Personal profile
Biography
Elaine has been Professor of Accounting and Management at Roehampton since 2010 and was also the Director of the Business School from 2010 to 2014. She was leader of the PhD programme in the Business School from 2016 to 2021 and still leads a research team on strategic investment decision making. Elaine is Associate Editor of the British Accounting Review (BAR) and Chair of the Management Control Association (MCA). She is editor of the Routledge Companion to Performance Management and Control (2018) and one of its 52 authors. She has won both best paper and reviewer awards for Emerald journals and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award 2020 by the British Accounting & Finance Association (BAFA).
She has over 36 years of experience in higher education, including more than 20 years as a manager as well as an academic. She continues to supervise PhD students and mentor and co-author with academic staff.
Prior to her academic career Elaine worked in accountancy practice as an auditor, accountant, consultant and manager. Her work, especially her action research has impacted on managerial processes in organisations.
Qualifications
MBA, AdipC, DBA, FCCA, DipM, FCIM, FCMI, FRSA, FHEA
Research interests
Elaine's research is focussed upon how managers make sense of risky business propositions in strategic project appraisals, and how they interact with other organisational members and external parties in reaching strategic investment decisions. This research is located within the field of management control and links to strategy implementation and project management. Elaine's work draws on theories from psychology, e.g. cognition, and increasingly from sociology, e.g. structuration. Her aim is to develop practice-based theory on strategic investment decision-making (SIDM) that acknowledges both the psychology of managerial judgement and the social context of decision-making processes. She is currently exploring the non-financial inputs to SIDM such as 'legacy' motivations and sustainable development goals.
Research projects
Her work on strategic investment decisions continues with case studies including longitudinal cases in a number of sectors.
Elaine has previusly carried out research on risk assessment in project appraisal funded by commercial enterprises such as Christian Salveson PLC (1999-2003) and on managerial judgement by professional bodies such as CIMA (2004-2006) and the ICAEW charitable trust (2016-18). She is the current chair of a research network, the Management Control Association and as honorary professor at Aston Business School, she chairs the annual MARG conference.
http://www.managementcontrolassociation.ac.uk/
Doctoral students currently under Elaine's supervision include
Chiharu Narikiyo - A Crtical Analysis of the Development of an Ethical Stock: How Green is the Green Giant?
Sendem Badam - Management Accounting and Control Systems in a Transitional Economy: The Case of Mongolia
Tingting Song - A Comparative Study on Earnings Management through Loan Loss Provisions of Commercial Banks
Professional affiliations
Elaine is a Fellow of ACCA, CIM, CMI, RSA and the HEA
She is also a member of the British Accounting & Finance Association (BAFA) and was chair of the Committee of Departments of Accounting & Finance (CDAF, formerly known as CHA) from 2005 to 2009.
Consultancy work
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.
From accounting information systems and financial applications to education and training and strategic risk management.
Teaching
Strategic Investment Appraisal
Accounting for Decision Making
Management Research Methods
Links
Education/Academic qualification
An Insight into Project Risk Appraisal: a European Field Study, Brunel University London
1995 → 1999
Award Date: 31 Mar 1999
External positions
Honorary Fellow, University of Hanken
Nov 2021 → …
Honorary Professor, Aston University
Dec 2020 → Dec 2025
Associate Editor, British Accounting Review
Mar 2016 → …
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
-
Strategies for Carbon Reduction Maturity: A Longitudinal Case Study of Unilever PLC
Narikiyo, C., Harris, E. & Elmassri, M., 19 Mar 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Business Strategy and The Environment.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Value Creation and CSR: A Systematic Literature Review
Teti Mayer, L., Harris, E., Malafronte, I. & Parhi, M., 14 Aug 2024, CSR, Governance and Value. Crowther, D. & Seifi, S. (eds.). Springer, p. 3-49 47 p. (Approaches to Global Sustainability, Markets, and Governance).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
-
Acceptability and Embeddedness of Management Controls in a Growing Family Business: A Pragmatic Constructivism Perspective.
Elmassri, M. M., Harris, E. & Silva de Souza, R., 2023, (Submitted) In: Family Business Review.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
How Green is Strategic Decision-Making in a 'Green Company'?
Narikiyo , C., Harris, E. & Elmassri, M. M., 18 Nov 2022, Research Handbook on Corporate Board Decision-Making. Marnet, O. (ed.). Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., p. 224-242 19 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
-
Management Accounting and Control for Sustainability and Strategic Decision Making: Guest editorial
Harris, E., Herzig, C., De Loo, I. & Manochin, M., 2 May 2019, In: Journal of Management Control. 30, 1, p. 1-4 4 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
Open Access
Prizes
-
Best paper award
Harris, E. (Recipient), Northcott, D. (Recipient), Elmassri, M. (Recipient) & Huikku, J. (Recipient), 2015
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
-
Best Paper Award (International) - First Runner Up
Teti Mayer, L. (Recipient), Malafronte, I. (Recipient), Parhi, M. (Recipient) & Harris, E. (Recipient), 20 Jan 2024
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
-
Emerald Literati Outstanding reviewer award
Harris, E. (Recipient), 2017
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
-
Lifelong achievement award
Harris, E. (Recipient), 12 Apr 2021
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
-
Outstanding reviewer of the year 2018
Harris, E. (Recipient), 2018
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
-
University of Hanken
Harris, E. (Visiting researcher)
Nov 2021 → Nov 2022Activity: Visiting an external institution › Visiting an external academic institution
-
Aston University
Harris, E. (Visiting researcher)
Dec 2020 → Dec 2025Activity: Visiting an external institution › Visiting an external academic institution
-
Governance and Accountability in UK HEIs
Harris, E. (Speaker)
27 Mar 2020Activity: Public engagement and outreach › Workshop and other training
-
How organisations make strategic investment decisions: a stream of field studies
Harris, E. (Speaker)
30 Oct 2019Activity: Talk or presentation for an academic audience › Invited talk for an academic audience
-
Long Range Planning : International journal of strategic planning (Journal)
Harris, E. (Peer reviewer)
2017 → 2018Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work › Editorial Activity