Berend van der Kolk wins MAB student award

FEB's Berend van der Kolk won the MAB student award (2500 euro) for his scientific article in the "Maandblad voor Accountan cy en Bedrijfseconomie" (MAB, a Dutch Journal for Accounting and Business Economics).

His article was based on his FEB master's thesis about accounting practitioners and ethics. The article is titled: “De accountant en het grijze gebied”. Empirisch onderzoek naar de factoren die van invloed zijn op het ethisch redeneren van accountants en accountancystudenten." He analyzed the factors that influence the ethical reasoning ability of accountants and students of accountancy. It was published in MAB journal 4/2011. (www.mab-online.nl)


Well written

The jury praised the article as "well written, relevant and in line with current developments." In a first reaction to the MAB journal editors, Berend wrote: "This is great news, thank you! Writing the article and discussing its contents with friends and colleagues was already a nice experience. And now this price on top of that! I'm glad that ethics is a topic at the center of attention again; I think it's a good thing that - especially at faculties of business and economics - there is lively discussion about ‘doing the right things’. I hope this article is able to contribute to that discussion.


Dialogue

After completing his studies in accountancy, business administration and philosophy, Berend started as a PhD student in the department of Accounting in our faculty. "For my PhD I am now researching management control systems", he says "and this year I teach courses in accounting and business ethics. Every day I enjoy the work I do: both in research and teaching there are plenty of opportunities to start the dialogue about the 'gray area' in ethical behavior."