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Professor Shahzad Uddin
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Email
snuddin@essex.ac.uk -
Telephone
+44 (0) 1206 874150
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Location
EBS.3.47, Colchester Campus
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Academic support hours
I am available to see students during the term time. I am usually in the office. Please send an email to snuddin@essex.ac.uk either for virtual or face-to-face meetings. You will receive a response within a day.
Profile
Biography
I am Professor of Accounting and Director of the Centre for Accountability and Global Development at Essex Business School, University of Essex. My research begins with a concern for how accounting, organisations and global capitalism shape the lives of disadvantaged people, particularly their working conditions and their ability to challenge decisions that affect them. These concerns have guided my work for more than three decades. Much of this work has grown through long-term collaborations across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. With colleagues and doctoral researchers, I have studied life and work on Bangladeshi tea plantations, the organisation of Japanese hospitals, public finances in Palestine, local government in Indonesia, and governance in family firms and African businesses. Spending time with people, listening to their accounts and understanding the histories of these settings are central to how I work. My recent research brings several of these concerns into sharper focus. In Palestine, I examine how financial controls operate within settler colonialism and restrict the possibilities for self-government. My work on tea plantations explores how historical inequalities continue to shape workers’ livelihoods and struggles for dignity. Research with doctors in England and Japan examines how demanding careers are sustained and at what personal cost. This includes the often unseen contributions of doctors themselves, their families and colleagues, and the consequences for their wellbeing. Other recent projects examine the limits of governance and accountability. Research on corporate taxation in Japan explores how companies can be closely scrutinised by the state while the public has little opportunity to judge their tax affairs. My work on integrated reporting examines how the accounting profession extends its authority over social and environmental questions, and how these concerns can become secondary to investors’ priorities. Across these projects, I ask who gets to define what matters and what meaningful public accountability would involve. These questions also shape my commitment to the Majority World, home to most of the world’s people, whose experiences and intellectual traditions remain underrepresented in academic debate. I founded the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies and continue to serve as its editor. Through the journal, conferences and collaborative research, I have sought to create more space for scholars to develop ideas grounded in their own societies. My recent work on epistemic injustice examines why some people’s knowledge is taken seriously while others’ is overlooked, and how accounting scholarship might change by learning from a wider range of histories and philosophies. My publications span accounting, sociology, public administration, development studies and health, appearing in journals including Accounting, Organisations and Society, Sociology, Work, Employment and Society, Public Administration, Development and Change and Social Science & Medicine. I also write for wider audiences through The Conversation and Everyday Society, including on Palestine, Bangladesh and labour rights. I received the British Accounting and Finance Association’s Distinguished Academic Award in 2022 and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2024. Working with early-career researchers, doctoral students and colleagues across more than a dozen countries is a part of academic life I particularly value. My current and developing projects continue to explore workers’ wellbeing, violence and labour control, and approaches to governance informed by non-Western thought and social relationships. Through these collaborations, including new funded projects with partners in the Majority World, I hope to contribute research that helps people question unequal arrangements and imagine fairer ways of organising work and life.
Qualifications
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MSc (Manchester)
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PhD (Manchester)
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FCMA The Cost and Management Accountants,
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FHEA Higher Education Academy,
Appointments
University of Essex
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Professor of Accounting, Essex Business School, Univeristy of Essex (1/9/2010 - present)
Research and professional activities
Research interests
Management accounting
Corporate Governance, CSR and Sustainability
Accounting and Economic Development
New Public Management and Governance
Conferences and presentations
Keynote Speech on Corporate Governance
KAA-PAAET Conference in Kuwait, 1/4/2025
Keynote Speaker
Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Associaton Conference 2024, 28/10/2024
Panel Member, Symposium, Accounting in Non-Western Countries
European Accounting Association 2024, 15/5/2024
Keynote Speaker
BAFA Annual Conference, 2024, 9/4/2024
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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International Management Accounting (BE154)
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Data Analysis: Cross Sectional, Panel and Qualitative Data Methods (BE369)
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Research Methods in Accounting (BE951)
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In-Site Workshop Series (BE961)
Previous supervision
Degree type: Master of Research
Awarded date: 5/10/2022
Degree subject: Accounting
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 18/12/2020
Degree subject: Accounting
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 29/9/2020
Degree subject: Accounting
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 23/7/2020
Degree subject: Accounting
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 6/3/2019
Degree subject: Accounting
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 25/6/2018
Degree subject: Accounting
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 21/3/2016
Degree subject: Accounting
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 13/1/2016
Degree subject: Accounting
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 1/4/2015
Degree subject: Accounting
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 16/12/2014
Degree subject: Accounting
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 4/7/2013
Publications
Journal articles (55)
Lockwood, M., The State They're In
Al-Azemi, S. and Uddin, S., (2026). Independent Directors in Family PLCs in the Majority World - Insights from a Middle Eastern Country. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. 103, 102827-102827
Ashraf, J., Cutcher, L., Pianezzi, D., Tyler, M. and Uddin, S., (2026). Workers that matter and work that counts organizing and accounting for value(s). Organization. 33 (2), 143-157
Kimani, D., Seny Kan, KA. and Uddin, S., (2026). Self, communitarian self, and personhood: a theoretical account of ‘non-compliance’ in corporate governance in Africa. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. 103, 102848-102848
Khandkar, S. and Uddin, S., (2026). Exclusions and Labour Control Regime: A Tale of Two Tea Plantations. Sociology
Alazzeh, D. and Uddin, S., (2025). Accountability and Sovereignty: Financial Controls in the Palestine-Israel Indigenous-Settler Relationship. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. 101, 102784-102784
Shahzad Uddin, (2025). Accounting Scholarship and the Majority World: A Case of Epistemic Injustice. The British Accounting Review. 57 (6), 101679-101679
Popesko, B., Uddin, S. and Urban, D., (2025). Neoliberalism, Informal Employment and Post-Communist Economies: A Tale of a Debt-Seized Worker. Work, Employment and Society. 40 (1), 175-186
Buanaputra, V. and Uddin, S., (2024). The Power Struggles of Executives and Legislators in a Kingship Budget Setting: The Role of Informal and Formal Power. Public Administration. 102 (1), 131-146
Ghattas, P., Soobaroyen, T., Uddin, S. and Marnet, O., (2024). Auditing the auditors: A performative ‘spectacle’ of public oversight. Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal. 37 (3), 764-789
Alazzeh, D. and Uddin, S., (2024). New Public Financial Management in Liberal Peacebuilding Discourse: The Palestine-Israel Conflict and The World Bank. Financial Accountability and Management. 40 (4), 549-572
Pianezzi, D., Mori, Y. and Uddin, S., (2023). Public-Private Partnership in a Smart City: a curious case in Japan. International Review of Administrative Sciences. 89 (3), 632-647
Ahmed, S. and Uddin, S., (2023). Reflexive deliberations of family directors on corporate board reforms: publicly listed family firms in an emerging economy. Accounting Forum. 48 (1), 170-200
Ahmed, S. and Uddin, S., (2023). Symbolism as practice: A practice theoretical understanding of audit committee practices in emerging market family companies. Accounting Forum. 49 (1), 45-72
Uddin, S., Ahmed, S. and Khandkar, S., (2023). Supply Chain Accountability, COVID-19, and Violations of Workers’ Rights in the Global Clothing Supply Chain. Supply Chain Management. 28 (5), 859-873
Khandakar, S. and Uddin, S., (2022). Labour Controls, Unfreedom and Perpetuation of Slavery on a Tea Plantation. Work, Employment and Society. 36 (3), 522-538
Ahmed, MS. and Uddin, S., (2022). Workplace Bullying and Intensification of Labour Controls in the Clothing Supply Chain: Post-Rana Plaza Disaster. Work, Employment and Society. 36 (3), 539-556
Smyth, S., Uddin, S. and Lee, B., (2022). Subject, method and praxis – Conducting critical studies in accounting research. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. 86, 102481-102481
Uddin, S., Popesko, B., Papadaki, Š. and Wagner, J., (2021). Performance measurement in a transitional economy: unfolding a case of KPIs. Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal. 34 (2), 370-396
Mahmood, Z. and Uddin, S., (2021). Institutional logics and practice variations in sustainability reporting: evidence from an emerging field. Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal. 34 (5), 1163-1189
Uddin, S., Mori, Y. and Shahadat, K., (2020). Private management and governance styles in a Japanese public hospital: A story of west meets east. Social Science and Medicine. 245, 112719-112719
Uddin, SN., Mori, Y. and Adhikari, P., (2019). Participatory Budgeting and Local Government in a Vertical Society: A Japanese Story. International Review of Administrative Sciences. 85 (3), 490-505
Jayasinghe, K. and Uddin, S., (2019). Continuity and Change in Development Discourses and the Rhetoric Role of Accounting. Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies. 9 (3), 314-334
Uddin, S. and Ahmed, S., (2018). Toward a Political Economy of Corporate Governance Change and Stability in Family Business Groups: A Morphogenetic Approach. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. 31 (8), 2192-2217
Tsamenyi, M., Hopper, T. and Uddin, S., (2017). Changing Control and Accounting in an African Gold Mine: An Emergence of a New Despotic Control. Journal of Accounting and Organizational Change. 13 (2), 282-308
Uddin, SN., Alawattage, C., Wickramasinghe, D. and Tsamenyi, M., (2017). Doing critical management accounting research in emerging economies. Advances in Scientific and Applied Accounting. 10 (2), 177-188
Uddin, SN., Jayasinghe, K. and Ahmed, S., (2017). Scandals from an Island: Testing Anglo-American Corporate Governance Frameworks. Critical perspectives on international business. 13 (4), 349-370
Uddin, S., Siddiqui, J. and Islam, MA., (2016). Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures, Traditionalism and Politics: A Story from a Traditional Setting. Journal of Business Ethics. 151 (2), 409-428
Siddiqui, J. and Uddin, S., (2016). Human rights disasters, corporate accountability and the state: Lessons learned from Rana Plaza. Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal. 29 (4), 679-704
van Helden, J. and Uddin, S., (2016). Public sector management accounting in emerging economies: A literature review. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. 41, 34-62
Ashraf, J. and Uddin, S., (2016). New public management, cost savings and regressive effects: A case from a less developed country. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. 41, 18-33
Avina-Vazquez, CR. and Uddin, S., (2016). Social Capital, Networks and Interlocking Directorates: A Mexican Case. Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies. 6 (3), 291-312
Ashraf, J. and Uddin, S., (2015). Military, ‘managers’ and hegemonies of management accounting controls: A critical realist interpretation. Management Accounting Research. 29, 13-26
Ashraf, J. and Uddin, S., (2015). Management Accounting Research and Structuration Theory: A Critical Realist Critique. Journal of Critical Realism. 14 (5), 485-507
Stergiou, K., Ashraf, J. and Uddin, S., (2013). The role of structure and agency in management accounting control change of a family owned firm: A Greek case study. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. 24 (1), 62-73
Junaid Ashraf, M. and Uddin, S., (2013). A Consulting Giant; a Disgruntled Client: A ‘Failed’ Attempt to Change Management Controls in a Public Sector Organisation. Financial Accountability & Management. 29 (2), 186-205
Uddin, S., Gumb, B. and Kasumba, S., (2011). Trying to operationalise typologies of the spectacle. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal. 24 (3), 288-314
Tsamenyi, M. and Uddin, S., (2011). Editorial. Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies. 1 (1)
(2010). Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies. Journal of Applied Accounting Research. 11 (1)
Hopper, T., Tsamenyi, M., Uddin, S. and Wickramasinghe, D., (2009). Management accounting in less developed countries: what is known and needs knowing. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal. 22 (3), 469-514
Uddin, S., (2009). Rationalities, domination and accounting control: A case study from a traditional society. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. 20 (6), 782-794
Tsamenyi, M., Noormansyah, I. and Uddin, S., (2008). Management controls in family-owned businesses (FOBs): A case study of an Indonesian family-owned University. Accounting Forum. 32 (1), 62-74
Uddin, S. and Choudhury, J., (2008). Rationality, traditionalism and the state of corporate governance mechanisms. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal. 21 (7), 1026-1051
Xu, W. and Uddin, S., (2008). Public sector reforms, privatisation and regimes of control in a Chinese enterprise. Accounting Forum. 32 (2), 162-177
Xu, W. and Uddin, S., (2008). Public sector reforms, privatisation and regimes of control in a Chinese enterprise. Accounting Forum. 32 (2), 162-177
Uddin, SN., (2007). The Role of Accounting in Lending Decisions for Small Firms: Evidence from a Less Developed Country
Uddin, SN. and Khan, MHA., (2006). The Role of Accounting in Lending Decisions for Small Firms: Evidence from a Less Developed Country. Reserch in Accounting in Emerging Economies. Vol. 7, 29.-53
Uddin, S. and Tsamenyi, M., (2005). Public sector reforms and the public interest. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal. 18 (5), 648-674
Uddin, S., (2005). Privatization in Bangladesh: The Emergence of 'Family Capitalism'. Development and Change. 36 (1), 157-182
Uddin, SN. and Khan, MHA., (2005). Cronyism in Lending Decisions – Evidence from a Less Developed Country. Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation. Vol.19 (Issue 8), 298-303
Uddin, SN. and Khan, MHA., (2004). Lending Decisions by Financial Institutions for Small Firms. Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation. Vol.19 (Issue 7), 251-257
Uddin, S. and Hopper, T., (2003). ACCOUNTING FOR PRIVATISATION IN BANGLADESH: TESTING WORLD BANK CLAIMS. Critical Perspectives on Accounting. 14 (7), 739-774
Uddin, S. and Hopper, T., (2001). A Bangladesh soap opera: privatisation, accounting, and regimes of control in a less developed country. Accounting, Organizations and Society. 26 (7-8), 643-672
Uddin, S. and Hopper, T., (2001). A Bangladeshi Soap Opera: Privatisation, Accounting, and Regimes of Control in a Less Developed Country. Accounting, Organizations and Society. 26 (7/8), 643-672
Uddin, SN., (1996). Privatisation Issues in Developed and Developing Countries. Journal of Business Administration. Vol. 22 (No. 3&4), 75-90
Books (4)
(2012). Handbook of Accounting and Development. Edward Elgar Publishing. 9781848448162
Uddin, S. and Tsamenyi, M., (2010). Research in Accounting in Emerging Economies. Emerald Group Publishing. 0857244515. 9780857244512
(2009). Accounting in Emerging Economies. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. 1849506256. 9781849506250
Uddin, S., (2008). Corporate Governance in Less Developed and Emerging Economies. Emerald Group Publishing. 1848552521. 9781848552524
Book chapters (14)
Ashraf, J., Hopper, T., Lassou, P., Moses, O., Jayasinghe, K., Soobaroyen, T. and Uddin, S., (2019). Researching and publishing on accounting in emerging economies: an experiential account. In: The Routledge Companion to Accounting in Emerging Economies. Editors: Weetman, P. and Tsalavoutas, I., . Routledge. 259- 273. 9780815356202
Ashraf, MJ., Hopper, T., Lassou, P., Olayinka, M., Jayasinghe, K., Soobaroyen, T. and Uddin, S., (2019). Researching and publishing on accounting in emerging economies: an experiential account. In: The Routledge Companion to Accounting in Emerging Economies. Editors: Weetman, P. and Tsalavoutas, I., . Routledge. 1351128485. 9781351128483
Uddin, SN., (2017). Theorising management accounting practices in Less Developed Countries. In: The Routledge Companion to Performance Management and Control. Editors: . Routledge. 287- 305. 1138913545. 9781138913547
Uddin, SN., (2015). Social Theorisation of Accounting: Challenges to Positive Research. In: The Routledge Companion to Financial Accounting Theory. Editors: Jones, S., . Routledge. 472- 491. 1135107262. 9781135107260
(2015). Special Issue: Finance, Development, and Corporate Governance in Emerging Economies
Hopper, T., Tsamenyi, M., Uddin, S. and Wickramasinghe, D., (2012). Management Control after Privatization: Illustrations from Less Developed Countries. In: Handbook of Accounting and Development. Edward Elgar Publishing. 206- 223. 9781848448162
Hopper, T., Tsamenyi, M., Uddin, S. and Wickramasinghe, D., (2012). Introduction: Accounting and Development. In: Handbook of Accounting and Development. Edward Elgar Publishing. 1- 14. 9781848448162
Hopper, T., Tsamenyi, M., Uddin, S. and Wickramasinghe, D., (2012). Accounting and Development. In: Handbook Of Accounting And Development. Editors: Hopper, T., Tsamenyi, M., Uddin, S. and Wickramasinghe, D., . Edward Elgar. 1- 15. 9781848448162
Hopper, T., Tsamenyi, M., Uddin, S. and Wickramasinghe, D., (2012). Management Control and Privatisation. In: Handbook Of Accounting And Development. Editors: Hopper, T., Tsamenyi, M., Uddin, S. and Wickramasinghe, D., . Edward Elgar. 206- 223. 9781848448162
(2011). Review of Management Accounting Research. In: Review of Management Accounting Research. Editors: Abdel-Kader, MG., . Palgrave Macmillan UK. 415- 449. 9781349321971
Tsamenyi, M. and Uddin, S., (2008). Introduction to corporate governance in less developed and emerging economies. In: Corporate Governance in Less Developed and Emerging Economies. Editors: Tsamenyi, M. and Uddin, S., . Emerald. 1- 11. 9781848552524
Khan, MHA. and Uddin, S., (2006). Lending Decisions and Accounting Information: Evidence from Bangladesh. In: Research in Accounting in Emerging Economies. Elsevier. 29- 52
Uddin, SN., (1999). Management Control, Ownership and Development. In: Economic Decentralization and Public Management Reform. Editors: Mackintosh, M. and Roy, R., . Edward Elgar Publishing
Uddin, SN., (1995). Some Challenges and Alternatives to Positive Accounting Research. In: Accounting Theory A Contemporary Review. 0729509850. 9780729509855
Conferences (1)
Al-Azzeh, D. and Uddin, S., 1. Exploring accountability mechanisms in the settler colonial context: A case of Palestine and Israel, Accounting and Accountability in Emerging Economies, UK, 2023.
Thesis dissertation (1)
Uddin, SN., (1995). Management Control System and Development: A Literature Review. Master's Thesis
Other (1)
Alazzeh, D. and Uddin, S., Weaponising Revenue Controls: Dominance of Israel over Palestine. Everyday Society,British Sociological Association
Grants and funding
2024
To explore the work-life balance of doctors and elucidate the underlying reasons for the high workload of doctors especially in Japanese settings
Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
2019
Accounting, Accountability and Reporting Reforms in Mauritius: Who (really) benefits from (all) this transparency?
Mauritius Tertiary Education Commission
Accounting, Accountability and Reporting Reforms in Mauritius: Who (really) benefits from (all) this transparency?
Mauritius Tertiary Education Commission
2016
A Strategy to solve England's litter problem
Campaign to Protect Rural England
Contact
Academic support hours:
I am available to see students during the term time. I am usually in the office. Please send an email to snuddin@essex.ac.uk either for virtual or face-to-face meetings. You will receive a response within a day.