1326 Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall
3620 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6365
Research Interests: cost accounting, intangible assets, performance measurement
Links: CV
Professor Ittner’s research focuses on the design, implementation, and performance consequences of performance measurement, cost management, and enterprise risk management systems. His articles have been published in the Harvard Business Review and leading academic accounting, marketing, and operations management journals. He is an editor of The Accounting Review, and has served as senior editor at Production and Operations Management and associate editor for Accounting, Organizations and Society, Management Science, and several other academic journals. His work on the association between customer satisfaction measures and financial performance received the American Accounting Association’s Notable Contribution to Management Accounting Literature Award.
Professor Ittner teaches the undergraduate management accounting core course, an MBA cost management elective, and executive education sessions on cost accounting and marketing metrics. In addition, he runs management accounting doctoral courses for students from throughout the United States and Europe. He is the recipient of several MBA teaching awards.
Professor Ittner received his BS from California State University, Long Beach, his MBA from UCLA, and a Doctorate in Business Administration from Harvard University.
Christopher D. Ittner and Jeremy Michels (2017), Risk-Based Forecasting and Planning and Management Earnings Forecasts, Review of Accounting Studies, 11 (3), pp. 1005-1047.
Abstract: This study examines the association between a firm’s internal information environment and the accuracy of its externally-disclosed management earnings forecasts. Internally, firms use forecasts to plan for uncertain futures. The risk management literature argues that integrating risk-related information into forecasts and plans can improve a firm’s ability to forecast future financial outcomes. We investigate whether this internal information manifests itself in the accuracy of external earnings guidance. Using detailed survey data and publicly-disclosed management earnings forecasts from a sample of publicly-traded U.S. companies, we find that more sophisticated risk-based forecasting and planning processes are associated with smaller earnings forecast errors and narrower forecast widths. These associations hold across a variety of different planning horizons (ranging from annual budgeting to long-term strategic planning), providing empirical support for the theoretical link between internal information quality and the quality of external disclosures.
Francesca Franco, Christopher D. Ittner, Oktay Urcan (2016), Determinants and Trading Performance of Equity Deferrals by Corporate Outside Directors, Management Science, Forthcoming.
Abstract: This study investigates the determinants and trading performance of outside directors’ equity deferrals, which represent the choice to convert part or all of their annual cash compensation into deferred company stock. Using a large sample of S&P 1500 firms that allowed directors to defer their cash fees into equity between 1999 and 2009, we find significant associations between equity deferral choices and specific features of the director compensation plans, proxies for directors’ outside wealth diversification, and future firm stock market performance. Trading performance analyses indicate that outside directors earn substantial abnormal returns from their deferrals, with a significant proportion of the deferral transactions occurring during blackout periods. These results are consistent with companies structuring director equity deferral plans to circumvent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5’s trading restrictions.
Christopher D. Ittner and D. Oyon (Under Revision), CFO Risk Ownership and the Influence of the Finance Function on Enterprise Risk Management.
Joseph Gerakos, Christopher D. Ittner, Frank Moers (Under Revision), Compensation Objectives and Business Unit Pay Strategy.
Christopher Armstrong, Yuen Kit Chau, Christopher D. Ittner, Liang (Jason) Xiao (Working), Internal Versus External Earning per Share Goals and CEO Incentives.
Christopher Armstrong, Christopher D. Ittner, David F. Larcker (Working), The Determinants and Ratings Implications of Performance Appraisal Plan Characteristics.
Christopher D. Ittner and Thomas Keusch (Working), The Influence of Board of Directors’ Risk Oversight on Risk Management Maturity and Firm Risk-Taking.
H. Chang, J. Chen, R. Duh, Christopher D. Ittner (Under Revision), “Is Sunlight the Best Disinfectant? Evidence From Differential Auditor Fee Disclosure Requirements.
Christopher D. Ittner (Work In Progress), Bringing Big(ger) Data to Managerial Accounting Research.
Carlo Gallimberti and Christopher D. Ittner (Work In Progress), Management Sales Forecasts and Capital Expenditure Decisions.
The first part of the course presents alternative methods of preparing managerial accounting information, and the remainder of the course examines how these methods are used by companies. Managerial accounting is a company's internal language, and is used for decision-making, production management, product design and pricing and for motivating and evaluating employees. Unless you understand managerial accounting, you cannot have a thorough understanding of a company's internal operations. What you learn in this course will help you understand the operations of your future employer (and enable you to be more successful at your job), and help you understand other companies you encounter in your role as competitor, consultant, or investor.
This course covers managerial accounting and cost management practices that can be strategically applied across the various functions of a business organization to improve organizational performance. The course emphasizes the methods available to measure and evaluate costs for decision-making and performance evaluation purposes. It reviews a number of cost management issues relating to the design and implementation of strategic, marketing, value analysis, and other management models in modern firms; and identifies major contemporary issues in managerial accounting and financial decision- making. A variety of case studies in different industries and decision contexts are used to examine the application of these concepts.
This is an empirical literature survey course covering topics that include corporate disclosure, cost of capital, incentives, compensation, governance, financial intermediation, financial reporting, tax, agency theory, cost accounting, capital structure, international financial reporting, analysts, and market efficiency.
This is an empirical literature survey course covering topics that include corporate disclosure, cost of capital, incentives, compensation, governance, financial intermediation, financial reporting, tax, agency theory, cost accounting, capital structure, international financial reporting, analysts, and market efficiency.
Cost management in the digital age is about more than reducing costs or driving growth. It must be part of a larger transformation process that also includes digital technologies.
Knowledge @ Wharton - 2019/10/8