Curriculum VitaeBrendan Thomas O’Connell

Personal

Email: brendan.oconnell@rmit.edu.au

Linked-In Profile: https://au.linkedin.com/pub/brendan-o-connell/1b/552/a87

Career Highlights to Date

President for Victoria, CPA Australia, 2014 and member of its Executive Committee and Victorian Divisional Council 2010-15.

40 major publications in refereed academic journals and externally funded reports Winning over $560,000 in competitive research grant funding in the past 5 years. Delivered the prestigious 76th University of Melbourne-CPA Australia Annual

Research Lecture at the University of Melbourne.

Appointments

Years Position Institution2008 to Present Professor of Accounting &

Associate Head (Industry Engagement)

School of Accounting, RMIT University, Melbourne

2005 to 2008 Professor of Accounting and Finance

School of Business, James Cook University, Townsville & Cairns

2002 to 2005 Associate Professor in Accounting & Finance

Deakin Business School, Deakin University

July 2000 to June 2002 Assistant Professor, E. Claiborne Robins School of Business, University of Richmond, Virginia, USA

January 1992 to July 2000

Associate Lecturer /Lecturer/ Senior Lecturer

Department of Accounting & Finance, Monash University

1991 Senior – Insolvency & Reconstruction

Pannell Kerr Forster Chartered Accountants, Melbourne

1988-1990 Associate – Investment Banking Bankers Trust Australia, Melbourne

1981-1985 Bank Officer ANZ Banking Group Ltd.

Qualifications

CA (admitted in 2012)

FCPA (admitted in 1999, Advanced to Fellow status in 2012), CPA Australia.

Certified Management Accounting (CMA)

PhD (completed in 1999), Department of Accounting and Finance at Monash University. My thesis was entitled “Securitisation of Financial Assets: Evidence from the Field”.

Master of Business by Research (upgraded to PhD candidature in 1995)

Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment (completed 1990), the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (formerly the Securities Institute of Australia).

Bachelor of Business Degree (with Distinction) majoring in accounting, economics and business law, (completed in 1988), University of Ballarat.

Higher School Certificate (completed in 1980), St Patrick's College, Ballarat.

Academic Awards

2015 Recipient of the University of Melbourne Medal following delivery of the 76th University of Melbourne-CPA Australia Annual Research Lecture at the University of Melbourne.

2011 Paper entitled “Enhancing Assessment Feedback Practices in Accounting Education” was a winner of best paper at the South African Accounting Association 2011 International Conference.

2009 Paper entitled “The Changing Face of Regulators’ Investigations into Financial Statement Fraud”, Accounting Research Journal, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 118-43 was a winner of the “Highly Commended Award” from Emerald LiteratiNetwork for 2009.

2003 I received, jointly with Professor Garry Carnegie, the Deakin University, Faculty of Business and Law Strategic Priority Award for “Outstanding Contribution to Research”.

2002 I received the 2001-2002 International Education Award by the Office of International Education at the University of Richmond, Virginia USA. This award

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recognized “a major contribution by a staff or faculty member to the university’s mission to enhance international education”.

1998 A paper I presented entitled, “Measuring Potential Social Desirability Response Biases in Survey Instruments”, received an award for being one of the three best papers presented at the academic conference: Asian - Network Symposium on Accounting Issues.

1990 Upon completion of the Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment, I was awarded the Institute prize for Victorian Dux in the course Money Market and Fixed Interest Investment.

1988 I was awarded the university prize for Dux in Economics and Business Law after completion of my Bachelors’ Degree.

1987 One of two recipients of the BP Young Achiever’s Scholarship for Commerce. I was selected from 150 applicants Australia wide. The award was based on the winner having demonstrated excellent academic results, initiative, good communication skills and high personal qualities. Major benefits of the award included a $3,000 scholarship and paid employment within the accounting and finance areas of BP Australia.

Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity

The large list below of publications in high quality refereed academic journals and externally funded reports (40 in total of which 14 are published in “A” ranked journals) demonstrate my high profile in the areas of corporate governance, corporate scandals, ethics and earnings management, and accounting education. The capacity to conduct high-level research using quantitative and qualitative research approaches to study problems in these areas have enabled me to also win a prestigious ARC Discovery Grant and two ALTC grants.

-Refereed Publications & Grant Funded Reports

O'Connell, B., De Lange, P., Sangster, A and Stoner, G., 2015. "Strategic Manoeuvres and Impression Management: Communication Approaches in the Case of a Crisis Event", Business History, (accepted for publication).

Juric, D., O’Connell, B., Rankin M. and Birt, J. 2015. “Determinants of the Severity of Legal and Employment Consequences for CPAs Named in SEC Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases”, Journal of Business Ethics (accepted for publication).

O’Connell, B., Carnegie, G., Carter, A., Helliar, C., Watty, K., Hancock, P. and DeLange, P. 2015. Shaping the future of accounting in business education in Australia, Final Report, July, CPA Australia, Melbourne, Victoria. ISBN: 978-1-921742-67-5

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Available at: http://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/~/media/corporate/allfiles/document/professional-resources/education/shaping-the-future-final-report.pdf?la=en

Hancock, P., Freeman, M., Abraham, A., DeLange, P., Howieson, B. O’Connell, B. and Watty, K. 2015. Achievement Matters: External Peer Review of Accounting Learning Standards - Final Report, April, Office for Learning and Teaching, Department of Education and Training, Sydney, ISBN paperback: 978-1-76028-171-7http://www.olt.gov.au/resource-external-peer-review-accounting-learning-standards

O’Connell,. B, de Lange, P. Freeman, M., Hancock, P. Abraham, A. Howieson, B., Watty, K. 2015. Does calibration reduce variability in the assessment of accounting learning outcomes?, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, DOI: 10.1080/02602938.2015.1008398

Watty, K., Howieson, B., O’Connell, B. 2014. “Social moderation, assessment and assuring standards for accounting graduates”, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 39, No. 4, 461–478. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2013.848336.

Carnegie, G. and O’Connell, B. 2014, “A Longitudinal Study of the Interplay of Corporate Collapse, Accounting Failure and Governance Change in Australia: Early 1890s to Early 2000”, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Vol. 25, No. 6, 446-468 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2013.04.001

Sangster, A., Stoner, G., Scatalini-Belghitar, G., De Lange, P. and O'Connell, B., “Pacioli’s Example Entries—a Conundrum Resolved?”, 2014, Abacus, Vol. 15, No. 1, 93-106, doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6281.2012.00372.x.

O’Connell, B. and De Lange, P. 2013. “Prominent themes in accounting education scholarship”, Accounting Education: an International Journal, Vol. 22, No. 6, 507-509.

Watty, K. De Lange, P. O’Connell, B. et al. 2013. “Accounting Students’ Feedback on Feedback in Australian Universities: They’re Less Than Impressed”, Accounting Education: An International Journal, Vol. 22, No. 5, 467–488.

Sangster, A., Stoner, G. De Lange, P. O'Connell, B. and Scataglini-Belghitar, G. 2012. “Pacioli’s Forgotten Book: the merchant's ricordanze”, Accounting Historians Journal, 39 (2): pp. 27-44.

Carnegie, G. and O’Connell, B. 2012, “Understanding the responses of professional accounting bodies to crises: The case of the Australian profession in the 1960s”, Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal, 25(5): pp. 835-875.

B. O’Connell, G. Carnegie. 2011, “Accounting Scandals in Australia since the 1980s” in, Creative Accounting, Fraud and International Scandals, edited by Mike Jones, John Wiley & Sons:, p. 137-61.

B. O’Connell, C Ferguson, P. DeLange. B. Howieson, K.Watty, R. Carr, B. Jacobson, A. Milton, 2010. Enhancing Assessment Feedback Practices in Accounting Education: Issues, Obstacles and Reforms - Final Report, April, Office for Learning and Teaching, Department

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of Education and Training, Sydney.http://www.olt.gov.au/resource-enhancing-assessment-feedback-accounting-education-jcu-2010

De Lange, P., O’Connell, B., Mathews, M. R. and Sangster, A. 2010. ‘The ERA: A Brave New World of Accountability for Australian University Accounting Schools’, Australian Accounting Review, No. 52, 20(1): 24-37. doi:10.1111/j.1835-2561.2010.00078.x

*Lane, R. and O’Connell, B. 2009. “The Changing Face of Regulators’ Investigations into Financial Statement Fraud”, Accounting Research Journal, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 118-43. * Winner of “Highly Commended Award” from Emerald LiteratiNetwork for 2009. Milton, A. and O’Connell, B. 2009. “Commodification of higher education in accounting: a Marxist perspective”, International Journal of Critical Accounting, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 204-227.

Webb, L., De Lange, P. and O’Connell, B. 2009. “A Programme to Expose Students to Senior Executives in the World of Accounting: An Innovative Learning Method”, Accounting Education: An International Journal, April, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 183–205.

Carey, P., M. Geiger and B. O’Connell. 2008. “Costs Associated With Going-Concern-Modified Audit Opinions: An Analysis of the Australian Audit Market”, Abacus, Vol. 44, No. 1, March, pp. 61-81.

M. Geiger, B. O’Connell et al. 2006. “Earnings Management: The Effects of National Culture”, Advances in International Accounting, Vol. 19, pp. 175-99.

B. O’Connell. 2005. “Accounting and Audit Failure within Corporate Collapse”, Accounting History, November Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 5-10.

M. Geiger, D. North and B. O’Connell. 2005. “The Auditor to Client Revolving Door and Earnings Management”, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Winter , Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 1-26.

B. O’Connell, L. Webb & H. R. Schwarzbach. 2005. “Batten down the Hatches! Lessons for Australian Regulators and the Accounting Profession from the Reactions of their US Counterparts to the recent Accounting Scandals”, Australian Accounting Review, July, Vol. 15, No. 2 Iss. 36, pp.52-67.

B. O’Connell and J. Nagy. 2005. “Response to Commentary by Lynn E. Turner re Mary Morrison’s recent paper in Critical Perspectives on Accounting” Critical Perspectives on Accounting, January, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 71-72.

B. O’Connell, L. Webb, C. Carr and M. Higgins. 2005. “The Ethics of the CPA/ Client Relationship: The case of Roadrunner and Howard Bean, CPA”, Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting, Vol. 10, pp. 219-37.

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B. O’Connell. 2004. “Enron Inc: He that filches from me my good name … makes me poor indeed” Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Vol. 15, Issue No. 6-7, pp. 733-749.

B. O’Connell. 2004. “Crimes and Misdemeanours: The Death of Arthur Andersen” Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Vol. 15, Issue No. 3 (March) pp. 333-334.

B. O'Connell, I. Beaman, P. de Lange & K. Smyrnios. 2003. “An Experiment to Assess the Learning Benefits of Employing Accounting Software in the Classroom”, The Review of Business Information Systems, Vol. 7, Issue No. 1 (Winter) pp. 49-58.

B. O’Connell and L. Webb. 2002. “The Failure of Corporate Governance at Enron”, The Journal of the Securities Institute of Australia (JASSA), Issue No. 3, (Spring), pp. 2-8.

B. O’Connell. 2001. “An Analysis of Key Issues arising from Professor A.J. Briloff’s Study entitled, “Garbage In/ Garbage Out: A Critique of Fraudulent Financial Reporting: 1987-1997 (the COSO Report) The SEC Accounting Regulatory Process (AAERs)”, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Vol. 12, Issue No. 2, (April) pp. 167-86.

B. O’Connell, M. Geiger & P. Clikeman, 2001. “Student Perceptions of Earnings Management: The Effects of National Origin and Gender”, Teaching Business Ethics, Vol. 5, Issue No. 4 (November), pp. 389-410.

B.O’Connell, J. Ratnatunga and K. Smyrnios 2000. “Critical Factors in Securitization of Financial Assets: Evidence from Australia”, Journal of Applied Finance, Fall/ Winter Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 34-46.

M. Geiger and B. O’Connell. 2000. "An Examination of Using Surrogate Measures to Assess Social Desirability Bias", Research on Accounting Ethics, Vol.6, pp. 107-27.

B. O’Connell, L. Webb and M. Higgins. 2000. “Internationalizing Student Learning Experiences: A Program of Site Visits to World-Class Organizations”, Advances in Accounting Education, Vol. 3, pp. 1-32.

M. Geiger and B. O’Connell, 1999. "Assessing Accounting Student Motivation to Exert Academic Effort: An Analysis of Australian and International Students", Accounting Research Journal, Vol. 12, Issue No. 2, pp. 215-30.

M. Geiger and B. O’Connell, 1998. "Student Ethical Perceptions and Ethical Action Propensities: An Analysis of Situation Familiarity", Teaching Business Ethics, Vol. 2, Issue No. 3, pp. 305-325.

B. O’Connell and M. Geiger 1998. "Accounting Student Ethical Perceptions: An Analysis of Training and Gender Effects", Teaching Business Ethics, Vol. 2, Issue No. 4, pp. 371-388.

M. Geiger, E. Cooper, B. O’Connell et al., 1998. “Using Expectancy Theory to Assess Student Motivation: An International Replication”, Issues In Accounting Education, Vol. 13, No.1, February, pp.139-56.

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B. O’Connell and B. Leung, 1997. “Emerging Mortgage Markets - Securitisation in Asia: It’s Worth the Effort”, Journal of the Securities Institute of Australia (JASSA), Autumn, pp. 13-15.

B. O’Connell, 1994. “Securitisation in the 1990s: Major Driving Forces and Impediments”, Journal of the Securities Institute of Australia (JASSA), September, pp. 26-29.

L. Ellis, B. O’Connell, and N. Smith. 1993. Financial Management, Framework Series No. 12, SMART Publications, Melbourne,

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-Professional Publications

B. O’Connell, “The Global Business Credential: What Advocates Say”, Journal of Accountancy, Vol. 192, No. 3 (September), 2001, pp. 4-5.

L. Webb and B. O’Connell, “International Study Program”, Australian CPA, Vol. 69, No. 9, October 1999, pp. 66.

B. O’Connell and P. Tremethick “Australian Banking on the Internet: Fact or Fiction”, The Australian Banker, Vol.110, No.6, December, 1996, pp. 212-214.

B. O’Connell and B. Leung, “Banks Move to Secure Interests”, Business Quarterly, Autumn 1996, p. 7.

B. O’Connell and B. Leung “Unload that Cultural Baggage, Analyst Urges”, Australian Financial Review, May 4 1996, p. 2.

B. O’Connell and B. Leung, “Financiers Underestimate Potential of Securitisation”, Australian Banking & Finance, April 1996, p. 3.

B. O’Connell and B. Leung “Pressure on for More Securitisation”, The Australian Financial Review, March 14, 1996, p. 47.

B. O’Connell and B. Leung, Mortgage Securitisation in Australia: Its Adoption, Driving Forces and Impediments, Industry Report, Department of Accounting and Finance, Monash University, April 1996.

Research Grants

In 2014, Co-Chief Investigator with Garry Carnegie on a research project entitled, “Shaping the Future of Accounting and Business Education”, funded for a total of $60,215 under the highly competitive CPA Australia Global Research Perspectives Program. The key aims of this inquiry are to: (1) assess the current state of play in accounting and business education in Australia (2) focus on the key challenges, issues and opportunities faced by the accounting and business education (3) develop feasible, innovative and productive ways forward to meet the many challenges faced by accounting and business education and to take full advantage of the opportunities identified.

In 2011, I was awarded $300,000 of funding from CPA Australia, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, the Australian Business Deans Council, and the Australian Learning and Teaching Council to develop and implement threshold learning standards (TLOs) for the accounting discipline in Australian universities.

I was Lead Investigator on a Priority Projects Grant with the ALTC entitled “Enhancing Assessment Feedback Practices in Accounting Education: Issues, Obstacles and Reforms”. The project was funded to the tune of $217,000 for 2008 and 2009 and drew together scholars from the Universities of Melbourne, Adelaide, RMIT and James Cook, in partnership with CPA Australia and the AFAANZ, and sought to identify why feedback is so

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poorly rated by accounting students nationwide in the Course Experience Questionnaire and to bring about meaningful sector-wide reforms in the area.

I was awarded (with Garry Carnegie) a prestigious Australian Research Council Discovery Grant totalling $95,000 for the two-year period commencing January, 2004. This was one of only two such grants awarded for that year in the area of accounting, auditing and accountability. The title of this project is: “A Longitudinal Study of Recurrent Audit Failure in Australian Corporate Collapses from 1885 to the Present.” The abstract of the project is as follows: “As starkly illustrated with Enron in the US and with HIH in Australia, corporate collapse and audit failure may be interrelated. In response to repeated instances of audit failure, legislative and other reforms are typically adopted in order to ensure that auditor indiscretions are curtailed. Unfortunately, audit failure persists. This longitudinal Australian study of audit failure in the context of corporate collapse from the mid 1880s aims to enhance an understanding of audit failure and why it recurs. The study's findings are expected to inform future enquires and court cases and assist in developing public policy and future legislative reforms.”

“Earnings Management, Takeovers, and Firm Corporate Governance Characteristics”, 2001 Competitive Summer Research Grant for $20,000, University of Richmond.

“Student Perceptions of Earnings Management: The Effects of National Origin and Gender”, 2001 Faculty Travel Grant for $2,500, University of Richmond.

“Exploratory Study of the Australian Securitisation Market”, Australian Research Council Small Grant, 1993, $3,500.

“A Study of Securitisation of Financial Assets”, Monash University Faculty Research Grant, 1993, $1,500.

Research Dissertations Supervised to Completion

M. Tharapos, “Cultural intelligence in the transnational teaching of accounting”, PhD Thesis, RMIT University (completed 2015).

R. Widuri, “Adoption and Use of Generalises Audit Software by Indonesian audit firms”, PhD Thesis, RMIT University (completed 2015).

S. Ciccotosto, “Accounting for Carbon: How organisations build reporting ststems to capture greenhouse emissions”, PhD Thesis, RMIT University (completed 2014).

M. Al-Shboul, “Translation Exposure and Firm Value, Evidence From Australian Multinational Corporations”, PhD Thesis, James Cook University (completed 2008).

R. Lane, “The Changing Face of the US SEC’s Enforcement Investigations (AAERs) into Financial Statement Fraud in the Post-Enron Environment”, Masters Thesis, James Cook University, (completed in early 2007).

C. Morecroft, “Australian Company Usage of Non-Audit Services provided by their Auditors in a Climate of Increased Corporate Governance Focus”, Honours thesis, Deakin University

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(completed in December, 2004). This thesis received the highest grade of all theses for 2004 in the School of Accounting and Finance.

J. Betts, “Bias in Expert Valuations in Family Court Cases: Empirical Evidence”, PhD thesis, Deakin University (completed in 2005).

M. Clarke, “Impact of the introduction of exchange traded derivative warrants on the underlying securities’ price, volume and volatility in the Australian market”, Honours thesis, Deakin University (Completed December, 2003). This thesis received the highest grade of all theses for 2003 in the School of Accounting and Finance.

Z. Havranek, “Factors Affecting Mortgage Default Rates in Australia”, Master of Business thesis, Monash University (Completed July, 1999).

J. Harrison, “Interest Rate Risk Management Practices by Australian Credit Unions”, Master of Business thesis, Monash University (Completed 1998).

B. Leung, “The Development of Mortgage Securitisation in Australia”, Honours thesis, Monash University (Completed 1996).

It should be noted that I have also examined numerous PhD theses for candidates from universities such as Monash, Deakin, Adelaide and Griffith universities.

Editor & Editorial BoardI was the guest editor of a special issue (Vol. 15, Issue No. 6-7, 2004) of Critical Perspectives on Accounting entitled, “Enron.Con”. This special issue examined the implications of the Enron collapse from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives.

I was also guest editor of a special issue (Vol. 10, Issue No. 3, 2005) of Accounting History entitled, “Accountants’ and Auditors’ Contribution to Corporate Collapse: An Historical Perspective”.

I and am currently on the Editorial Boards of the Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ), Accounting History, Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research (JAMAR) and the Journal of Accounting Education. I was also on the Editorial Board of the Australian Accounting Review from 2005 to 2011. Reviewer, Examiner & Discussant

I have reviewed papers for the following academic journals: Accounting and Finance; Abacus; Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal; Critical Perspectives on Accounting; Australian Accounting Review; Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research (JAMAR); Accounting History and Accounting Forum.

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I have been a reviewer of papers and discussant of numerous papers at leading international conferences such as the American Accounting Association National Meeting (AAA), the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand Annual Conference (AFAANZ), Asia Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting Conference (APIRA), and the Critical Perspectives on Accounting Conference.

I have been an external examiner for PhD theses from Monash University, Swinburne University and Victoria University.

Conference Organiser

I was on the Technical Committee at AFAANZ for three years in which capacity I was responsible for review of manuscripts submitted in the Accounting Education stream. In the past two years I have chaired the technical committee for the RMIT Accounting Educators Symposium. I was an Associate Editor of manuscripts submitted to the 2002 American Accounting Association Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. This role entailed coordinating reviews of papers submitted to the Teaching and Curriculum Section of the above conference and making a final call on which manuscripts should be accepted for the program based on reviewer comments and my own judgement.

Relevant Community and Professional Service

I believe that it is important for academics to actively contribute to the wider profession. Evidence of my involvement in professional service is that I have been a member of Victorian Divisional Council of CPA Australia from 2010 to the present. Moreover, in 2014 I was Victorian State President of CPA Australia.

I was also a Chief Examiner for the Reporting and Professional Practice foundation segment of the CPA Program in Australia. Moreover, my case studies on the collapses of Enron and HIH Insurance have been part of the CPA program.

Previously, I was the only academic member of the Australian Securitisation Industry Discussion Group and the Australian Securitisation Forum. These bodies met every second month to discuss securitisation market developments and to lobby government on issues that affect this industry. Also, for five years I was the Monash Campus Liaison Officer for CPA Australia. I also worked with CPA Australia in analysing potential cases of ethical misconduct for use in research and as a teaching tool.

I was also chairperson from 1998 to 2000 of the board of directors of MONSU Catering, the non-profit body responsible for provision of catering services to Monash University. This role involved bi-monthly meetings to discuss financial performance of these operations and to seek to further enhance services to the Monash community. My research has made an impact on the profession as evidenced by me being invited to present papers on corporate governance to CPA Australia members in various locations in Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland.

-Professional Memberships

CA (CAANZ)

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Fellow of CPA Australia (FCPA) Certified Management Accountant (CMA)Member of the American Accounting Association.Member of the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ).

-Television and Radio Appearances In 2013 I was asked to comment on various corporate governance scandals including the drugs in sport controversy. An example of this is the following article: “Law experts say James Hird and chief executive accountable in Bombers' drug investigation”, Herald Sun, 12 February 2013, pg. 60. Between 2010 and 2012 I have been interviewed on several occasions on various radio stations about corporate governance matters and recently was quoted in the Australian Financial Review on executive compensation. I was interviewed on ABC radio about corporate scandals and collapses (with a focus on the AWB) in April 2006. I was interviewed on Sky News on September 23 2004 (along with Professor Ian Ramsay of the University of Melbourne) about the legal and corporate governance implications arising out of the Jackson Report into James Hardie. I was interviewed on Sky News on September 28 2004 about the corporate governance implications of the stepping aside of the CEO and CFO of James Hardie following revelations that the ASIC will be investigating the company’s conduct in relation to its potential future asbestos liabilities.

Referees

Available upon request.

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