About the Department
The Department of Accounting and Business Analytics is one of the departments in the Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
We offer courses to undergraduate and graduate students that form the basis for an accounting major, an BTM major, and an operations management major. Many of our graduates pursue careers in professional accounting. We also offer a strong PhD program in accounting as well as operations and information systems.
Our Vision
Our vision for the Department of Accounting and Business Analytics is to be the best academic department in Canada. To us, this implies that we are first committed to the process of scholarship as it manifests itself in the process of research and open debate/discussion of issues relating to our field. We are and wish to continue to be, a community of scholars representing an array of viewpoints and paradigms.
We are committed to the development of generalizable knowledge, or theory, which aids in the ability of ourselves and others to understand what accounting and MIS are and what their functions are within organizations and within society. Of particular importance is the sense that research drives our other activities. Teaching is driven a great deal by our research activities.
We seek to develop students who are armed with the skills to critically analyze questions regarding the role and value of accounting and MIS not just the ability to apply the most recent set of tools to problem-solving.
Our People
While the bulk of our faculty would fall in the more traditional domain of an accounting faculty, we have a small, but top quality, MIS group interested in Information Technology innovation, globalization and effectiveness. In September 2009, the Operations Management group moved to our department. Operations management combines theory and current practice to prepare students for careers in manufacturing, service operations or consulting. Emphasizing quantitative and statistical models, students learn to apply analytical approaches to such issues as supply chain management and time-based competition, forecasting, just-in-time production, management of quality and technology management.
We have active research streams in the areas of judgment and decision making, critical theory, analytical economic modelling, and empirical financial accounting. In each of these areas, we have senior faculty who we believe represent internationally known scholars in each accounting area. This research strength is complemented by an emphasis on high-quality teaching. Several members of the department have earned teaching awards including a university-wide teaching award.