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Professor Trevor Boyns

Professor Trevor Boyns

Professor of Accounting and Business History

Email
boyns@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 (0)29 2087 5576
Campuses
E34, Aberconway Building, Colum Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF10 3EU
Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Overview

I currently occupy the position of Professor of 'Accounting and Business' History and despite having taken flexible retirement in 2018, working three days a week, I continue to both teach and research. My main teaching commitments involve teaching British economic history to undergraduate students, while I also help supervise the delivery of other undergraduate modules.

I have a long record of publication in the areas of the history of accounting, business and management, mainly of Britain but also of other countries (e.g. France, Italy and Japan), and also the economic history of the south Wales coalfield. I continue to research and publish in all these areas, although my current research is focused on two issues: the accounting and business history of the British motor vehicle industry and, in particular, the history of the Birmingham Small Arms and Daimler Motor companies;.and the development of forecasting methods in Britain during the first 60 years of the twentieth century.

Biography

Having graduated from the University of Warwick with a first class degree in Mathematics and Economics in 1974, I came to Cardiff in August 1976 as a tutorial fellow in Economics and Economic History, having been a research assistant at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1974-75, and a tutor in Economics at the University of Exeter in 1975-76. I was appointed as a lecturer in Economics and Economic History in 1978, and gained my PhD in econometric history in 1982 from the University of Wales. I was subsequently appointed senior lecturer in 1997 and Professor of 'Accounting and Business' History in 2004, largely on the basis of my research work in the history of accounting and business/management history.

My early research work, including that for my PhD thesis ('Productivity in the British Coal Industry, 1874-1913'), focused on the economic and business history of the British coal industry, especially the south Wales coalfield, and this remained my main field of interest until the late 1980s, when I teamed up with the eminent accounting historian, J.R. (Dick) Edwards, to conduct research into the development of cost and management accounting in Britain. The latter ultimately resulted in the publicaton of the fruits of our joint research to that point in time in A History of Management Accounting – The British Experience, published by Routledge in 2013. Together with Dick Edwards I helped to launch the journal, Accounting, Business & Financial History (now Accounting History Review) in 1990, and we jointly edited the journal through until the end of 2010. Through this experience, I developed links with researchers in France, Italy and Japan which has resulted in a number of joint publications over the years. While most of my current research is undertaken on my own account, from time to time Dick and I continue to publish joint papers on the history of accounting in Britain.

Professional memberships

  • Member of the Association of Business Historians (council member, 1997-2000; president, 1998-99)
  • Member of the Economic History Society.

Publications

2022

2021

2020

2019

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2009

2008

2006

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1997

1996

1995

1994

1992

1991

Teaching

My current undergraduate teaching commitments are limited due to the part-time nature of my current employment, but comprise:

  • Lectures and seminars on 'Economic History' (Year 1)
  • Lectures and seminars on 'State, Business and the British Economy in the 20th century' (Year 2)

I also act as the module leader for 'Business Applications' (Year 3)

Research interests

Over the past four decades, my research has focused on three main areas: (1) the development of cost and management accounting (especially in Britain, but also other countries, including France, Italy and Japan); (2) aspects of British business and management history during the twentieth century; and (3) the economic history of the south Wales coal industry. While I continue to write articles and book chapters in all these fields, my current research focuses on two issues: (1) the accounting and business history of the early British motor vehicle industry generally and, in particular, the history of the Birmingham Small Arms and Daimler Motor companies prior to the Second World War;.and (2) the development of forecasting methods in Britain during the first 60 years of the twentieth century.

PhD supervision research interests

I am not currently supervising any PhD students but have, in the past, supervised theses on the historical development of accounting, especially cost and management accounting, and aspects of the history of Welsh coalfields.

Supervision

I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of:

  • History of cost and management accounting
  • History of the south Wales coalfield and the Welsh economy
  • British business and management history

Related news

It was with great sadness that Cardiff Business School learnt of the untimely death of Malcolm Anderson

Malcolm Anderson 1970-2018

06 March 2018