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  • Accounting & Management
    • Accounting & Management
    • Program Requirements
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Accounting & Management

Accounting & Management

  • Program Requirements
The doctoral program in Accounting and Management, which falls under the PhD in Business Administration, focuses on understanding the role of information and measurement systems for allocating resources among firms in the economy and between departments or divisions of individual firms; rewarding and monitoring the performance of managers; formulating, executing and evaluating strategy by firm managers; understanding the profitability of suppliers, products, customers, distribution channels, and business units; and managing franchise risk.
Prospective students will apply to the PhD in Business Administration and select Accounting as their area of study. Students work closely with faculty in the Accounting and Management Unit. Research here encompasses financial reporting and analysis and management accounting.

Curriculum & Coursework

Our programs are full-time degree programs which officially begin in August. Students are expected to complete their program in five years. Typically, the first two years are spent on coursework, at the end of which students take a field exam, and then another three years on dissertation research and writing.

Students in the Accounting and Management program must complete a minimum of 13 semester-long doctoral courses in the areas of business management theory, economic theory, quantitative research methods, academic field seminars, and two MBA elective curriculum courses. In addition to HBS courses, students may take courses at other Harvard Schools and MIT.

Research & Dissertation

Students in Accounting and Management begin research in their first year typically by working with a faculty member. By their third and fourth years, most students are launched on a solid research and publication stream. In Accounting and Management, the dissertation may take the form of three publishable papers or one longer dissertation.

Recent questions students have explored include the ways in which managers use retail-level marketing actions to influence the timing of consumer purchases in relation to their firms’ fiscal calendars and financial performance as well as those of their competitors; the role of accounting information in strategic human resource decisions; the evolution, consequences and institutional determinants of unregulated financial reporting practices; and the effects of adopting rolling forecasts on forecast quality.

Program Requirements

Profiles

Yiwei Li

Accounting & Management

Elliot Tobin

Accounting & Management

Professor Charles Wang

Accounting & Management
“I’m constantly inspired to look into new research angles by the brilliant people I run into on campus every day.”
Patrick Ferguson
2021 Graduate, Accounting and Management
“I’m constantly inspired to look into new research angles by the brilliant people I run into on campus every day.”
Patrick Ferguson
2021 Graduate, Accounting and Management

Recent Placement

Yaxuan Chen, 2024

Cornell University, S.C. Johnson College of Business, Accounting Department
Advisors: Dennis Campbell (Chair), Susanna Gallani, Jonas Heese, and Wei Cai

Hashim Zaman, 2022

Harvard University, Laboratory for Innovation Sciences at Harvard (LISH), Post-Doctoral Fellow
Advisors: V.G. Narayanan (Co-Chair), Tatiana Sandino (Co-Chair), Susanna Gallani, and Karim R. Lakhani

Wei Cai, 2020

Columbia Business School, Accounting Department
Advisors: Dennis Campbell (Chair), Tatiana Sandino, and Susanna Gallani

Matthew Shaffer, 2019

University of Southern California, Leventhal School of Accounting
Advisors: Suraj Srinivasan, John Coates, and Charles C.Y. Wang

Botir Kobilov, 2024

University of Texas at Dallas, Naveen Jindal School of Management, Accounting Department
Advisors: Charles C.Y. Wang (Chair), Jonas Heese, and Joseph Pacelli

Patrick Ferguson, 2021

University of Melbourne, Melbourne Business School
Advisors: Dennis Campbell (Co-Chair), Karim R. Lakhani (Co-Chair), and Srikant M. Datar

Jihwon Park, 2020

CUNY, Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business
Advisors: Eugene F. Soltes (Chair), Krishna G. Palepu, and Aiyesha Dey

Wilbur Chen, 2022

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)
Advisors: Suraj Srinivasan (Chair), Paul M. Healy, Charles C.Y. Wang, and Shane M. Greenstein

Alexandra Scherf, 2021

London School of Economics and Political Science
Advisors: Eugene F. Soltes (Co-Chair), Suraj Srinivasan (Co-Chair), and Charles C.Y. Wang

Jody Grewal, 2019

University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management, Accounting Department and University of Toronto, Mississauga, Department of Management (cross-appointment)
Advisors: Paul M. Healy (Co-Chair), George Serafeim (Co-Chair), Srikant M. Datar, Krishna G. Palepu, and Edward Riedl

Yaxuan Chen, 2024

Cornell University, S.C. Johnson College of Business, Accounting Department
Advisors: Dennis Campbell (Chair), Susanna Gallani, Jonas Heese, and Wei Cai

Botir Kobilov, 2024

University of Texas at Dallas, Naveen Jindal School of Management, Accounting Department
Advisors: Charles C.Y. Wang (Chair), Jonas Heese, and Joseph Pacelli

Wilbur Chen, 2022

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)
Advisors: Suraj Srinivasan (Chair), Paul M. Healy, Charles C.Y. Wang, and Shane M. Greenstein

Hashim Zaman, 2022

Harvard University, Laboratory for Innovation Sciences at Harvard (LISH), Post-Doctoral Fellow
Advisors: V.G. Narayanan (Co-Chair), Tatiana Sandino (Co-Chair), Susanna Gallani, and Karim R. Lakhani

Patrick Ferguson, 2021

University of Melbourne, Melbourne Business School
Advisors: Dennis Campbell (Co-Chair), Karim R. Lakhani (Co-Chair), and Srikant M. Datar

Alexandra Scherf, 2021

London School of Economics and Political Science
Advisors: Eugene F. Soltes (Co-Chair), Suraj Srinivasan (Co-Chair), and Charles C.Y. Wang

Wei Cai, 2020

Columbia Business School, Accounting Department
Advisors: Dennis Campbell (Chair), Tatiana Sandino, and Susanna Gallani

Jihwon Park, 2020

CUNY, Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business
Advisors: Eugene F. Soltes (Chair), Krishna G. Palepu, and Aiyesha Dey

Jody Grewal, 2019

University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management, Accounting Department and University of Toronto, Mississauga, Department of Management (cross-appointment)
Advisors: Paul M. Healy (Co-Chair), George Serafeim (Co-Chair), Srikant M. Datar, Krishna G. Palepu, and Edward Riedl

Matthew Shaffer, 2019

University of Southern California, Leventhal School of Accounting
Advisors: Suraj Srinivasan, John Coates, and Charles C.Y. Wang
See All Placement

Current Accounting & Management Students

  • Ji Ho Kim
  • Yiwei Li
  • Trang Nguyen
  • Konstantin Pavlenkov
  • Ria Sen
  • Terrence Tianshuo Shi
  • Albert Shin
  • Elliot Tobin
  • Wenxin Wang
  • Siyu Zhang
Current Accounting & Management Students
  • Ji Ho Kim
  • Yiwei Li
  • Trang Nguyen
  • Konstantin Pavlenkov
  • Ria Sen
  • Terrence Tianshuo Shi
  • Albert Shin
  • Elliot Tobin
  • Wenxin Wang
  • Siyu Zhang
Close

Current HBS Faculty

  • Brian K. Baik
  • Dennis Campbell
  • Srikant M. Datar
  • Aiyesha Dey
  • Susanna Gallani
  • Brian J. Hall
  • Jonas Heese
  • Robert S. Kaplan
  • Shirley Lu
  • V.G. Narayanan
  • Joseph Pacelli
  • Lynn S. Paine
  • Krishna G. Palepu
  • Ananth Raman
  • Clayton S. Rose
  • Ethan C. Rouen
  • Tatiana Sandino
  • David S. Scharfstein
  • George Serafeim
  • Robert Simons
  • Eugene F. Soltes
  • Suraj Srinivasan
  • Adi Sunderam
  • Charles C.Y. Wang
  • Emily Williams
  • Yuan Zou
Current HBS Faculty
  • Brian K. Baik
  • Dennis Campbell
  • Srikant M. Datar
  • Aiyesha Dey
  • Susanna Gallani
  • Brian J. Hall
  • Jonas Heese
  • Robert S. Kaplan
  • Shirley Lu
  • V.G. Narayanan
  • Joseph Pacelli
  • Lynn S. Paine
  • Krishna G. Palepu
  • Ananth Raman
  • Clayton S. Rose
  • Ethan C. Rouen
  • Tatiana Sandino
  • David S. Scharfstein
  • George Serafeim
  • Robert Simons
  • Eugene F. Soltes
  • Suraj Srinivasan
  • Adi Sunderam
  • Charles C.Y. Wang
  • Emily Williams
  • Yuan Zou
Close

Current HBS Faculty & Students by Interest

Accounting
  • Brian K. Baik
  • Shirley Lu
  • Ethan C. Rouen
Balanced scorecard
  • Srikant M. Datar
  • Robert S. Kaplan
  • V.G. Narayanan
Corporate governance
  • Srikant M. Datar
  • Aiyesha Dey
  • Susanna Gallani
  • Jonas Heese
  • Joseph Pacelli
  • Lynn S. Paine
  • Krishna G. Palepu
  • Clayton S. Rose
  • Ethan C. Rouen
  • George Serafeim
  • Suraj Srinivasan
  • Charles C.Y. Wang
Disclosure
  • Shirley Lu
  • Ethan C. Rouen
  • Yuan Zou
Financial intermediaries
  • Joseph Pacelli
  • Clayton S. Rose
  • Adi Sunderam
  • Yuan Zou
Financial reporting
  • Brian K. Baik
  • Aiyesha Dey
  • Jonas Heese
  • Joseph Pacelli
  • Ethan C. Rouen
  • Suraj Srinivasan
  • Yuan Zou
Financial statement analysis
  • Suraj Srinivasan
Management accounting & control systems
  • Dennis Campbell
  • Robert Simons
Managerial incentives
  • Susanna Gallani
Performance management
  • Srikant M. Datar
  • Susanna Gallani
Performance measurement
  • Robert Simons
Current HBS Faculty & Students by Interest
Accounting
  • Brian K. Baik
  • Shirley Lu
  • Ethan C. Rouen
Balanced scorecard
  • Srikant M. Datar
  • Robert S. Kaplan
  • V.G. Narayanan
Corporate governance
  • Srikant M. Datar
  • Aiyesha Dey
  • Susanna Gallani
  • Jonas Heese
  • Joseph Pacelli
  • Lynn S. Paine
  • Krishna G. Palepu
  • Clayton S. Rose
  • Ethan C. Rouen
  • George Serafeim
  • Suraj Srinivasan
  • Charles C.Y. Wang
Disclosure
  • Shirley Lu
  • Ethan C. Rouen
  • Yuan Zou
Financial intermediaries
  • Joseph Pacelli
  • Clayton S. Rose
  • Adi Sunderam
  • Yuan Zou
Financial reporting
  • Brian K. Baik
  • Aiyesha Dey
  • Jonas Heese
  • Joseph Pacelli
  • Ethan C. Rouen
  • Suraj Srinivasan
  • Yuan Zou
Financial statement analysis
  • Suraj Srinivasan
Management accounting & control systems
  • Dennis Campbell
  • Robert Simons
Managerial incentives
  • Susanna Gallani
Performance management
  • Srikant M. Datar
  • Susanna Gallani
Performance measurement
  • Robert Simons
Close
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