MICHAEL DAVIS, Ph.D., CPA
Professor, Accounting & Information Systems Program, School of Management
University of AlaskaFairbanks
225E Bunnell Hall, PO Box 756080, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6080
Office: 907 474-5872; FAX: 907 474-5767; Cell: 907 978-2094
Email –
TEACHING INTERESTS, RESEARCH INTERESTS
Primary teaching interests – graduate or undergraduate – focus on financial, intermediate, advanced, financial statement analysis and accounting theory
Research concentrates primarily on contentious merger and acquisition issues and troublesome financial reporting topics
PROFESSIONAL OVERVIEW
Professor of Accounting, Accounting & Information Systems Program, University of Alaska, Fairbanks (2004-current; Director, 2006-2009); Wuhan University, China (2002-2009), Pepperdine University (1997-2004); Lehigh University (1984-97); Swinburne University of Technology (Australia, Fall 1991 while on sabbatical)
Faculty Fellow, Financial Accounting Standards Board (1996-97)
KPMG Research/Faculty Fellow (1988-93; one of ten selected nationally)
Over twenty referred publications, including The Accounting Review, Accounting Horizons, Journal of Accountancy and Journal of Managerial Issues
Ph.D., University of Massachusetts; MBA, WhartonSchool
Auditor with Touche Ross & Co (1975-77), Ernst & Ernst (1974-75)
EDUCATION
School of Business Administration, University of Massachusetts
- Ph.D. in Business, 1986
- Major: Accounting. Minor: Information Systems
- Dissertation: “An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Merger Accounting Method on Stock Prices.”
The WhartonSchool, University of Pennsylvania
- MBA, concentration in Finance and Insurance, 1979
Selected competitively to study one semester at London Graduate School of Business, England
Awarded teaching fellowship in Accounting
School of Business, CaliforniaStateUniversity, Fresno
- B.S., Summa cum laude in Accounting, 1973 (Member of Top 15 Graduating Seniors: graduated 15th out of 3,500)
- Concurrent studies in Marketing and Computers
Michael Davis
Vita, page2
EXPERIENCE
University Teaching
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA, FAIRBANKS: Teach intro, intermediate, cost and advanced accounting to undergraduate students.
September 2004 - current
WUHANUNIVERSITY, People’s Republic of China. Teach financial and managerial accounting to executive MBA students at various locations in China several times per year
April 2002 - current
PEPPERDINEUNIVERSITY: Taught financial, managerial and advanced accounting to MBA students using latest technology. Coordinated and supervised the Business Policy Game – An International Strategy Simulation. This is a computer-based simulation utilizing student teams to make marketing, production and finance decisions in a fast-paced, competitive environment.
September 1997 – August 2004
LEHIGHUNIVERSITY, Bethlehem, PA: Taught financial (graduate and undergraduate), intermediate and advanced accounting, management information systems and introduction to real estate. Member/chairman of numerous departmental, college and university committees. Faculty advisor to superior chapter of Beta Alpha Psi.
August 1984 - August 1997
SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, Melbourne, Australia. Taught Financial Accounting and Accounting Theory and Practice while on sabbatical from LehighUniversity.
July - November 1991
WESTERNNEW ENGLANDCOLLEGE, Springfield, MA: Taught financial, intermediate, advanced cost and advanced accounting to MBA and undergraduate students. Elected faculty senator, advised Student Accounting Association and co-hosted talk show on campus radio station.
September 1979 - August 1984
THE WHARTONSCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia, PA: Taught financial and managerial accounting (full responsibility for courses) to MBA and undergraduate students while a student in MBA program.
September 1977 - June 1978
CALIFORNIASTATEUNIVERSITY, Fresno, CA: Taught financial accounting to undergraduates while employed by Deloitte & Touche.
September - December 1976
Accounting Standard Setting
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD – FACULTY FELLOW, Norwalk, CT: Provided expertise on Consolidations and Business Combinations projects, summarized academic research on topics of interest to the Board, reviewed and critiqued IASC-U.S. Comparison Project manuscript prior to publication (compares IASC accounting standards with U.S. GAAP), and provided input and drafted position papers on various contemporary issues.
September 1996 - August 1997
Michael Davis
Vita, page 3
Consulting
Consultant to Warwick & Schikora, CPAs, Faribanks, AK on a variety of financial reporting issues.
January 2008 - current
Consultant to international technology auditing firm and used bookstore chain in Ventura County, CA.
Fall 1997 - current
Designed and analyzed results of survey sent to 2,500 small businesses in the U.S. for national accounting services firm to evaluate their growth plans for next five years.
December 1997 – July 1998
Assisted in converting subsidiary's billing and payroll systems to parent's computerized system for sixth largest nursing home health care company in U.S. Wrote policies and procedures manual for each system.
May - July 1995
Performed duties of Accounting Manager for fourth largest winery in United States and Controller for publicly-traded land sales company. Instrumental in reducing audit fee by over 50 percent. Assisted in selecting and training new employee for each position.
June - August 1977
Auditing and Taxation
TOUCHE ROSS & CO (Fresno, CA): Senior accountant with extensive experience in transportation, manufacturing and agricultural companies of up to $50 million in assets. Planned, supervised and reviewed all phases of audits and audit personnel. Significant experience in many aspects of individual, partnership, corporation and fiduciary tax returns.
December 1975 - June 1977
ERNST & ERNST (Honolulu, HI): In-charge accountant with experience in banking, health care and manufacturing companies; planned and supervised audits and audit personnel.
July 1974 - October 1975
REFEREED PUBLICATIONS
“Will Your Accounting Degree Prepare You to Run a Business? Yes!´New Accountant, forthcoming
“10 Lessons for Entrepreneurs,” Graziadio Business Report, (Vol 13, Issue 2, 2010).
“Disclosure Channel and Cost of Capital: Evidence from Open vs. Closed Conference Calls,” (with Yijiang Zhao and Kevin Berry), Review of Accounting and Finance 8 (Issue 3, 2009): 253 – 278.
“Staggered Boards and the Informativeness of Accounting Earnings,” (with Yijiang Zhao and X Zhou), Corporate Finance Review, September/October 2008, pp 12-25.
“Consolidated Financial Statements: Major Changes Coming! (with James A. Largay III), The CPA Journal, February 2008, pp. 26-31.
“SOX Compliant – But Not Safe! (with Gordon Smith and Chris Schroeder), Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance, September/October 2006, pp. 57-61.
ichael Davis
Vita, page 4
REFEREED PUBLICATIONS (continued)
“The Consolidation Dilemma – Understanding the Issues” (with James A. Largay III), Journal of Theoretical Accounting Research, Fall 2006, pp. 35-61.
“Control Premiums: Minimizing the Cost of Your Next Acquisition,” Management Accounting Quarterly [Institute of Management Accounting],Spring 2005, pp. 20-27.
“Goodwill Impairment: Improvement or Boondoggle?” The Journal of AmericanAcademy of Business,Cambridge, March 2005, pp. 230-236.
“R&D Entities: Is Control Possible Without Owning a Single Share of Stock?” Issues in Accounting Education, May 2004, pp. 239-247.
“Control: Worth Paying For But Worth Recording?" ICFAI Journal of Accounting Research, October 2003.
“Too Late for an IPO? Capital Still Available for Quality Offerings,” Graziadio Business Report, Summer 2001. (Graziadio Business Report is an electronic journal at
“Is Price Everything? E-Finance's Impact on the Stock Markets,” Graziadio Business Report, Spring 2001.
“Roiling the Waters: Why the Case for Pooling-of-Interests Accounting is All Wet,” Barron’s, October 23, 2000, p. 73
“How Small Firms Plan to Grow in the Internet Era,” (with Owen Hall, Jr.), Graziadio Business Report, Fall 2000.
“The Battle Over Merger Accounting: Proposed Pooling Ban Unlikely to Halt Activity,” Graziadio Business Report, Summer 2000.
“Still Thinking of Doing an IPO? Step-by-Step Process for Doing it Right,” Graziadio Business Report, Summer 2000.
“Thinking of Doing an IPO? Critical Information for Deciding Whether the Time is Right,” Graziadio Business Report, Spring 2000.
“Financial Reporting of ‘Significant Influence’ Investments: Analysis and Managerial Issues,” (with James A. Largay III), Journal of Managerial Issues, Fall 1999, pp. 280-98.
“My Experience with the FASB Faculty Fellowship Program,” Accounting Horizons, December 1998, pp. 429-39.
“The Purchase vs. Pooling Controversy: The Stock Market Response to Goodwill,” Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Spring 1996, pp. 50-59.
“Quasi Reorganization: Fresh Start or False Start?” (with James A. Largay III), Journal of Accountancy, July 1995, pp. 79-83.
Michael Davis
Vita, page 5
REFEREED PUBLICATIONS (continued)
“Goodwill Accounting: Time for an Overhaul,”Journal of Accountancy, June 1992, pp. 75-83. Reprinted in Readings & Notes on Financial Accounting, 5th edition, edited by Stephen A. Zeff and Bala G. Dharan, McGraw-Hill, NY, 1997, pp. 332-339.
“APB 16: Time to Reconsider,” Journal of Accountancy, October 1991, pp. 99-107.
“Differential Market Reaction to Pooling and Purchase Methods,” The Accounting Review, July 1990, pp. 696-709.
“SAB 51--Where Are You?” (with James A. Largay III), Barron's, June 12, 1989, pp. 16-17.
“Reporting Consolidated Gains and Losses on Subsidiary Stock Issuances,” (with James A. Largay III), The Accounting Review, April 1988, pp. 348-63.
“Creating the Right Decision Support System--Pitfalls” (with Joseph Sardinas), Management Accounting, June 1985, pp. 12, 69.
“Creating the Right Decision Support System” (with Joseph Sardinas), Management Accounting, May 1985, pp. 10, 15, 17.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Zhao, Y., Davis, M., and Berry, K., “Disclosure Level and the Cost of Capital: Evidence from Open versus Closed Conference Calls,” Proceedings, Hawaii International Conference on Business (May 2008), Honolulu, Hawaii.
Zhao, Y., Davis, M., and Zhou, X., “Staggered Boards and Investor Perceptions of Earnings Quality,” Proceedings, American Accounting Association Ohio Annual Conference (April 2008), Dayton, Ohio.
Zhao, Y. and Davis, M., “Antitakeover Protection and Discretionary Cuts in R&D Expenditures,” Proceedings, Mid-Atlantic Region American Accounting Association 2007 Annual Conference (April 2007), Parsippany, NJ.
“Financial Performance Reporting by Business Enterprises” (with Toby Stoeber, student). Proceedings, 6th Annual Hawaii Conference on Business, Honolulu, HI, May 25-28, 2006.
“A Shortcoming – and Solution - in SOX Audits,” (with Gordon E. Smith), Proceedings, Seventeenth Asian-Pacific Conference on International Accounting Issues,Wellington, New Zealand, November 20-23, 2005.
“Teaching Alternate Consolidation Theories,” (with James A Largay III), Proceedings, Hawaii Conference on Business, June 2001.
"Control Without Ownership? The Case of the R+D Entity," Proceedings, Twenty-Ninth Annual Meeting of the Western Decision Sciences Institute, April 2000.
Michael Davis
Vita, page 6
OTHER PUBLICATIONS (continued)
"How Small Businesses Plan to Grow into the Next Millenium: A Survey & Statistical Analysis of Small Businesses Nationwide," (with Owen Hall, Jr.), Proceedings, Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences, February 1999.
Review of Baker, Lembke and King, Advanced Financial Accounting, in Issues in Accounting Education, Spring 1997, pp. 237-38.
“Cultural Influences on Consolidation Standards in Australia, Korea and the United States” (with Sang-Moon Choi and Bruce C. McDonald), Proceedings, International Conference on AustraliaNew Zealand Business Studies, BentleyCollege, November 1995. Abstract published under the title “A Comparative Analysis of the Consolidated Accounting Standards in Australia, Korea and the United States” in the Proceedings of the 1995 Southeast American Accounting Association, FloridaAtlanticUniversity, April 1995.
Review of Frank, Wagner and Weil, Litigation Services Handbook, in the Journal of Accountancy, October 1991, pp. 149-50.
Review of Smith, Keith and Stephens, Financial Accounting, in Issues in Accounting Education, Spring 1989, pp. 235-36.
Discussion comments on “Consolidation of Majority-Owned Captive Finance Subsidiaries,” J.H. Anthony and J. Elfrink, published in The Proceedings of the AAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, Wilmington, DE, April 1989, pp. 84-85.
“Operating Cash Flows, Income and Cash Dividends: Are Their Relationships Predictable?” (with Stephen F. Thode), Proceedings of the 1986 National Decision Sciences Institute Annual Meeting.
WORKING PAPERS AND WORK IN PROCESS
“Takeover Vulnerability and Real Activities Manipulation” (with Y. Zhao and K. Chen), under secondreview atJournal of Accounting and Public Policy.
“Financial Performance Reporting by Business Enterprises” (with Toby Stoeber, student). Presented at the 6th Annual Hawaii Conference on Business, Honolulu, HI, May 25-28, 2006 and listed above under “Other Publications.”
“Goodwill Impairment Write-Offs: An Investigation into Magnitude and Market Reaction” (with Kevin Chiang).
“A Comparative Analysis of the Consolidation Accounting Standards of Australia, Korea and the United States: A Cultural Perspective” (with B.C. McDonald and S.M. Choi).
BOOK IN PROCESS
Personal Financial Planning - A Biblical Perspective. Completed manuscript of approximately 310 pages that discusses theory and techniques of personal finances. Incorporates timely articles from popular press and guidance/admonitions from the Bible, drawing from over 2,000+ passages that deal with various topics in personal finance. Also presented in 10-hour seminar format.
Michael Davis
Vita, page 7
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS/INVOLVEMENTS
Presentations(without Proceedings publication):
“Goodwill Impairment Write-Offs: An Investigation into Magnitude and Market Reaction” (with Kevin Chiang), presented at 18th Asian-Pacific Conference on International Accounting Issues, October 2006, Maui, Hawaii.
“R&D Entities: Is Control Possible Without Owning a Single Share of Stock,” Presented at 2003 Western Decision Sciences Annual Meeting, April 2003, Kauai, HI. Also presented at Pepperdine Business Symposium, Malibu Campus, February 22, 2001.
Invited speaker to U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray “IPO Conference,” Tucson, AZ. One of four panelists dealing with topic, “Changes in Accounting for Mergers and Acquisitions.” March 8-11, 2000.
"Accounting: The Language of Business," presented at Pepperdine-Safeguard Management Development Program, April 13, 1999.
"The FASB's Business Combination Project: Its Goals and Likely Impact on Accounting for Mergers and Acquisitions," presented at FASB/SEC Accounting & Financial Reporting Conference, New York City, July 14, 1998. Also chaired conference.
“Distance Learning Through the Internet,” (with Owen Hall, Jr.). Presented at the Symposium on Collegiate School of Business Teaching, CalStateLong Beach, March 6, 1998.
“New Evidence on the Impact of Merger Accounting Method on Stock Prices,” Northeast Region AAA Meeting, Burlington, VT, April 1988. Published in July 1990 Accounting Review (see above).
“Reporting Consolidated Gains and Losses on Subsidiary Stock Issuances” (with James A. Largay III), Mid-Atlantic Region AAA Meeting, Atlantic City, NJ, April 1987. Published in April 1988 Accounting Review (see above).
“The Comparative Ability of Cash Flow, Income and Working Capital in Predicting Changes in the Firm's Financial Position” (with Stephen F. Thode), Southern Finance Association, New Orleans, LA, November 1986. Presented to College of Business and Economics faculty at Lehigh, December 1986.
Involvements
Discussant for two papers presented at AAA National Meeting in Orlando, FL, August 1995: "The Stock Price Information in SAB 51 Accounting Treatment Choices for Equity Carve-Outs," Terrance R. Skantz and John R.M. Hand, and "The Association Between Realized Growth and Investment Opportunity Set Proxies," Mark A. Trombley and Sanjay Kallapur. Reviewed several papers for Financial Reporting Section.
Regional Director - Mid-Atlantic Region, Financial Accounting and Reporting Section, 1994-95. Responsible for getting papers reviewed and planning panel discussions and presentations at March 1995 Mid-Atlantic Annual Meeting in Huntington, WV.
Regional Director - Mid-Atlantic Region, International Accounting Section, 1992-93. Session organizer and moderator, AAA Mid-Atlantic Region Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., April 1993.
Michael Davis
Vita, page 8
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS/INVOLVEMENTS (continued)
Discussant, "Timely Aggregate Analyst Forecasts as Better Proxies for Market Earnings Expectations," Lawrence D. Brown and Kwon-Jung Kim, AAA Northeast Region Annual Meeting, Springfield, MA, April 1991.
Discussant, "Consolidation of Majority-Owned Captive Finance Subsidiaries," J.H. Anthony and J. Elfrink, AAA Mid-Atlantic Region Annual Meeting, Wilmington, DE, April 1989. Comments published in conference Proceedings (see above).
Discussant, AAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Annual Meeting, State College, PA, April 1988.
OTHER ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Recent CPE: Attended KPMG Conference on IFRS vs. US GAAP In-Depth, New York City, August 26-28, 2009
Director, Accounting Program, School of Management, University of Alaska Fairbanks: 7/07-6/09.
Member, Board of Directors, Fairbanks Convention & Visitors Bureau, 2008-current.
Faculty advisor to Great Alaskan Accounting People (GAAP), student accounting organization at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2005-2008.“Professor of the Year - Service” Award, 2006.
Periodic reviewer for The Accounting Review, Accounting Horizons and the Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance: 1990-current
Taught CPA review course at Arthur Andersen & Co., NYC and LehighUniversity: 1990-1996
AICPA: member of Joint AAA/AICPA Accounting Literature Awards Committee: 1995-1997
Elder and Chair, Financial Oversight Team, Friends Community Church, Fairbanks, AK: 2005-current. Responsible for $600,000+ budget, $2.2 million capital campaign and monthly newsletter article on personal finances
Financial Administrator, CalvaryBaptistChurch, Bethlehem, PA: 1994-1996. Responsible for $500,000+ budget
Passed CPA Exam on first sitting; certificate awarded September 30, 1975
Note: References, teaching evaluations and full list of service activities available upon request.
October 2010