Karen Shastri
Clinical Associate Professor of Business Administration

Contact

276D Mervis Hall
kshastri@katz.pitt.edu
412-648-1533

Profile

Dr. Shastri has been actively involved in research related to internal management accounting practices. One of her current studies focuses on firms that do not utilize budgeting as part of their management information system. A recent study examined firms’ budgeting processes to assess the value-added from these processes as well as identify best practices while another published paper focuses on firms that do not use budgets as a management tool. Additionally, she has been involved in a case write-up on real options and capital budgeting.

She has also and continues to work on the topics of costs as they relate to effectiveness in the criminal justice and human services fields. She has examined these aspects with respect to programs provided by behavioral health organizations for school age children, services training for officers and prosecutors (STOP), electronic fingerprinting and photo imaging, arraignments through video conferencing, and programs that instruct in the area of community oriented policing, an effort to integrate the police into the community, among others.

She also continues to evaluate the financial condition of firms and health care entities as a result of economic and firm-specific events.

Dr. Shastri serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management and has been on the Editorial Board for Research in Healthcare Financial Management, and an ad hoc reviewer for accounting-related journals and conferences. Her research areas, teaching interests and other professionally related activities are correlated since all of these factors focus on an entity’s effectiveness, efficiencies, and costs of activities.

She is a member of several accounting organizations, including the American Accounting Association, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and Institute of Management Accountants.

Courses Recently Taught

  • Undergraduate and graduate classes in Managerial Accounting and Strategic Cost Management
  • Graduate class in Financial Accounting
  • Graduate class in Not for Profit and Governmental Accounting

Awards and Honors

Shastri has been awarded a grant from the Institute of Management Accountants for Budgeting Systems: Operations, Firm Performance, and Management Rewards.

Shastri has also received grants from and prepared reports for the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) for:

  • An Evaluation of the Stop Violence against Women Training Program (STOP) with Holly Wald.
  • An Evaluation of Video Arraignments with Holly Wald.
  • An Evaluation of Community Oriented Policing Seminars (COPS) with Holly Wald.
  • An Evaluation of Criminal Identification Technology with Holly Wald.
  • An Evaluation of Management Information Systems with KIT Solutions, Inc.

Professional Service and Activities

  • Pittsburgh Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountings, Member, Board of Directors, 2010 – present.
  • Research in Healthcare Financial Management, Editorial Board.
  • Treasurer and Member, Board of Directors, National Cyber Forensic and Training Alliance (NCFTA), a Pittsburgh-based organization that investigates cyber crimes.
  • Member of the Board of Directors, and Chairman, Finance Committee, Renewal Inc., a Pittsburgh-based community corrections firm.
  • Member, Board of Directors, Renewal Treatment Inc., a Pittsburgh-based drug and alcohol treatment program.
  • Member, Board of Directors, Lydia’s Place., a Pittsburgh-based services program for incarcerated women and their families.
  • Member, Board of Directors, GetPaid., a Pittsburgh-based employment services agency for persons involved in community corrections.
  • Shastri continues to provide her expertise to the AICPA to review CPA exam questions

Degrees

  • PhD in Accounting, University of Pittsburgh
  • MBA in Finance, University of Pittsburgh
  • BS in Business Administration, University of Baltimore

Recent Publications

“Characteristics of No-Budget Firms: Strategy, Environment, Planning, Firm Performance Evaluations and Management Incentive Rewards,” with Steven Onaitis. Advances in Management Accounting, 2012.

“The Smith Company: A Case on Capital Budgeting and Real Options,” with Kuldeep Shastri and David Stout. Management Finance, 2011.

“Instructional Case: Blue Ridge Revisited – Integrating ABC and OROS Quick© Software,” with Ed Blocher, David Stout, and Monte Swain. Under review at Journal of Accounting Education, 2008.

“Budgeting: Perspectives from the Real World,” with David Stout, Management Accounting Quarterly, IMA, December 2008.

“Environmental Performance and Corporate Behavior,” with Karen Denning. Journal of Economic and Social Research, 2001.

“Evaluation of PCCD-Funded Management Information Systems,” PCCD Quarterly, Summer 2001.

“The Quasi-Reorganizations: An Accounting Tool for Corporate Restructuring,” with Robert Nachtmann (abbreviated version). Journal of Corporate Renewal, April 1999.

Recent Working Papers

“Deferred Taxes: A Primer” with Steve Onaitis.

“School Based Behavioral Health Initiatives, An Overall Look at Integrated Programming and Building-Wide Programming,” Prepared for Northwest Behavioral Health Partnership, Inc., July 2011.

“The Impact of Segment Disclosure on Firm Volatility,” with Lorna Hardin and Kuldeep Shastri (deceased).

Academic Area

Accounting

Personal Interests

Given her interest in helping the community, Dr. Shastri was awarded the 2007 Volunteer of the Year Award from the Pittsburgh Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. In addition to professional and community service activities, Karen enjoys spending time with her family and friends, and participating in athletic (biking) activities.