Sajay Samuel

Color portrait of Sajay Samuel

Clinical Professor, Program Director of 1-Year MBA program

Department Accounting
Office Address 379 Business Building
Phone Number 814-865-0054
Email Address sxs26@psu.edu

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Sajay Samuel has taught Management Accounting and related subjects to undergraduates, MBA's and Executives over assignments that included stints at Bucknell University and the University of Connecticut. In 2009, he received a Fulbright scholarship to teach and research at the American University of Beirut. His research aims at clarifying some of the foundational assumptions of management thought and practice. Parallel to these researches on management and accounting he also studies political philosophy and history. He has presented the early fruits of this work in France, Italy, Germany and England.

Expertise

Political Economy of the Professions; accounting theory; management accounting framework; student debt

Education

Ph D, Business Administration, The Pennsylvania State University, 1995

MS, Accounting, The Pennsylvania State University, 1990

MA, Finance & Banking, The University of Mumbai, 1987

Courses Taught

ACCTG 404 – Managerial Acctg (3)
Accounting techniques as control devices in business; accumulation and use of accounting data in business decisions.

BA 821 – Managerial Account (2)
Cost accounting and the design of management accounting systems for planning and controlling operations, and for motivating personnel.

BA 595 – Internship (1)
Supervised off-campus, nongroup instruction, including field experiences, practicums, or internships. Written and oral critique of activity required.

BA 596 – Individual Studies (2)

BA 811 – Financial Acct (2)
An integrative approach to the role of accounting information in managerial decision making with a focus on its uses in the implementation of a firm's strategy and on its uses in equity and credit analyses and decisions.

BA 412 – Honors Int and Res (3)
The integration of the business core into a detailed financial, strategy and market analysis of actual companies selected by student teams. B A 412H B A 412H Honors Integration and Research (2-3 credits)The purpose of this course is to assist students in developing their Schreyer Honors Thesis. It proceeds by exposing students to research conducted within the various business majors; the research conducted by prior honors students; and having student teams conduct research or contemporary businesses and industries. Typical readings include materials related to evaluating an actual company, prior Schreyer Honors theses, contemporary business articles, prior course projects and supporting academic literature. Written company analyses and oral presentations are made by the teams.

ACCTG 440 – Adv Mngmt Acctg (3)
Management accounting topics such as decision models, quantitative techniques, variance analysis, and their use in accounting. ACCTG 440 Advanced Management Accounting (3) An in-depth examination of accounting techniques used within modern organizations. The course is designed for students interested in pursuing careers in corporate accounting or financial management. The portfolio of managerial accounting procedures, including cost measurement and allocation, budgeting practices, transfer pricing, and variance analyses appropriate to an organization’s unique circumstances are derived. The student will learn to apply psychological and sociological theories of behavior to practical problems of control and to apply quantitative methods and models to managerial decision-making. Other topics covered by the course may include, financial management of working capital, long-term assets and liabilities; techniques for managing inventory; and strategic cost management including inter-organizational cost management.

BA 521 – Intro Mgr Acct (2)

ACCTG 496 – Independent Studies (3)
Creative projects, including research and design, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

B A 521 – Introduction to Managerial Accounting (2)
Cost accounting and the design of management accounting systems for planning and controlling operations, and for motivating personnel.

FIN 596 – Individual Studies (Variable)
Creative projects, including nonthesis research, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

B A 411 – Analyzing Business and Industry (3)
Prepares students to read, interpret, and analyze financial statements effectively in order to evaluate business entities and their industries.

B A 496 – Independent Studies (variable)
Creative projects, including research and design, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

ACCTG 596 – Individual Studies (variable)
Creative projects, including nonthesis research, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

B A 574 – Business Research (variable)
A project paper, comparable in quality and scope of work to a graduate thesis, on problems of a company.

ACCTG 504 – Seminar in Managerial Accounting (variable)
Accounting and the managerial processes of planning, control, and decision making.

PHIL 498B – Ivan Illich (2)
Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrowsubject that may be topical or of special interest.

Selected Publications

Samuel S., "Understanding Bureaucratic Order: the theological paradigms of modern hierarchy." 2023, pp. 255-275
Samuel S., "A Cosmic Thinker." International Journal of Illich Studies, vol. 8, no. 1, 2021, pp. 1-8
Samuel S., "On Corona Days." International Journal of Illich Studies, vol. 7, no. 1, 2020, pp. 70-98
Was republished in Italian as a book chapter in: Transitare le Pandemie con Ivan Illich (eds. Gustavo Esteva & Aldo Zanchetta), Mutus Liber, Italy., March 2021.
Samuel S., "A conceptual framework for teaching management accounting." Journal of Accounting Education, 2018
Samuel S., Farage S., "A Pedestrian Thinker." International Journal of Illich Studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2018, pp. 3-8, journals.psu.edu/illichstudies/article/view/60660
Samuel S., "The Paradox of World Class Universities." (Cambridge Scholars Publishing), 2018, pp. 116-123
Covaleski M., Dirsmith M., Samuel S., "Analysing/Interpreting Qualitative Data." (Routledge), 2017
Covaleski M., Dirsmith M., Samuel S., "Social Constructionist research in Accounting: a reflection on the Accounting Profession." (Routledge), 2017
Samuel S., "In defense of vernacular ways." (McGill Queens University Press), 2016
Samuel S., Samuel S., "On Being professional in the 21st century: an empirically informed essay." Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, vol. 34, no. 2, 2015, pp. 167-200
Samuel S., "CCA: A new pathway for Accounting Majors." Strategic Finance, vol. August, 2015
Samuel S., "Dead Zones." Food Issues: An Encyclopedia, edited by Ken Albala, 2014
Samuel S., "Gorgio Agamben." Ethics, Science, Technology & Engineering: An international resource, 2nd Ed, 2014
Samuel S., "From the Physical to the Fiscal: monetizing the poor." Public Administration Review, vol. 3, no. 1, 2014, pp. 1-16
Samuel S., "Beyond Economics and Ecology: The Radical Thought of Ivan Illich." (Marion Boyars), 2013
Samuel S., Bavington D., "Fishing Biomass." Finding Animals in Art and Culture, (Penn State Press), 2012, pp. 137-150
Samuel S., "The Complentary Nature of Reality, Peter Barab." Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, vol. 36, no. 2, 2011, pp. 203-206
Samuel S., Manassian A., "The Rise and Coming Fall of International Accounting Research." Critical Persepctives on Accounting, vol. 22, 2011, pp. 608-627
Samuel S., "Le Role des Professions." Espirit, no. 367, 2010, pp. 185-192
Robert J., Samuel S., "Water Runs and Ought to Run Freely: Reflections on 'Scarcity' in Economics." The Limits to Scarcity: Contesting the Politics of Allocation, (Earthscan Publishers), 2010, pp. 109-126
Samuel S., Bavington D., "Energy and Equity in World Fisheries." The International Journal of Illich Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2010, pp. 55-64
Samuel S., "Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why it Matters to the Global Economy." Contemporary Sociology, 2009, pp. 567-569
Dirsmith M. W., Samuel S., Covaleski M., Heian J., "The Inter-Play of Power and Meta-Power in the Social Construction of 'Entrepreneurial' Professional Services Firms: A Processural Ordering Perspective." Studies in Symbolic Interaction, vol. 33, 2009, pp. 347-387
Samuel S., Covaleski M., Dirsmith M. W., "Accounting in and for U.S. Governments and Non-Profits: A Review of Research and a Call to Further Inquiry." Handbook of Management Accounting Research, (Elsevier Science), vol. 3, 2009
Samuel S., "How Reasonable in Scientific Reason." Ideas on the Nature of Science, (Goose Lane Press), 2009
Dirsmith M. W., Covaleski M., Samuel S., "On the Eclipse of Professionalism in Accounting: An Essay." Accounting, Organizations and Institutions, (Oxford University Press), 2009
Samuel S., "Utlity is Not Useful." KAN: History, Environment, Civilzation, vol. 38, 2009
in Japanese
Samuel S., "Accounting Industry." HIstorical Encyclopedia of American Business, Pasadena: Salem Press, 2009
Samuel S., "Securities and Exchange Commission." Historial Enclyopedia of American Business, Salem Press, 2009
Samuel S., "From Higher Aims to Hired Hands: The Social Transformation of American Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession by Rakesh Khurana." Journal of Education in Business, 2009
Samuel S., "How Reasonable is Scientific Reason." Ideas on the Nature of Science, (Goose Lane Editions), 2009, pp. 205-222
Samuel S., "The Institutionalization of Social Welfare: A Study of Medicalizing Management by Mikael Holmqvist." Administrative Science Quarterly, 2008
Samuel S., Dirsmith M. W., McElroy B., "Monetized Medicine: From the Physical to the Fiscal." Accounting, Organizations and Society, vol. 30, no. 3, 2005, pp. 249-278
Samuel S., "Stained Steel: ESOPs, Meta-Power, and the Ironies of Corporate Democracy." Symbolic Interaction, vol. 27, no. 3, 2004, pp. 383-403
Samuel S., Dirsmith M. W., Covaleski M., "Changes in the Institutional Enviroment and the Institutions of Governance: Extending the Contributions of Transaction Cost Economics Within the Management Control Literature." Accounting, Organizations and Society, vol. 28, no. 5, 2003, pp. 417-441
Samuel S., "Flying High on Deconstruction and Reasonable Value." Journal of Economic Issues, vol. 32, no. 4, 1998, pp. 1130-1135
Samuel S., Dirsmith M. W., Covaleski M., Heian J. B., "The Calculated and the Avowed: Techniques of Discipline and Struggles Over Identity in Big Six Public Accounting Firms." Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 2, 1998, pp. 292-327
Samuel S., Dirsmith M. W., Covaleski M., "A Strategic Deconstruction of John R. Common's Regulatory Discourse." Journal of Economic Issues, vol. 31, no. 1, 1997, pp. 1-27

Research Impact and Media Mention

"http://www.ted.com/talks/sajay_samuel_how_college_loans_exploit_students_for_profit", www.ted.com, Internet

Editorships

Conspiratio: a periodical for thinking after Ivan Illich, Editor, (thinkingafterivanillich.net/conspiratio/), August 2021 - Present
Conspiratio is neither an academic journal nor a popular magazine. Each issue of Conspiratio comprises essays, thematic articles, book reviews, and occasional translations of texts on or by Illich. All that appears in its pages typifies what Illich called “research by people”, which names disciplined studies conducted by those attempting to beautify their own lives by being less dependent, in thought and deed, on the market and the state. For this reason, research by people is open to public debate and contestation. Though conducted through the medium ofthe written word, the periodical invokes the hoped-forintimacy of con-spiration.
Ivan Illich: 21st century perspectives, Co-Editor, (www.psupress.org/books/series/book_SeriesIllich.html), August 2018 - Present
Ivan Illich (1926–2002), a theologian, philosopher, and historian, is best known as a trenchant social critic of the 1970s. His broad and incisive thinking shakes the foundations of such modern certainties as education, medicine, gender, the professions, and even modes of perception. Illich’s deep roots in Western culture lend a historian’s perspective to his acute critiques of the Church and other modern institutions. This series is devoted to recalling Illich’s work and thinking through his perspective for the present and the future.
Journal of Education in Business, Editorial Board, January 2007 - Present
Consulting Editor

Honors and Awards