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Professor Elaine Harris

Director, University of Roehampton Business School

Telephone : +44 (0)20 8392 3475
Email : elaine.harris@roehampton.ac.uk
Department : Business
Office location : Queen's Building 201

Qualifications

MBA, AdipC, DBA, FCCA, DipM, FCIM, FCMI, FRSA, FHEA

About

Elaine has been Professor of Accounting and Management and Director of the Business School at Roehampton since 2010.

She has over 25 years of experience in higher education, including 20 years as a manager as well as an academic.

Prior to that Elaine worked in accountancy practice as an auditor, accountant, consultant and manager.

Research Interests

Elaine's research is focussed upon how managers make sense of risky business propositions and prospective projects, and how they interact with other organisation members and external parties in reaching strategic investment decisions. This links the core risk theme of the Centre for Organisational Research to management control and strategy implementation and informs the first stage in the project life cycle in project management. Elaine also has an interest in action research methodologies and cognitive mapping.

Research Projects Undertaken

Elaine has carried out research funded by commercial enterprises such as Christian Salveson PLC (1999-2003) and professional bodies such as CIMA (2004-2006). She is a member of the European Risk Research Network (funded by Marie Curie 2007-2009) and has been the current chair of research network, the Management Control Association since 2010.

Doctoral students currently under Elaine's supervision include

Moataz Al-Massri – investigating how strategic investment decisions (SIDs) are made in an Egyptian organisation and what internal and external factors influence managers’ judgement in such decisions.

Ezgi Guneser – investigating how national culture affects consumer behaviour in a Turkish context when a multinational company first enters the Turkish market.

Membership of Professional Bodies

Elaine is a Fellow of ACCA, CIM, CMI, RSA and the HEA

She is also a member of the British Accounting Association (BAA) and its sub-committee CPAF and was chair of the Committee of Departments of Accounting & Finance (CDAF, formerly known as CHA) from 2005 to 2009.

Consultancy Experience

Elaine has undertaken consultancy and corporate development projects for a range of clients including Richard Burbidge plc, Peterborough Software plc, Scania (GB) Ltd, ABR Foods Ltd, Bedfordshire County Council, Shoosmiths, FKI plc, NHS London hospitals and EuroPoolSystem International BV as well as professional bodies such as CIMA.

Consultancies Undertaken

From accounting information systems and financial applications to education and training and strategic risk management.

Teaching Interests

Strategic Investment Appraisal
Managerial Decision Making
Project Risk

Taught courses

Postgraduate Courses:
Research degree Business and Management,
MBA

Publications

2011Rethinking Budgetary Slack as Budget Risk Management, with El- MassriM, Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 12(3), 278-93.
2010Towards a better understanding of capital investment decisions, with Emmanuel C, and Komakech S, Journal of Accounting and Organizational Change, 6, 4,477 - 504
2009Emerging Themes in Management Control: A review of recent literature, with Berry T, Coad A, Otley D and Stringer C, British Accounting Review, 41(1), 2-20.
2009Facilitating Innovation Through Cognitive Mapping, with Woolley R, International Studies of Management and Organization, 39(1), 70-100.
2007How Managers Construe Risk in Business Acquisitions.’ International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management, 7, 8, 1057-1073.
2000Strategic Investment Decision-Making: Managerial judgement on Project Risk and Return', Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 5 (3), 87-110.
1999Project Risk Assessment: A European Field Study', British Accounting Review, 31(3), 347-371.
1999Auditing the cost effectiveness of radon mitigation in the workplace, with  Denman AR, Hermann MR and Phillips P Managerial Auditing Journal, 14, 9, 461- 467.
Books
2009Strategic Project Risk Appraisal and Management, Farnham: Gower.
2009Managerial Judgement and Strategic Investment Decisions with Emmanuel C and Komakech S, Oxford: Elsevier.
Book chapters
2011Capital Investment Appraisal, with El-Massri M in M Abdel-Kader (ed) Review of Management Accounting Research, London: Palgrave.
2011Project Management, Finance & Management special report SR33, London: ICAEW
2008Action Research, The Sage Dictionary of Qualitative Management Research, Thorpe, R and Holt, R (eds), London: Sage, pp17-19.
2000Dealing with Project Risk', Management Quarterly, Part 7, April, pp31-37 (commissioned by ICAEW)