University of Pittsburgh

Faculty

Jacob G. Birnberg

Robert W. Murphy Jr. Professor of Management Control Systems Emeritus

Office: 263 Mervis Hall
Phone: 412-648-1719
E-mail: birnberg@katz.pitt.edu

Degrees

PhD in Business, University of Minnesota
MBA, University of Minnesota
BBA in Business (with High Distinction), University of Minnesota

Courses Recently Taught

PhD: Management Control Systems; Accounting Workshop.

Interest Groups

Accounting
Management Information Systems
Strategy

Profile

I joined the then Graduate School of Business of the University of Pittsburgh in the fall of 1964 and became an emeritus faculty member in 2006. Prior to joining the faculty of the KGSB, I was on the faculties of the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business from 1960 to 1964 and the University of Minnesota. In 1968 I was a visiting professor at the London Graduate School of Business Studies and during 1977–78 I was a visiting fellow at Oxford University (Templeton College). I have published over 100 papers in refereed journals, books and conference proceedings in areas such as accounting, human behavior, management science, psychology, and public policy.

My research continues to be concerned with the application of behavioral sciences to accounting problems from both macro, i.e., organizational, and micro, i.e., individual or group, perspectives. My current research interests center on the role of modern management techniques, both analytical and behavioral, in planning and controlling the organization and its activities. Of particular interest in this area is the need for the organization's various systems to be integrated with the firm's strategy and the role of different sources of uncertainty on the firm's planning and control systems. This includes issues relating to individual behavior in response to different systems of accountability and intra group processes.

I am active in the editing of and refereeing for journals. I served as editor of Behavioral Research in Accounting (1995-1997) and as an associate editor of Accounting, Organizations and Society from 1975 to 1997. I continue to serve on the editorial boards of other accounting journals. I was president of the Management Accounting section of the American Accounting Association (2004–05) and continue to be active in that section as well as the Accounting, Organizations and Behavior section of the American Accounting Section.

Recent Publications

"Do the Chinese Have an Accountability Demand for Information: A note," with Vicky Hoffman and Susana Yuen. Accounting, Organizations and Society. Vol 33 (1), 20-32, 2008.

"The Effects of Organizational Process Change on Responsibility Accounting and Revelation of Managers' Private Information with Casey Rowe and Michael Shields. Accounting, Organizations and Society. Vol 33 (2/3), 164-198, 2008.

"Expanding Our Research Horizon: Management Accounting Research in the Next Decade," Advances in Management Accounting, Vol. 13, 1–26, 2004.

"The Role of Behavioral Science in Management Accounting Education in the 21st Century," Issues in Accounting Education, Vol. 15, No. 4, 713–728, November 2000.

"The Evolution of Control in Organizations," Behavioral Research in Accounting—Research Conference Supplement to Volume 10, 21–46, 1998.

"Control in Inter Firm Cooperative Relationships," Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 35, No. 4, July 1998.

Recent Working Papers

"Joint Selection of Balanced Scorecard Targets and Weights in a Collaborative Setting" with Wayne Bremser and Hemantha Herath.

"A Proposed Framework for Behavioral Research in Accounting"

"Relevance-Reliability and Comparability-Consistency Tradeoffs in Accounting Information: The Case of non-routine Organizational Problem Solving." With Casey Rowe and Michael Shields.

Awards and Honors

Outstanding Accounting Educator Award (2002) from the American Accounting Association.

Lifetime Scholarly Contribution Award (1999), Accounting, Behavior and Organizations Section of American Accounting Association.

My paper, "The Role of Accounting in Financial Disclosure," was awarded the Alpha Kappa Psi Award for "the outstanding contribution to the literature of accounting during the year 1980."

My paper, "Control in Inter Firm Cooperative Relationships," published in the Journal of Management Studies (July 1998) received an Award of Excellence from Anbar

External Service and Assignments

President of Management Accounting Section of the American Accounting Association.

Member of the Council of the American Accounting Association.

Currently on the editorial board of Accounting, Organizations and Society, Behavioral Research in Accounting, and Advances in Management Accounting.

Consulting Activities

Forensic consulting related to the measurement of damages.