Expertise
Johan Graaf is an Associate Professor at the Department of Accounting, Academic Director of ACE, and a Program Director and faculty member in SSE Executive Education.
RESEARCH
Johan’s research is primarily qualitative, drawing on interviews, observations, and ethnographic methods to study financial market and organizational practices. His research has been published in leading international accounting journals, including The Accounting Review, Accounting, Organizations and Society, European Accounting Review, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, and Critical Perspectives on Accounting.
His research interests can broadly be divided into three areas.
One area is investor relations and financial communication, with a focus on how listed companies interact with investors and analysts, and how financial information is communicated, interpreted, and used in the capital market. Johan’s current research focuses particularly on the work of investor relations professionals and their role in the relationship between companies and investors.
A second area is fund management and financial analysis. Here, the focus is on how professional investors analyze companies and make investment decisions, and how these activities are shaped by their social and organizational context. Of particular interest is active fund management and the everyday practices through which investment decisions are formed. This research builds on his previous work on sell-side analysts and financial analysis.
A third area is rankings and performance measurement. This research examines how measures of performance are constructed and used, and what happens when they become the basis for comparison and ranking. Of particular interest are the ways in which performance measures affect organizations and the people being evaluated, as well as how they shape ideas about what constitutes good performance.
OUTREACH
Johan is Academic Director of the Accounting and Financial Management Center of Excellence (ACE), where he works to strengthen the interaction between the Department of Accounting and the business community. ACE brings together the department and leading companies from a range of industries and provides a platform for collaboration in research, education, and knowledge exchange.
See our activities at Accounting and Financial Management Center of Excellence (ACE).
EDUCATION
Alongside his research and outreach activities, Johan is an experienced educator and author. He teaches accounting, financial analysis, valuation, financial communication, management control, and research methods across undergraduate and graduate education.
Johan is also deeply involved in SSE Executive Education. He serves as Program Director for the consortium program Business Performance Development (BPD) and the open program Företagsekonomi för chefer och ledare. In addition, he is a consistently highly rated faculty member across a range of SSE Executive Education programs, teaching in areas including financial literacy, financial analysis, financial communication, accounting, management control, and performance management.
He has also authored and co-authored several textbooks in accounting and financial management.