Finance, Governance and Accounting Research (FIGAR) Cluster
The Finance, Governance and Accounting Research is an interdisciplinary and internationally networked research cluster at the School of Business and Management of UCLan Cyprus, which generates leading edge knowledge on issues of concern to accounting, finance and governance, while also considering the implications thereto, of key international dimensions such as cultural differences.
The mission of FIGAR is to generate value-adding research, contributing knowledge in accounting, finance and governance through capitalizing on synergies among stakeholders in education, the industry, policy makers and professional bodies.
FIGAR is supported by resident and affiliated academics credited with local, regional and global initiatives that promote teaching, research, doctoral supervision, knowledge transfer, executive education, and outreach in the accounting, finance and governance disciplines.
Its major interests fall on the following areas: Behavioural finance; corporate governance; corporate financial policies; corporate valuation and corporate structure; governance and control of organisations; inter-organisational governance and control; management accounting change; management accounting and control in multinational settings and organisations; shipping finance; value provision and governance in local and central government organisations; cross-cultural challenges; internationalisation; cultural distance; psychic distance; diversity in top management team; multinational firms’ performance; entry mode.
Initiatives & Research Projects
The ongoing cooperation of FIGAR with other universities and stakeholder organizations, has led to the development of a number of related initiatives, such as:
Development of seminars and workshops:
Geared to generate and disseminate best practice on issues of financial management, governance and accounting involving local and international professional bodies, universities, chambers, as well as local and international policy makers.
- Roundtable of experts on the “The Cyprus Banking Reform: an opportunity to refine the Cypriot Banking System?”,2019
This event discussed the current transformation of the Cyprus banking system, the risks impacting both on the financial sector and the economy, as well as the roadmap of reaching to a restoration of its fundamental role.
The event featured speeches by key figures of the country’s economy including:
Dr Marios Clerides – Economist Dr Stelios Platis – Economist, Non-Executive Chairman of MAP S. Platis Group
Mr Christos Theofilou – Vice President, Senior Analyst Moody’s
Mrs Doxia Nikia Hadjivassiliou – President of the Cyprus International Businesses Association (CIBA)
Mr Christophoros Anayiotos – Board Member, Head of Deal Advisory KPMG
The event attracted the interest of esteemed stakeholders of the Cyprus economy, professionals from international businesses of Cyprus, members of the community and members of the academia.
- The Cyprus Economy: Retrospects and Prospects, 2016
A Forum bridging academic and practitioners’ perspectives on the current past, and future features of the Cyprus economy.
The event featured speeches by key figures of the country’s economy and academia including:
Mr Panayiotis Chrysostomou – CFA, Head Institutional Clients at the Wealth Management Division of Eurobank Cyprus
Mr Konstantinos Vrachimis (Cooperative Central Bank)
Dr Panayiotis Andreou- Assistant Professor at the Department of Commerce, Finance, and Shipping Cyprus University of Technology
- The Shipping Workshop: Cyprus University of Technology “Shipping Importance in the Global and Cyprus Economy”, 2016
Workshop at the Cyprus University of Technology
Speaker was Mr Thomas Kazakos, Director General of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber
Competitions & Contests
- “Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) Research Competition, 2014 – To date
The CFA Research Challenge is an annual global competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and professional ethics. Each student is tested on their analytical, valuation, report writing, and presentation skills. They gain real-world experience as they assume the role of a research analyst.
Competitions are organized and judged by CFA members and volunteers who function as local hosts. The winning university team from each local competition advances to the sub-regional and then to the global CFA Research Challenge competition.
- “Business Escape Challenge: Can you Unlock the Mystery?” in cooperation with the Youth Board of Cyprus, 2019 – To date
The Business Escape Challenge is an annual interactive event whereby participants have the opportunity to engage in an entertaining and challenging experience that enhances their critical thinking through solving puzzles and finding clues, which shall unlock the mystery, helping them to escape the room. The activity helps students further develop their understanding on a variety of thematic areas such as accounting, business, english, tourism and marketing, at the same time promoting the importance of collaboration, as they have to work in teams for finding clues that will help them solve the mystery.
- Next Gen Accountant Competition in cooperation with the SAP Competence Centre in Munich, Germany, 2018
The Next Gen Accountant Competition, was offered for the first time in Cyprus, and focused on the special skills required for the next generation of accountants. Students were introduced to a computer-based case study offered by the SAP UCC, featuring Global Bike Inc., a fictitious company that manufactures technologically advanced bikes. Students formed teams and were asked to make decisions regarding the bikes’ specifications, their production, distribution and marketing promotion.
Academic workshops & Conferences:
- CaseWare International Seminar, 2020
A seminar for BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance Graduates on CaseWare International. CaseWare International is recognised around the world as a premier developer of audit assurance and financial reporting tools by accountants and auditors in practices large and small, in corporations, and government. CaseWare’s family of products and services helps professionals in over 60 countries perform their engagements more easily and efficiently.
Trainer – Mr Stavros Antoniou (CMS System Solutions Ltd)
- Multinational Finance Society Symposium, 2014
The MFS 2014 Symposium was co-organised with Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) and involved academic researchers, practitioners and policy makers representing academic and financial institutions seeking to address vital financial policy matters.
- Upturning the Cyprus Economy: The role of Shipping, 2014
In cooperation with the Co-founder and Editor of the London-based shipping platform www.allaboutshipping.co.uk, this workshop focused on the role of shipping in acting as a catalyst to the resolution of economic and geostrategic challenges of Cyprus.
- Οίνος &Πνεύμα — Workshop Forum. Mastering transnational cultural and managerial challenges: The views and experiences of international business leaders, Limassol, 2016
The Cyprus International Business Association (CIBA) and UCLan Cyprus co-organised a workshop to feature the experience of renowned leaders, entrepreneurs and managers with respect to the transnational and transcultural managerial complexity that overshadows the effort to achieve goal alignment, effective team building and communication that could jeopardise the performance of organisations.
FIGAR Cluster Governance
Dr Loukas Glyptis, Associate Professor in Accounting, [email protected]
Loukas Glyptis is the Head of the School of Business and Management at the University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus. He is also the Deputy Chair of the Centre of Entrepreneurial Development, Alliance and Research (CEDAR), which is an inter-disciplinary research centre for entrepreneurial development. He holds a BSc (first class) in Business Administration from the University of Piraeus in Greece, an MSc in Accounting and Finance (with distinction) from the University of Birmingham in the UK, as well as a PhD in inter-organisational cost management and control from the same University. Previously, Loukas was a visiting lecturer at Birmingham Business School, the University of Birmingham and a senior lecturer of Management Accounting at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University. He has also taught as fellow at the University of Piraeus, Nottingham Trent University and the University of the Aegean. He lectures, researches and publishes on issues of interest to management control, inter-organisational cost management and control, accountancy, and governance specializing in the fields of shipping, family business and the public sector. He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK.
Dr Isabella Karasamani, Lecturer in Finance, [email protected]
Isabella Karasamani is the Coordinator of the Department of Accounting and Finance and a Lecturer in Finance at the University of Central Lancashire. She also currently serves as an Associate Lecturer at the Cyprus University of Technology at the department of Trade, Finance and Shipping. Her research interests centre on corporate governance and corporate financial policies, corporate valuation and corporate structure, behavioural finance, and shipping finance. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK. She has published papers in highly ranked peer reviewed academic journals and book chapters in edited volumes by reputable publishers in the fields of managerial finance and shipping finance. She holds a PhD in Finance from Durham University (UK), a PhD in Business Management from Northcentral University (USA) and an MSc in International Business and Finance from the University of Reading (UK).
Faculty & Associates: Prof Panikkos Poutziouris (UCLan Cyprus and Cambridge Judge Business School), Dr Anthi Avloniti (UCLan Cyprus), Dr Ioanna Stylianou (UCLan Cyprus), Dr Andreas Procopiou (University of Liverpool), Dr Panayiotis Andreou (Cyprus University of Technology), Dr Kostas Galanakis (Nottingham Trent University, UK), Dr Ioannis Theotokas (University of Aegean), Dr Carolina Pontones Rosa (University of Castilla La Mancha, Spain), Dr Panayiotis Artikis (University of Piraeus), Dr Fragkiskos Filippaios (University of Kent), Prof Mathew Tsamenyi (CEIBS, Ghana), Ms Marina Magidou (UCLan Cyprus).
