Biography

Mark Klassen is an Assistant Professor at the Edwards School of Business in the Department of Accounting. Mark completed his PhD at the Lancaster University Management School in Lancaster England. He currently holds a CPA, CMA designation as well as a fellowship (FCPA, FCMA) in recognition for his contributions to the profession. His research interest is in management control with a recent orientation towards innovation culture and measurement. He currently has eleven peer reviewed publications in this research area. Mark has a rich practitioner background with extensive consulting experience holding senior management positions at EDS (now HP), Deloitte Consulting and independently. His primary teaching focus has been management accounting and information systems in the Masters of Professional Accounting (MPacc) Program, MBA and undergrad classes.

Courses

Mark Klassen’s teaching interests are primarily in management accounting and control and information systems. In 2013, he was awarded MPacc Professor of the Year.

Comm 438: Management Control Systems

This course examines the management control systems that organizations use to achieve their strategic goals. To proactively move the organization forward, or in some cases to respond to reactionary forces, business leaders utilize different management tools and techniques. The course is taken by accounting majors typically in their fourth year of study.

Comm 413: Contemporary Accounting Issues

This course consists of an enquiry into various contemporary issues facing the accounting profession. As part of the course, students are exposed to various academic and professional accounting writings. The delivery is primarily through a seminar format where articles are discussed including informal and formal debates. The course is taken by accounting majors in their fourth year of study.

Comm 210: Introductory Management Accounting

This course introduces students to the vital role that modern management accounting information plays in running a business in today’s economy. Understanding of the management accounting information, examining the usefulness of the information from management’s perspective, and understanding the limitations of accounting information and the potential dysfunctional behavior that may arise from its use are the primary focus areas of this course. The course is mandatory for all ESB students and is typically taken in the second year of their studies.

COMM 337: Accounting Information Systems

This course is an introduction to Accounting Information Systems (AIS). The course explores the fundamental role of AIS is to support and facilitate achieving the objectives of a business by enabling managers. The four key objectives of AIS that are emphasized in the course are 1) to make decisions that add value to the business, 2) to control vital business processes and thereby ensure that the processes function correctly, 3)to develop accurate, timely, reliable and consistent reports on the financial and non-financial performance of the business and 4) to assure internal and external parties that the reporting of business’s performance is in accordance with established rules and procedures for reporting such as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)

MPACC 804: Strategic Management Accounting

This is a course in strategic management accounting which serves to blend traditional management accounting with best practice management concepts. The course focuses on developing a solid understanding of management control systems, with a particular focus on performance management. Building on the concepts of strategy formulation and implementation, this course aims to provide a holistic view of performance management. In addition the course also revisits traditional cost accounting methods and techniques. This course is taken by all students completing the Masters of Professional Accounting Program.

MPACC 807: Information Systems: Design, Control and Audit

This is a course that focuses on information systems from a design, control and audit perspective. There is an emphasis placed on internal controls. Although this is not a UFE prep course, the material covered in this class has been vetted against the UFE competency map and contains sufficient coverage of the competency map. Similar to MPACC 804, MPACC 807 was a required course for all students completing the Masters of Professional Accounting Program.

MPACC 821: Performance Management II

This course focuses on the vital role that modern management accounting information plays in running a business in today’s economy in the context of performance management, and leverages technical management accounting techniques that are used to make strategic operational business decisions.

MBA 832/838: Management Information Systems (Renamed to: Leveraging Information Technology in Business in 2008/2009)

This is an applied course in management information systems which serves to give managers the tools they need to operate in a world influenced by technology. This is not a bits and bytes course where Java and XML are defined, explored and taught. What the course teaches is exploring is how technology integrates with many of the concepts that are mission critical for successful business professionals. The course was required by all MBAs to complete their MBA degree.

MBA 837: Accounting for Planning and Decision Making

This course introduces students to the vital role that modern management accounting information plays in running a business in today’s economy. This course assumes that most students taking this course will be in a management position in a non-accounting functional area in the future. Understanding the management accounting information, examining the usefulness of the information from management’s perspective, and understanding the limitations of accounting information and the potential dysfunctional behavior that may arise from its use are the primary focus areas of this course. The course was required by all MBAs to complete their MBA degree.

Publications

PUBLISHED

Klassen, M.*, and Kalagnanam, S. (2011), Mountain city transit: Management control and performance measurement. Accounting Perspectives 10 (3): 225.

Klassen, M.*, and Kalagnanam, S. (2011), Western cabinets – building a cabinet or building a transformation? IMA Educational Case Journal, 4(4).

Dobni, C., Klassen, M. and Nelson, W. (2015), Innovation strategy in the US: top executives offer their views, Journal of Business Strategy, 36(1): 3-13.

Dobni, C., and Klassen, M. (2015), Advancing an innovation orientation in organizations: Insight from North American business leaders. Journal of Innovation Management, 3(1). 

Dobni, C, Klassen, M. and Sands, D.  (2016), Getting to clarity: new ways to think about strategy, Journal of Business Strategy, 37(5): 12-21.

Dobni, C. and Klassen, M. (2018) Linking innovation measurement to an implementation framework: A case study of a financial services organization, Journal of Innovation Management, 6(1): 80-110.

Klassen, M., Kalagnanam, S. and Vasal, V.K. (2019), Managing Values and Financial Accountability: The Case of a Large NGO, International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 19(1): 103-127.

Klassen, M., Dobni, C., and Neufeldt, V. (2020), Innovation Orientation and Performance in the Not-for-profit Sector, International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 23(4): 540-560.

Dobni, C., and Klassen, M. (2020), The decade of innovation, from benchmarking to execution, The Journal of Business Strategy, 42(1):23-31.

Dobni, C. Klassen, M. and Wilson, G. (2021). Strategy shifts for innovation, Strategy and Leadership,  49(2): 36-40. 

Wilson, G., Dobni, C. and Klassen, M. (fourthcoming, accepted June 2021). Business practices of highly innovative Japanese firms. Asia Pacific Management Review.