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PhD Programs in Accountancy and Business

At Bentley University, we take a personalized approach to your doctoral education. Our two PhD programs offer a broad interdisciplinary foundation derived from our emphasis on business, technology and society, and independent study that lines up with your own research interests and career ambitions.

PhD in Accountancy

Bentley PhD in Accountancy students are interested in a variety of accounting topics, including audit quality, management control, capital markets, investor decision-making, accounting information systems, information technology controls, tax, and corporate governance. Ideally, applicants will have completed a Master’s degree in accounting.

 

PhD in Accountancy: Curriculum and Syllabi

You’ll explore both quantitative and qualitative methodology courses, and take a series of core seminars in Financial Accountancy, Auditing and Assurance, Managerial Control Systems, Judgment and Decision-Making. You’ll also take an Accountancy Workshop that considers special topics in accounting research, and a specialized course in experimental design that’s taught as an independent study.

Accountancy Core Methodology Courses Recent Accountancy Electives
Financial Accounting Philosophy of the Social Sciences Behavioral and Experimental Economics
Auditing and Assurance Qualitative Research Methods I Econometrics
Managerial Control Systems Quantitative Research Methods I Qualitative Research Methods II
Judgment and Decision-Making Quantitative Analysis I Quantitative Analysis II
Microeconomic Theory Quantitative Analysis II Ethics and Corporate Social 
Responsibility
Accountancy Workshop    

Courses by Year

Year 1

Fall Semester Spring Semester Summer Semester 
Philosophy of the Social Sciences Qualitative Research Methods I Independent Study in Accountancy
Quantitative Research Methods I Quantitative Analysis II  
Quantitative Analysis I Auditing and Assurance  
Accountancy Workshop Part I Accountancy Workshop Part II  

Year 2

Fall Semester Spring Semester Summer Semester 
Judgment and Decision-Making Financial Accounting  Teaching Workshop
Microeconomic Theory Elective  
Managerial Control Systems Elective  
Course Shadowing  Active Teacher Training and Observation  

Year 3 & 4 Sample Timeline*

  • Year 3:  Teaching assignment (normally one course per semester) & dissertation proposal submitted and defended and student transition to 'PhD Candidate' status
  • Year 4:  Teaching assignment (normally one course per semester) & dissertation submitted and examined

*details vary based on a 4 or 5 year completion plan.

PhD in Accountancy: Selected Publications
  • Andiola, L., and J. C. Bedard. 2018. Delivering the “tough message”: Moderators of subordinate auditors’ reactions to feedback. Forthcoming in Accounting, Organizations, and Society.
  • Andiola, L., J. C. Bedard, and K. Westermann. 2018. It’s not my fault! Insights into auditors’ attributions and emotions following audit review. Forthcoming in Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory.
  • Hsieh, T. S., and J. C. Bedard. 2018. The impact of XBRL on voluntary adopters’ financial reporting quality and cost of capital. Forthcoming in the Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting.
  • Downey, D. H., and J. C. Bedard. 2018. Coordination and communication challenges in global group audits. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory 37(2): 197-223.
  • Cannon, N., and J. C. Bedard. 2017. Auditing challenging fair value measurements: Evidence from the field. The Accounting Review 92 (4): 81-114.
  • Burke, J., R. Hoitash, and U. Hoitash. 2017. The heterogeneity of board-level sustainability committees and corporate social performance.Journal of Business Ethics, forthcoming.
  • Hux, C. 2017. Use of specialists on audit engagements: A research synthesis and directions for future research. Journal of Accounting Literature 39 (C): 23-51.
  • Thibodeau, J., Williams, T. and A. Witte.2017.Point and click data: An assessment of editorial perceptions and recommendations for the peer-review process in the new data frontier.Journal of Information Systems, forthcoming.
  • Bierstaker, J., Downey, D., Rose, J. and J. Thibodeau. 2017. Effects of stories and checklist decision aids on knowledge structure development and auditor judgment. Journal of Information Systems, forthcoming.
  • Gantman, S., and J. Fedorowicz. 2016. Communication and control in outsourced IS development projects: Mapping to COBIT domains. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems 21: 63-83.
  • Westermann, K., C. Earley and J.C. Bedard. 2015. Learning the “craft” of auditing: A dynamic view of auditors’ on-the-job learning. Contemporary Accounting Research 32 (3): 864-896.
  • Garrett, J., Hoitash, R., Prawitt, D. F. 2014. Trust and financial reporting quality. Journal of Accounting Research 52 (5): 1087-1125.
  • Andiola, L. 2014. Performance feedback in the audit environment: A review and synthesis of research on the behavioral effects. Journal of Accounting Literature 33(1): 1-36.
  • Hanes (Downey), D. 2013. Geographically distributed audit work: Theoretical considerations and future directions. Journal of Accounting Literature 32(1): 1-29.
  • Bedard, J.C., Hoitash, R., U. Hoitash, K. Westermann. 2012. Remediation of internal control material weaknesses: A detailed examination. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory 31(1): 39-56.

PhD in Business

The Bentley PhD in Business provides an interdisciplinary understanding of business and an in-depth knowledge in a particular chosen field. Your research will probe some of the most compelling issues in business today, all under the interdisciplinary umbrella theme of business, technology and society. Within this umbrella theme you can concentrate in any of the business disciplines, including:

  • Information and Process Management  
  • Information Systems  
  • Management (including Organizational Behavior, Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Organizational Theory, Operations and Supply Chain Management, Business Ethics)  
  • Marketing  
  • Business Analytics 

PhD in Business student Kenneth Mullane

PhD in Business: Curriculum and Syllabi

Courses by Semester

Fall Year One Spring Year One Summer Year One  
  • Philosophy of the Social Sciences
  • Quantitative Research Methods I
  • Quantitative Analysis I
  • Business Workshop
  • Qualitative Research Methods I
  • Quantitative Analysis II
  • Organizational Theory
  • Business Workshop
 Independent Summer Course
Fall Year Two Spring Year Two Summer Year Two
  • Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Microeconomic Theory
  • Elective
  • Information Systems
  • Elective
  • Elective
  • Teaching Workshop

Year 3 & 4 Sample Timeline*

  • Year 3:  Teaching assignment (normally one course per semester) & dissertation proposal submitted and defended and student transition to 'PhD Candidate' status
  • Year 4:  Teaching assignment (normally one course per semester) & dissertation submitted and examined

*details vary based on a 4 or 5 year completion plan.

Note: At any point following the completion of course work, a student may choose to leave the program with a terminal Master's in Business Research degree. This degree is awarded instead of a PhD; students who continue on to complete their PhD do not receive a Master's degree.

 

PhD in Business: Developmental Teaching Program & Workshop

Course Shadowing - Spring Year 2
Teaching Workshop - Summer Year 2

*Note: Noncredit-bearing, required