Professor Bill Lee
Management School
Professor
+44 114 222 3473
Full contact details
Management School
Room C066
Sheffield University Management School
Conduit Road
Sheffield
S10 1FL
- Profile
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After working in industry for a number of years, I returned to full-time education to read for a BSc (Hons) in Sociology with Research Training and a subsequent PhD on “The cost conflicts of flexible manufacturing”, both at the University of Bath.
My PhD thesis married together sociology with engineering and accounting and was the first of a number of research projects involving accounting that has contributed to my transition from working in departments of sociology to working in accounting divisions.
My employment in accounting divisions has included an initial period of twelve years as first a lecturer and then a senior lecturer in the Accounting and Financial Management Group at the University of Sheffield, a year as a professor of accounting at Keele University and the period since the 1st September 2012 as a professor of accounting at the University of Sheffield.
During my two spells at Sheffield, I have taken on a number of administrative and managerial roles including being Director of the Accounting and Financial Management undergraduate programme, Director of the MSc in Finance and Accounting and Director of the Doctoral Programme.
When I had a year away from Sheffield, as a professor of accounting at Keele Management School, I was Subject Leader of the Accounting Group and a member of the Senior Management Team.
I was also Head of the Accounting and Financial Management Division and a member of the School’s Executive here at Sheffield for 3+ years.
During that time, I was instrumental in doubling the size of the division to ensure that it had the number of colleagues necessary to deliver its programmes, I oversaw the introduction of a new Masters programme in Accounting, Governance and Financial Management and I led the establishment – and was the inaugural director – of a research centre, the Centre for Research into Accounting and Finance in Context (CRAFiC).
- Research interests
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I have published on a wide range of topics across the accounting, management and related disciplines including articles on the relationship between accounting and technological change, the professional socialization of junior auditors and the origins and history of qualitative research in accounting.
My enduring research interests are those that allow me to combine the interests from my own education with my position in accounting.
My research in recent years has tended to focus on two broad areas: Research Methods and Research Practice; and the intersection of accounting and accountability with the organization of work, opportunities for learning and government support of learning initiatives. I have also developed a research interest in credit unions.
As well as publishing articles and edited collections in the area of research methods and research practice, I have received grants from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Economic and Social Research Council and the Higher Education Academy to organize conferences and seminars and to disseminate knowledge about research methods.
As well as publishing in the area of the intersection between accounting and accountability on the one hand and the organization of work, opportunities for learning and government support of learning initiatives on the other hand, I have received a number of grants to conduct international comparisons of the relationship between learning initiatives and forms of accountability.
Most recently, I have held a grant from the British Academy to conduct a comparative study of credit unions in the UK and New Zealand.
- Publications
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Books
- How Do I Collect Documentary Evidence for My Dissertation?.
- Conducting Case Study Research for Business and Management Students. SAGE Publications.
- The Real Life Guide to Accounting Research. Oxford, UK and Burlington MA, USA: Elsevier & CIMA Publishing.
- The Real Life Guide to Accounting Research A Behind the Scenes View of Using Qualitative Research Methods. Elsevier.
Edited books
- Handbook of Research Methods for Corporate Governance. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
- Challenges and Controversies in Management Research. New York and Abingdon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Journal articles
- Interpreting an escape from an eviction trap as a social account: A Gramscian reading of a credit union’s policies in support of social housing tenants. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 102582-102582.
- Guest editorial: Investigating trauma: methodological, emotional and ethical challenges for the qualitative researcher. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, 17(4), 397-405.
- Subject, method and praxis – Conducting critical studies in accounting research. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 102481-102481.
- Grounded accountability and indigenous self-determination. Critical Perspectives On Accounting. View this article in WRRO
- Methodology Matters; Even More. European Management Review, 17(1), 279-284. View this article in WRRO
- Plagiarism, replication of published material without citation and the policy of the European Management Review. European Management Review, 16(3), 495-505. View this article in WRRO
- A case study of the financial benefits of a credit union’s homeless prevention scheme.. Public Money and Management. View this article in WRRO
- A new forum for advancing understanding of research methods and practice. European Management Review, 15(2), 201-204. View this article in WRRO
- Examining the disclosures on the websites of English credit unions. Public Money and Management, 38(3), 185-192. View this article in WRRO
- Understanding Translation Work: The evolving interpretation of a trade union idea. Organization Studies, 38(8), 1085-1106. View this article in WRRO
- Facilitative reforms, democratic accountability, social accounting and learning representative initiatives. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 46, 24-37. View this article in WRRO
- UK Government Policy, Credit Unions, and Payday Loans. International Journal of Public Adminstration, 40(4), 348-360. View this article in WRRO
- The handicap of lists, QROM and the future. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, 10(4), 350-354. View this article in WRRO
- Research Methods and Research Practice: History, Themes and Topics. International Journal of Management Reviews.
- The Role of Narratives and Identity Construction in the Translation of Ideas. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2013(1), 12862-12862.
- Driving, Steering, Leading and Defending: Journey and Warfare metaphors of Change Agency in Trade Union Learning Initiatives. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 48(2), 248-271.
- New public management, accounting, regulators and moral panics. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 25(3), 192-202.
- Learning to count: A challenge facing trade unions in their educational role. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 31(5-6), 287-301.
- The individual learning account experiment in the UK: A conjunctural crisis?. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 21(1), 18-30.
- Trade unions learning representatives: Progressing partnership?. Work, Employment and Society, 23(2), 213-230.
- Learning organizations, employee development and learning representative schemes in the UK and New Zealand. Journal of Workplace Learning, 21(1), 5-22.
- In-service learning in the emergent learning representative initiative in New Zealand. Journal of In-Service Education, 34(4), 497-512.
- Learning representative initiatives in the UK and New Zealand: A means to "flexicurity"?. Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, 19(4), 341-361.
- Employee and social reporting as a war of position and the union learning representative initiative in the UK. Accounting Forum, 32(4), 276-287.
- Reflections on the use of case studies in the accounting, management and organizational disciplines. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, 2(3), 169-178.
- Re-vitalising learning and development?: Exploring the role of the trade union learning representative. Personnel Review, 36(5), 781-799.
- More than a numbers game: Qualitative research in accounting. Management Decision, 44(2), 180-197.
- Learning representatives in UK organizations. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, 18(4), 7-9.
- The real life guide to accounting research: a strategy for inclusion. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, 1(1), 66-84.
- EOQ, EBS for higher management. Engineering Management, 14(5), 44-47.
- The incompatibility of standard costing systems and modern manufacturing: Insight or unproven dogma?. Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 6(3), 1-24.
- Professional socialisation, commercial pressures and junior staff's time-pressured irregular auditing - A contextual interpretation. British Accounting Review, 34(4), 315-333.
- Separating the wheat from the chaff: FMS, flexibility and socio-organizational constraints. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 12(2), 213-228.
- Changes in the pattern of recruitment, regulation of training and examination of ICAEW students: For whom the pendulum swings. Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 5(2), 29-52.
- How flexible is your FMS?. Manufacturing Engineer, 78(6), 245-248.
- Accounting, strategy and AMT investment. Omega, 26(6), 769-783.
- Accounting for manufacturing: Identifying the links between markets, production and costing systems. Engineering Management Journal, 7(4), 182-188.
- The justification and monitoring of advanced manufacturing technology: An empirical study of 21 installations of flexible manufacturing systems. Management Accounting Research, 7(1), 95-118.
- Braiding together student and supervisor aspirations in a struggle to decolonize.. Organization.
- Reaffirming Opportunities for Pluralism in Management Scholarship. European Management Review.
- Theory as method. Introduction to supertheoretical options for organization and management research. Journal of Organizational Change Management.
Chapters
- Preface to Handbook of Research Methods for Corporate Governance In Cucari N, Yamak S, De Falco SE & Lee B (Ed.), Handbook of Research Methods for Corporate Governance (pp. ix-xvi). Edward Elgar Publishing
- Integrating quantitaitve and qualitative approaches in corporate governance research In Cucari N, Yamak S, De Falco SE & Lee B (Ed.), Handbook of Research Methods for Corporate Governance (pp. 322-341). Edward Elgar Publishing
- SAGE Research Methods Foundations SAGE Publications Ltd View this article in WRRO
- Professional journals, accounting systems and engineers, Issues in Accounting and Finance (pp. 25-62). Routledge
- The relationship between risk and return in loan decisions at credit unions In Saunders M, Thorhnill P & Lewis A (Ed.), Research Methods for Business Students, 8th edition
- "Developing Research Ideas" In Townsend K & Saunders MNK (Ed.), How to keep your reseach project on track: Insights from when things go wrong. (pp. 11-19). Cheltenham: EE Elger.
- Towards the wholesome interview: Technical, social and political dimensions In Cassell C, Cunliffe A & Grandy G (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Business and Management Research Methods (pp. 102-116). Sage View this article in WRRO
- Case studies in accounting research In Hoque Z, Parker L, Covaleski M & Haynes K (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Qualitative Accounting Research Methods Routledge View this article in WRRO
- Case 13: Creating environmentally friendly office spaces In Saunders MNK, Thornhill A & Lewis P (Ed.), Research Methods for Business Students (pp. 587-589). Harlow: Pearson.
- Using documents in organizational research In Symon G & Cassell C (Ed.), Qualitative Organizational Research: Core Methods and Current Challenges (pp. 389-407). London: Sage.
- Introduction: Key debates, challenges and controversies in management research, Challenges and Controversies in Management Research (pp. 1-16).
- Key Debates, Challenges and Controversies in Management Research Introduction, CHALLENGES AND CONTROVERSIES IN MANAGEMENT RESEARCH (pp. 1-14).
- In-service learning in the emergent learning representative initiative in New Zealand In Alexandrou A (Ed.), Union Learning Representatives: Challenges and Opportunities, (pp. 103-118). London: Routledge.
- Case 10: Students’ and former students’ debt problems In Saunders MNK, Lewis P & Thornhill A (Ed.), Research Methods for Business Students (pp. 355-357). Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.
Conference proceedings papers
- Understanding Translation Work in the Multi-organizational Translation of Ideas. Academy of Management Proceedings, Vol. Sup(2015). Vancouver, Canada, 7 August 2015 - 11 August 2015.
Reports
- Inside the Credit Union Capital of Britain View this article in WRRO
- Learning representatives in the UK and New Zealand: a comparative study
- How Do I Collect Documentary Evidence for My Dissertation?.
- Teaching interests
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PhD Supervision
I am keen to supervise students who wish to conduct qualitative research studies in the areas of management accounting, public sector accounting, social accounting and accountability.
- Teaching activities
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I lead the Research Methods for Finance and Accounting module and lecture on the Corporate Governance module on the Accounting and Financial Management (AFM) Division’s Masters programmes.
I also lecture on the Financial Management module on the AFM Division’s undergraduate programme.
Since returning to Sheffield, I have also taught Issues on Corporate Governance on the undergraduate Accounting and Financial Management programme and Management Accounting on the postgraduate programmes.
Previously, I have taught Principles of Accounting, Management Accounting, Case Studies in Accounting and Financial Management at undergraduate level and Qualitative Research Methods on the post-graduate research programme.
- Professional activities and memberships
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Editing responsibilities
I am an editor of the European Management Review (EMR) where I have established a new section, “Methodology Matters”, which I edit to provide a peer-reviewed outlet for articles that make a methodological contribution.
I am an associate editor for Qualitative Research in Organizations, a member of the editorial board of three other journals and I have served as an article editor for Sage Open.
I also conceived and edit – with Mark Saunders of Birmingham University in the UK and VK Narayanan of Drexel University in the USA – the Sage Mastering Business Research Methods series of books.
With Mark Saunders and VK Narayanan, I am also establishing a new book series with Edward Elgar entitled Dissertation Companions.
- Broader community service
I have held a number of positions in the broader academic community. I was Vice Chair responsible for special interest groups (SIGs), a member of the Executive and a trustee of the British Academy of Management (BAM) for the duration of 2014.
I was a member of the national Council of BAM for the period 2013-2015, a member of the Executive of the Committee of Professors in Accounting and Finance for the period 2014-2015 and a member of the Awards Committee of BAM for the period 2015-2016.
I was also the program-evaluation coordinator for the Management Education and Development division of the American Academy of Management (AoM) for the period 2010-2011.
I have also served on the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)’s peer review college and reviewed grant applications to other bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants as well as for a number of non-UK governmental bodies.
I have also completed the training to be an Athena-Swan panellist. I have helped to establish a number of community-based communities including the BAM Research Methodology SIG and the European Academy of Management (EURAM) Research Methods and Research Practice strategic interest group.
I was the inaugural secretary of the former and the inaugural chair of the latter. I remain a member of the steering committee of both.
I have been a visiting research professor at a number of different institutions including Massey University and the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, Griffith University in Australia, the University of Tor Vergatta, Rome in Italy and ISM University of Management and Economics in Lithuania.
I am currently a professor associated with the Institute of Business Creativity at the Ecole Hoteliere De Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland.