A recent PhD graduate and lecturer in the Department of Accounting at the University of Pretoria, Dr Stefan Bezuidenhout, was announced as the top achiever in the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) 2022 thesis competition for PhD graduates in Accounting Sciences.
SAIPA awarded the prize to Dr Bezuidenhout during its Accounting Indaba, at a gala dinner held at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton on 2 November 2022. Seventeen South African universities were invited to participate in the competition by submitting theses of their PhD graduates in the categories for Accounting Sciences, and Tax.
These theses underwent a rigorous adjudication process by a panel of experts in the various categories, and Dr Bezuidenhout’s thesis took the top spot in the Accounting Sciences category for his thesis, ‘A management control systems approach to integrated reporting’.
Supervised by Extraordinary Professor Charl de Villiers of the Department of Accounting, the thesis provides case study evidence from a South African telecommunications company, to gain a better understanding of how management control systems (MCS) facilitate the preparation of an integrated report.
The findings of this research reveal that strategy is used as a MCS in the integrated reporting process. Strategic boundary controls, such as open-plan offices, and operational boundary controls, such as organisational culture, facilitate the preparation process of the integrated report. Operational performance controls, such as the performance management system, and strategic performance controls, such as the strategy planning process, further facilitate the preparation process of the integrated report. The study provided an understanding of how strategy and the MCSs associated with strategy, support the integrated reporting process.
Expressing his gratitude to SAIPA for the recognition, Dr Bezuidenhout said: “I’m truly thankful, honoured and humbled to have received this recognition for the research I have done to further the discipline of Accounting Sciences.”
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