Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) research grant received by Management School academics
Congratulations to Chris Florackis, Elica Krasteva and Sushil Sainani (Principal Investigator) who have been successful in winning a research grant from a prestigious US-based funding body, namely the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) Research Foundation.
The award that has been approved by the IMA is of the amount of 19,000 USD, which will facilitate the team to conduct research on the area of corporate sustainability and the project’s title is: “Do Corporate Boards Integrate Sustainability Risk into Long-Term Strategy and Governance”.
The IMA is the worldwide association of accountants and financial professionals in business. Founded in 1919, it is one of the largest and most respected associations focused exclusively on advancing the management accounting profession. They are committed to empowering their 140,000+ members—and those throughout the rest of the profession—to strengthen on-the-job skills, better manage companies, and accelerate careers.
IMA's Research Foundation is dedicated to funding relevant, thought-provoking research that furthers the knowledge and scope of accounting and financial management. To date, the Foundation has bestowed more than $1,000,000 USD in research grants to academics and doctoral students.
Using the awarded research grant, the purpose of the study is to provide insights into whether boards introduce significant governance changes to enhance their oversight of sustainability risk in response to severe environmental, social and governance (ESG) incidents – such as climate change. It is believed that the findings of the proposed study will have important implications for the role of the accounting and finance profession and will likely suggest that the role needs to be broadened.
It is also suggested to strengthen their role in sustainability risk oversight, for example, boards will expect Chief Accounting Officers and Chief Financial Officers to gather, sort, analyse and report reliable ESG information (such as GHG emissions) in a way that supports decision making and serves as a foundation for internal controls, oversight, and external assurance.
Commenting on the research grant award, Chris Florakis said:
“We are excited to be awarded this grant from the IMA and very happy to see that our hard work paid off. We look forward to conducting policy relevant research that will hopefully inform and encourage board members and management accounting professionals to build better knowledge and understanding of ESG risks”.