Webb, T. (Accepted/In press). Money troubles and problems ahead? The financial health of professional women’s football clubs in England. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal.
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Hao, X., Fu, W., & Albitar, K. (2023). Innovation with ecological sustainability: does corporate environmental responsibility matter in green innovation? Journal of Economic Analysis, 2(3), 21-42.
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Hao, X., Fu, W., & Albitar, K. (2023). Innovation with ecological sustainability: does corporate environmental responsibility matter in green innovation? Journal of Economic Analysis, 2(3), 21-42.
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Al Lawati, H., Hussainey, K., & Sagitova, R. (2023). Busy audit committee directors and corporate narrative disclosure in Oman. Review of Accounting and Finance, 22(3), 374-398.
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McBride, K., Sagitova, R., & Cam, O. (2023). 'As bad as bad can be’: accounting for species extinction in the North Pacific. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal.
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Soon-Sinclair, J. M., Nyarugwe, S., & Jack, L. (2023). Food fraud and mitigating strategies of UK food supply chain during COVID-19. Food Control, 148, [109670].
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Li, X., Bo, L., Shen, D., & Soobaroyen, T. (2023). Bridging ‘home’ political and economic rationalities with ‘host’ demands and constraints: the case of regional Chinese state-owned multinational corporations. British Journal of Management, 34(2), 1042-1061.
- (Co-Applicant: Lisa Jack) – This project brought together STFC data science experts, a commercial partner (Fera Science) and academics to explore the applications of data analytics in food fraud and its indicators.
- (PI: Lisa Jack) – The team conducted a comprehensive review of existing methods and techniques for evaluating the economic impact of food crime to the UK economy.
- The Cost of Food Crime Phase 2 (PI: Lisa Jack) – We developed conceptual framework for the cost of food crime model presented in Phase 1 of this project into a functioning model and database. This allows the Food Standards Agency to capture the full range of impacts that food crime has on the UK economy.
- (PI: Christina Philippou) — Wrote and co-presented Football Finance course for the Premier League's EAM program.
- — The project examined the remuneration policy disclosures of a sample of FTSE 350 companies during periods both before and after the introduction of the new UK Corporate Governance Code 2018.
- — This project aims to: build on existing university-wide interdisciplinary expertise to establish a critical mass of research focused on blue carbon as a nature-based solution to the climate crisis.
Our members
Discover our areas of expertise
Forensic accounting, management control and governance is one of our 4 areas of expertise in our Accounting research area. Explore the others below.
Applied accounting and financial management
We're investigating the behaviours, actions and responses of both providers and users of accounting information. Explore our applied accounting and financial management research.
Accounting history
We're exploring the past of accountancy, through archives and historical documentation, to learn about the issues experienced by previous generations. Explore our accounting history research.
Accounting education
Through our research, we're taking a closer look at how best to educate the next generation of accounting professionals around the world.
Interested in a PhD in Accounting?
Browse our postgraduate research degrees – including PhDs and MPhils – at our Accounting postgraduate research degrees page.