Tribute to Ashok Patel (05/02/1951 to 22/09/2024)

Ashok Patel was in a small group of academics (including Greg Wilkinson-Riddle, Kumba Jallow and Rhoda Brown) at De Montfort University who established the Journal of Applied Accounting Research in the 1990s to provide a dissemination opportunity for pragmatic researchers of matters related to the practical application of accounting ideas. This was a divergence from the more established academic accounting journals of the time, where the focus tended to be towards matters of greater theoretical conjecture. JAAR provided researchers a unique opportunity for publication, and this has continued over 30 years.Ashok’s interest in the discovery and dissemination of knowledge predates his career in academia. He spent time in the textile industry, where he used his cost accounting expertise to establish one of the largest chemical processing and pharmaceutical manufacturing sites in India. When relocating to the UK to join family, he embarked upon a career in the public sector, leading and managing a significant local government project to develop, implement and manage systems for compulsory competitive tendering. Ashok was excited about the opportunities technology could provide and was instrumental in implementing one of the first distributed computing systems in local government–something we take for granted today.Relishing the opportunity to teach and share knowledge with others, Ashok joined Leicester Business School. His passion for management accounting, from control techniques to organisational culture perspectives, continued throughout his career and led to many papers, including Nasir et al. (2000). Ashok made a significant contribution to the development of the accounting curriculum, introducing contemporary management accounting philosophies, many of which were underpinned by the seminal work of Kaplan and Johnson (1987), but also Japanese management accounting.The year 1992 was an exciting time to join the Accounting and Finance department at DMU. There was a rapid expansion of the group. Along with Ashok, we were among the first new recruits for some time. There was, inevitably, some conflict and turbulence involved in a process of such rapid change. Ashok’s role in the department was largely as the voice of reason and as a peacemaker. His calm, polite tolerance diffused many potential quarrels, and as deputy-head of the group, he kept all the different factions on board and working together.Dr Rhoda Brown recalls, “I would say that it was Ashok’s support that enabled me to take the academic career path I chose to take. There was a tradition at DMU that anyone pursuing a PhD should be supervised in-house, but being a largely teaching-focussed institution, there was little research experience within our group. Ashok was my mentor, and I remember one very lengthy meeting, at which a lot of whisky was consumed (he was very fond of a single malt). The conversation veered from my career path to philosophy, religion, politics and life aspirations. He instilled in me, that day, the courage to fight for what I wanted and to register elsewhere for my PhD. That move changed my life entirely, and I am grateful to Ashok for that”.Ashok was an early adopter of technology and could see the evolutionary path for technology in learning and teaching. His competence with technology, particularly accounting technology, was a much-needed addition to a department that had only previously taught textbook, double-entry book-keeping using blackboards and overhead projectors with acetate rolls. He dragged our teaching into the era of modern technology and, in so doing, engaged the students far more and created graduates who could contribute more to employers. He also supported the acquisition of DataStream, a source of research data, which enabled members of the group to engage in quantitative accounting research for the first time.Professor Alan Sangster recalls, “When I first met them, Ashok was Greg’s right-hand. It was at the third CTI-AFM Conference held in Bradford in April 1992. They were presenting a new software tool they had developed that generated real-time computer-based test questions in management accounting. The room was full – what they were doing was ‘different', even for a Computers in Teaching Initiative conference. Their project was ahead of the game at that time and morphed soon after into the government-funded Byzantium project involving a team of accounting academics from across the UK. This was pre-PowerPoint, so overhead projector slides were what everyone used. Ashok brought a computer.During the presentation given by Greg Wilkinson-Riddle, Ashok sat at the computer operating the software. Greg was very much running the show, speaking to the audience and issuing instructions to Ashok on what to touch next on the keyboard. Ashok, fully focused, head slightly bowed, never looking at the audience, not really meant to look at the audience, but always, it seemed one-step ahead. Pressing the correct key a millisecond before the command, pressing a different key when the command was wrong, and even at one stage daring to tell, not suggest to, Greg Wilkinson-Riddle that what he had just said was not quite correct. It was a masterclass in how to concede authority but lead from below. I have never seen better. When it finished, Ashok simply smiled and did not say a word. It was a fascinating watch. Certainly, the most entertaining conference presentation I have ever seen performed by the presenter who did not engage with the audience: sheer class”.Ashok was a passionate, gifted academic–an intellectual who robustly challenged fellow academics and students. His style could be described as blunt and direct, but always caring. A chief executive once described his syntactic style as “earthy”. Always generous with his time, Ashok played such an important role in supporting, mentoring and nurturing emerging scholars, particularly PhD students, where he would devote an inordinate amount of time to developing students beyond their chosen topic of research. Many of these students, who are part of his legacy, have gone on to occupy very senior roles in academia and industry.Dr Michelle Stirk recalls, “Ashok was ahead of his time, having an uncanny sense ‘to see the hidden’ and make thoughtful connections. He would happily share his insights with everyone and suggest interesting paths for research. Under his mentorship I progressed through my UG studies, my professional qualification and my PG studies. Anything that lies beyond this for me is a testament to his sponsorship and support. I know that teachers should not have favourites, and I am sure that he did not, but as his student, he was a favourite teacher of mine – as I am sure he was for others”.Ashok’s delight was in seeing others flourish, be they his students, his colleagues or his friends. His countenance was light and playful; he liked to laugh and be amused, and he also added much laughter, joy and positivity to situations. He suited his name perfectly (Ashok), derived from the Sanskrit meaning “without sorrow”. Any discussion with Ashok was always thoughtful, considered, intelligent, and he was completely supportive.Professor Elaine Harris recalls, “After leaving DMU to head up the Business School at Roehampton, I was involved in designing and validating the first on-line MBA programme at Roehampton, with an American partner organisation. When it launched in 2012 (initially with quite small numbers), we needed an external examiner who not only had the breadth of subject knowledge to assess all modules but also the digital competence to navigate a relatively unstructured online platform. Ashok was the obvious choice, and he did a great job, covering accounting to supply chain management, being unrattled by teething problems, be they caused by systems or humans, and working in a developing relationship across country and cultural boundaries. He engaged online and regularly drove down to London to sit in (hybrid) exam boards, which became more and more time-consuming as the number of students, modules and awards increased. Despite notoriously high attrition rates for part-time MBAs, seeing so many graduates made me very proud and ever grateful to Ashok”.As a Hindu, the concept of rebirth was central to his being, with the belief that the only thing one takes into the next life is knowledge. So, he did his utmost to share and disseminate knowledge in order that others may benefit. On reflection, there must be some validity to this hypothesis, as it seems hard to see how it is possible for any individual to acquire so much knowledge and experience in a single lifetime. He would be slightly embarrassed to read this tribute and to hear the kind sentiments that have been expressed about him since his passing. Ashok was a modest individual, who never courted fame or glory, instead preferring to spend his time acquiring and disseminating knowledge.Professor Kamil Omoteso recalls, “I was privileged to be supervised by Ashok for my PhD. He demonstrated exceptional commitment, passion, expertise and, above all, fatherly love right from my application stage till I graduated. Ashok was intellectually gifted, and this is reflected in everything he laid his hands on. In addition to Ashok’s technical ability in quantitative methods, he was an excellent philosopher. This enabled him to relate to complex theories and their adoption and/or adaptation as the rounded academic he was. I am incredibly proud to have had Ashok as my doctoral supervisor, co-author, colleague and friend. He was one of the best human beings I ever met – your success was always his to celebrate.”Ashok was gifted in so many ways, but most of all he was a dear friend to many, someone who is simply irreplaceable–his death is a loss to academia and to humanity.