University of Pittsburgh

Faculty

Nandu J. Nagarajan

Professor of Business Administration

Office: 248 Mervis Hall
Phone: 412-648-1675
E-mail: nagaraja@katz.pitt.edu

Degrees

ACMA Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (United Kingdom)
PhD in Business, Northwestern University
MSc, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (India)
BSc, Bangalore University (India)

Courses Recently Taught

Strategic Cost Management (CBA and EMBA)
Corporate Governance and Management Control (MBA and EMBA)
Managerial Accounting (MBA)
Management of Technological Innovation (MBA)
Economic Models of Agency and Control (PhD)
Research in Managerial Accounting and Corporate Governance (PhD)

Interest Group

Accounting, Finance

Profile

Nagarajan's research interests are in the areas of corporate governance, performance measurement and incentive contracts and the interface between law and financial economics. His teaching interests are in Corporate Governance and Management Control, Managerial Accounting and Strategic Cost Management. He has published extensively in the leading research journals in accounting, finance, and business. His research publications include articles in The Accounting Review, The Journal of Accounting Research, The Journal of Finance, The Academy of Management Journal, The Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research and Management Science. His current research projects include the role of venture capitalists in governance, incentives and governance in family controlled firms, contractual arrangements and the efficiency of the bankruptcy process , the structure of CEO compensation contracts, organizational restructuring in the healthcare industry and auditors' legal liability.

Nagarajan was academic director of the Management Program for Executives and Financial Thinking for Non Financial Managers at the Katz School. He has developed numerous courses for MBAs and executives and has been awarded the Katz Excellence in Teaching Award and the EMBA Teacher of the Year Award. In addition to his teaching experience at the University of Pittsburgh, he has conducted executive programs in the United States, Brazil, Chile, China, India, Mexico, Canada, Europe, and Thailand. He is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (United Kingdom) and a member of the American Accounting Association and the American Finance Association.

Research Interest Areas

Corporate Governance and Control, Law and Financial Economics, Corporate Restructuring

Representative Publications

"Takeover threats and the importance of board size in corporate governance", Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 2008 (Co-authors: Shijun Cheng and Harry Evans)

Value Creation in Public Enterprises: An Empirical Analysis of Coordinated Organizational Changes in the VA Hospital System” The Accounting Review, 2007 (Co-authors: Nicole Thibodeau, Harry Evans, and Jeff Whittle)

"Uncertainty, legal liability and incentive contracts", The Accounting Review, 2006 (Co-authors: Harry Evans and Kyonghee Kim)

"Does CEO Charisma matter? An empirical analysis of the relationships among CEO charisma, organizational performance and environmental uncertainty", The Academy of Management Journal, v 29, 2006 (Co-authors: Brad Agle, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, and Dhinu Srinivasan)

"Do Quality-Based Incentives Increase Costs? Evidence From the Managed Care Industry," Advances in Management Accounting, 2005 (Co-authors: J. H.Evans III and A. Leone)

"Corporate Responses to Segment Disclosure Requirements," Journal of Accounting and Economics, 1996 (Co-author: S. Sridhar). Reprinted in Developments in Financial Reporting by Multinationals, 2003 edited by Clare B. Roberts, The New Library of International Accounting, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, UK

"Management Control and Hospital Cost Reduction: Additional Evidence," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 2001 (Co-authors: J H. Evans III and Y. Hwang)

"The Effect of Property Rights and Audit Information Quality on Team Incentives for Inventory Reduction," Management Science, 1998 (Co-authors: R. Balakrishnan and S. Sivaramakrishnan)

"Collusion in Auditing," Journal of Accounting Research, 1991 (Co-authors: S. Baiman and J.H. Evans III).

Recent Working Papers

"The Role of Venture Capitalists in the Governance of IPO firms" (Co-authors: Wei Luo and Akin Sayrak)

"Executive Compensation and Non-Financial Performance Measures: A Study of the Major US Airlines", (Co-authors: Dhinu Srinivasan and Akin Sayrak)

"Should Boards Retain Departing CEOs as Directors? Implications for Executive Succession and Value Creation", (Co-authors: Harry Evans, Jason Schloetzer).

"Bankruptcy, CEO Retention and the Evolution of Contractual Practices", (Co-authors: Harry Evans, Shuqing Luo)

"Non-Financial Measures and Physician Compensation", (Co-authors: Harry Evans, Kyonghee Kim and Sukesh Patro)

"Corporate Governance and Value Creation in Thai Family Firms", (Co-authors: Thomas Connelly and Piman Limpaphayom)

Awards and Honors

Katz School Excellence in Teaching Award, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007.

Teacher of the Year EMBA Manchester, 2006.

Teacher of the Year EMBA Prague, 2006.

Distinguished Professor Award for Executive MBA, 1997.

"Apple for the Teacher" Undergraduate Teaching Award, 1986.

External Service and Assignments

Core Faculty Member, Center for Research on Healthcare, University of Pittsburgh.

Former Member of the Editorial Board, Journal of Management Accounting Research.

Former Member of the Editorial Board, The Accounting Review.

Former Associate Editor, The Journal of Accounting Auditing and Finance.

Codirector, Management Accounting Research Conference, American Accounting Association, 1998.

Consulting Activities

Nagarajan has extensive work experience with Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. and has also provided consulting services on cost reduction and performance measurement to several organizations in the United States, India, and Thailand, including Copperweld, ISA, Kodak, Siam Cement, L.B Foster, Fiserv, Timkin, Westinghouse, and major hospitals.

Personal Interests

Nagarajan's hobbies are reading military history, traveling to places of historical interest,cinema, and theater.