Dr Cathy Knowles

PhD, MA, ACMA

Senior Lecturer

Oxford Brookes Business School

Role

Having been the Programme Lead for MSc Finance and MSc Accounting & Finance for 7 years, I am stepping down to Senior Lecturer from February 2022.

Teaching and supervision

Courses

Modules taught

Finance and Accounting for Business
Business Aspects of Management Accounting
Accounting Synoptic
Managerial Accounting
Performance Management
Finance and Accounting Research Project

I have been a Programme Lead so I have been responsible for programme design, curriculum development, managing a teaching team, through to ensuring high academic standards in assessment, feed back and managing Exam Boards .

Supervision

I am happy to supervise dissertations on Management Accounting topics. I currently module lead our Research Project for PG students

Research

My research interest is Management Accounting within non-profit organisations. My PhD was entitled Managing the unmeasurable – performance management in UK hospices. It considers how charities can best manage their performance where performance measures may be limited. It creates a new performance management framework, informed by Simons'' Levers of Control.

Research impact

Effective performance management of voluntary organisations

Publications

Journal articles

Limburg D, McCulloch M, Knowles C, Spira L, 'Integrated Performance Management Using Information Technology, a Study of UK Charities'
Public Money & Management 37 (3) (2017) pp.181-188

ISSN: 0954-0962
Abstract Published here Open Access on RADAR

Books

Carey M, Knowles C, Towers-Clarke J, Accounting: a smart approach, OUP (2017)

ISBN: 978-0198745136
Published here

Conference papers

Limburg D, Knowles C, McCulloch M, 'Can Charities Use Enterprise Performance Management Systems to Improve Information Provision?'
(2015)

Abstract Published here

Professional information

Memberships of professional bodies

Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)

Conferences

January 2016: Public Services and Charities: Accounting, Accountability and Governance at a Time Change’ Conference, entitled: Strategic Alignment: Performance measurement in English and Welsh Independent Hospices.’
June 2016 : International Society for Third Sector Research entitled: Efficiency and effectiveness: Performance measurement in English and Welsh Independent Hospices.
July 2018: International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) entitled: Belief and Boundary controls in the third sector: relational controls within voluntary organisations
November 2019 Management Accounting Research Group The complementarity of informal and formal controls within the voluntary sector: the enhancement of Simons' Levers of Control
June 2021 : International Society for Third Sector Research entitled: Managing the unmeasurable – developing a new performance management framework
November 2021 Management Accounting Research Group Voluntary Sector Performance Management: adapting the Ferreira and Otley Performance Management and Control system