Rate My Professor James Sewell

Dr. James Sewell is an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Accounting within the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University, based at the Caulfield campus. His primary research specializations are management accounting and accounting information systems. Sewell contributes to the Monash Business Behavioural Laboratory (MBBL) and serves as a member of the International Consortium for Values-based Governance (ICVG), which draws on multidisciplinary expertise at Monash University to address governance issues. He teaches key units including ACF 3431 Performance Measurement and Control and ACF5100 Strategic Management Accounting, focusing on practical applications in performance evaluation and strategic decision-making in accounting contexts.

Sewell completed his PhD in 2022 at Monash University, Department of Accounting, with the thesis titled 'Keeping Them in the Game: The Effects of Performance Targets on Effort Regulation and Retention in Tournaments.' He holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) from Monash University and worked several years in industry prior to embarking on his doctoral studies and academic career. A notable publication is his co-authored paper 'Attitudes towards accounting: Differences between Australian and international students' (2012), published in Accounting Research Journal (Volume 25, Issue 2, pages 113-130), with Beverley Jackling, Paul De Lange, and Jonathan Phillips. The study applies the theory of reasoned action to uncover motivations for studying accounting, finding overall positive attitudes but significant differences between Australian and international students in interest in the subject and perceptions of accountants' work, influenced by personal, cultural, and social factors, with implications for international accounting education marketing. This work has 28 citations on Scopus. Sewell has engaged in academic dissemination through presentations at the AFAANZ Doctoral Symposium (2015), where he delivered a selected speech, and the American Accounting Association Management Accounting Section Midyear Meeting (2025). He also acts as an additional supervisor for PhD theses in the field, such as 'Orchestrating Effort in Multitasking: How Management Control Systems Shape Dual-Tasking, Task-Switching, and Performance' (2026).