Latest Research News

Healthcare Management Research by CPSO Published

Posters listing the findings of two projects by CPSO members are now available online: Managing medical performance: the impact on clinicians and organisations and The Visible and Invisible Performance Effects of Transparency in Medical Professional Regulation.
09/03/10

Second Edition of Advertising and Promotion Published

The second edition of Prof Chris Hackley’s Advertising and Promotion was published on February 28th by Sage. The book is a research-based text written for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of advertising, promotion and marketing communication. The new edition contains much new case material, including one case based on the work of a Royal Holloway alumnus, Ayesha Datoo (BSc Management with Marketing 2007) who is now Senior Account Executive at Samsung Mobile UK. The case details the campaign for a new mobile phone which was managed by Ayesha.
08/03/10

Research on UK and Chinese High-Tech Firms International Collaboration Published

The first in a series of Research Briefs, disseminating the findings of a comparative study of UK and Chinese high-tech firms, has just been published. The ESRC-funded project entitled 'Entrepreneurial Capacity to Exploit Opportunities, New Product Development and Firm Performance: A Comparative Study of UK and Chinese High-Tech Firms' is led by Dr Catherine Wang (shown left). Among the findings, researchers found that senior and middle management in Chinese firms was dominated by the rising young generation of under 40s, unlike the UK high-tech firms surveyed.
» Research brief No.1 | Project website 15/02/10

Dr Bernroider Delivered Seminar on IT and Absorptive Capacity at Elite Management School

Dr Edward W.N. Bernroider, Senior Lecturer in Technology and Information Management, gave an invited research presentation to members of staff and students at the Department of Management at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, the number one elite university for management studies in Turkey. He presented current research on “Understanding IT Innovation Assimilation by Firms – An Absorptive Capacity Perspective”.
» Abstract (PDF) 11/02/10

New Book by Dr Özcan to be Published Based on Research in Central Asia

A new book on enterprise development in Central Asia is due to be published by Palgrave Macmillan in March 2010. 'Building States and Markets: Enterprise Development in Central Asia' was written by Dr Gül Berna Özcan. The transition economies of Central Asia are faced with the most daunting challenge of modern capitalism: the move from pseudo-states of the former Soviet Union to competitive nations. This book examines the emerging entrepreneurial middle class and their relationship with the state and market building. This book is based on cross-country research supported by the Nuffield Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, and a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.
04/02/10

PhD Student Jenny Chan Invited to Speak at UN Expert Multi-Stakeholder Consultation

PhD student Jenny Chan was invited to speak at a United Nations Expert Multi-Stakeholder Consultation in Berlin recently. The topic of the event was 'Closing Governance Gaps: Application of the U.N. “Protect, Respect, Remedy” Framework' and Jenny took part in a panel discussion on 'The application of the framework to the extended enterprise'. Jenny Chan is a doctoral candidate in sociology and Chinese labour studies and advisor to Hong Kong-based labour rights group SACOM.
» Read more 21/01/10

Japanese Delegation From JSPS Visit School of Management

In November a delegation from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science visited the School of Management. The aim of the visit was to learn about research on Japan taking place within the School, and to understand more about research and funding in the UK in general. The delegation said they were impressed with RHUL's research initiatives and academics' passion for their research. JSPS is now keen to enhance their connection with RHUL, encouraging more applications to their funding programs, including exchange fellowships and research.
» More about the JSPS visit 16/12/09

Paper on Clever HR Practitioners to be Published in EJIM

Recently-appointed Teaching Fellow Sigrun M. Wagner (Strategy and International Business subject group) successfully co-authored a paper in collaboration with colleagues Bernd Kupka, André M. Everett and Pavel Štrach from New Zealand, the United States and the Czech Republic. The paper “Fools rush in: Clever HR practitioners test international assignment candidates with the Intercultural Affinity Scale” has been accepted for publication in the European Journal of International Management (EJIM) and will be published in the October issue of 2010 (Vol. 4, No. 5). The collaboration resulted from meetings at European International Business Academy (EIBA) conferences and Sigrun’s teaching of Cross-Cultural Management at Loughborough University Business School where she is currently finishing her PhD on the Automotive Industry’s Corporate Political Activities in the European Union.
09/12/09

Research on NGO Accountability to be Presented to ACCA

Dr Gloria Agyemang will be presenting on NGO Accountability at "Directions of Accountability in not-for-profit Organisations - an International Perspective" on 8th December 2009 in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London. This ACCA event aims to provide a comprehensive picture of accountability in the not-for-profit sector in an international environment, and contribute to the development of future research ideas in the area of international structures of reporting. Dr Agyemang's study entitled "Improving the effectiveness of NGO Accountability: Evidence from Ghana" was a joint project with Professor Jeffrey Unerman, Professor Brendan O'Dwyer and Dr Mariama Awumbila (University of Ghana).
02/12/09

PhD Student's Research Presented in Scandinavia and Picked up by Media

Jenny Chan, a doctoral candidate in sociology and Chinese labour studies and advisor to Hong Kong-based labour rights group SACOM, presented her paper 'Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration for Worker Participation: What Can We Learn from the Labor Rights Training Program?', at a workshop entitled 'Responsible Supply Chain Management – method and strategies', organized by the Stockholm School of Economics, SwedWatch, and MakeITfair in Stockholm, Sweden, on 26th October 2009. She also presented her paper at a seminar entitled 'Improving Working Conditions – views from the ground', organized by Ethical Trading Initiative Norway in Oslo, Norway, on 27th October 2009.

She was interviewed by journalist John Sexton from China.org.cn (see 'New War of the Flea: CSR and Labor Activism in China', 22nd October 2009), plus Jonathan Adams and Kathleen McLaughlin from GlobalPost (see 'Silicon Sweatshops', 17th November 2009). 23/11/09

ESRC Grant Awarded to inVISIO Research Centre

Professor Jane Davison is part of a group who have been awarded £81,000 in ESRC Researcher Development Initiative funding (2010-2012): inVISIO (International Network of Visual Studies in Organisations). Prof Davison will be working with colleagues from Surrey, Bath, Exeter and Sheffield.
17/11/09

Public Lecture at the American University of Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

Dr Gül Berna Özcan is giving a public lecture today at the American University of Bishkek on “Awakening Tigers and the New Supremacy: Business Interest Representation in Central Asia”. Dr Özcan's lecture will elaborate on how the entrepreneurs of Central Asia are seeking new ways to protect their market gains and increase their influence in politics. The session will be chaired by the founder of 'Kyrgyz Concept', one of the most successful business groups in the country.
» AUCA event details 13/11/09

Keynote Address on Knowledge Creation in University-Industry Partnerships, Copenhagen

Professor Alice Lam recently gave an invited keynote address to the 3rd Annual Copenhagen Conference on Partnerships entitled: ‘University-Industry Partnerships: Knowledge Creation in Hybrid Space’. The conference was jointly organised by Copenhagen Business School, Danish Business Research Academia and the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals. Its purpose was to encourage dialogue between academic researchers and practitioners in the field of knowledge sharing in inter-organisational partnerships.
» Keynote presentation slides (PDF) 9/11/09

NHS management: 60 years of transition

Dr Mark Exworthy, Dr Fraser Macfarlane (Surrey University) and Micky Willmott (independent researcher) have conducted a study of the changing role of NHS managers. The research was prompted by the 25th anniversary of the Griffiths Report which formally introduced management into the NHS in the 1980s but also by a concern that regular re-organisations (creating a more diverse health-care environment) were harming the NHS's ability to learn from the past, especially regards the management of services. The research took a long-term perspective by conducting in-depth interviews with managers who had over 25 years experience in the NHS. It concluded that managers are an established interest group in the NHS but there is a danger that frequent structural reforms are eroding the organisational memory of the NHS. If so, the NHS is in danger of failing to learn from its own history. The research was funded by the Nuffield Trust and a summary can be downloaded here: NHS management: 60 years of transition (PDF).
03/11/09

Grant awarded by Nuffield Foundation to Dr Fiona Moore

Dr Fiona Moore has been awarded £7,140 by the Nuffield Foundation for a 2-year research project entitled 'The role of hybrid identity in knowledge transfer among Anglo-Chinese managers.'
29/10/09

Report on statutory regulation and professional practice released

'Statutory Regulation and the Future of Professional Practice in Psychotherapy and Counselling' was produced by the following CPSO members and associates: Dr Gerry McGivern, Dr Michael Fischer and Prof Ewan Ferlie, (KCL) and Dr Mark Exworthy (RHUL, photo right). This report is based on a research project funded by the GMC/ESRC Public Services Programme entitled 'The Visible and Invisible Performance Effects of Transparency in Professional regulation'. The research compared the effects of regulation for doctors with developing regulation for psychotherapists and counsellors.
20/10/09

CRIS hosts visiting scholar from South Africa

Minka Woermann, a lecturer in philosophy and business ethics at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, is currently visiting the School of Management. During her stay she will be liasing with Dr Laura Spence and Dr David Bevan of the Centre for Research into Sustainability (CRIS), and present her understanding of a critical complexity perspective at a seminar on 28th October. » More about Minka's visit 14/10/09

Special Issue on Visual Perspectives on Accounting and Accountability

A special issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (August 2009, Vol. 22 No. 6), on Visual Perspectives on Accounting and Accountability has recently been published, guest edited by Samantha Warren (University of Surrey) and  Professor Jane Davison (photo right) of the Accounting, Finance and Economics group in the School of Management at Royal Holloway. Sam and Jane are among the founding members of inVisio, the International Network for Visual Studies in Organization.
» Link to the special issue 14/10/09

Keynote Address on 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions

Professor Jonathan Black-Branch recently presented an invited keynote address to the Armed Forces Law Association of New Zealand (AFLANZ) entitled: The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions: Protecting Civilians During and After Armed Conflict under International Humanitarian Law. The international conference was on Human Rights and the Military; A duty to protect?, held in Wellington, New Zealand 28th - 30th August 2009; organized by the University of Canterbury in conjunction with the Armed Forces Law Association of New Zealand (AFLANZ) and the New Zealand Centre for Public Law at the School of Law, Victoria University of Wellington. 14/10/09

New Book on Systems Practice by José-Rodrigo Córdoba-Pachón

Dr José-Rodrigo Córdoba-Pachón, has just had a new book published by Routledge: Systems Practice in the Information Society was released in October 2009. It aims to help students, practitioners in information systems, and policymakers appreciate and deal with the complexities of the so-called Global Information Society. The book contains a helpful and historical description of both systems thinking and the information society as bodies of knowledge which can help inform our practice. » Read more: Systems Practice in the Information Society 13/10/09

Research Fellowship Awarded by American University of Central Asia

Dr Gül Berna Özcan has been awarded a visiting research fellowship from the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) based in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. She will be spending part of her sabbatical at AUCA's Social Research Center (SRC), where she will submit two papers on her research topic "Entrepreneurs, markets and Islamic morality in Central Asia" to be published on the SRC website www.src.suca.kg/
09/09/09

ILMH Win EABIS Award For Research Informed Practice in Healthcare

The Institute of Leadership and Management in Health, part of the SWAN initiative with Kingston and St George's universities, has won an award from EABIS for "Research Informed Practice in Healthcare: Leadership, Organisational Change, and Governance." Deputy Director of the ILMH, Dr Mark Exworthy, said they plan to hold a workshop with business schools in Denmark, Italy and Ireland. 07/09/09

CRIS Members Leading the Way on Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability

Members of School of Management research centre CRIS (Centre for Research into Sustainability) have contributed to a special issue of the Journal of Corporate Governance that has just been published on corporate responsibility and sustainability. Three members of CRIS (David Bevan, Lutz-Preuss and Jose-Rodrigo Córdoba-Pachon) contributed to articles, while Dr Bevan was also a co-editor for the special issue. » Further details and links to articles
07/09/09

Nuffield Grant for Research into Indian Industrial Relations

Dr Vidu Badigannavar (along with Prof. John Kelly from Birkbeck) has been awarded a Nuffield Foundation Grant of £7,454 for a study on Indian Industrial Relations. In the light of economic reforms the country has embarked upon since 1991, there is a growing debate over labour market regulation. It is sometimes argued that the labour laws in India disproportionately protect the interest of workers and unions at the expense of employers. However there is very little systematic research done on the extent to which the existing labour laws protect the interest of labour and hinder labour market flexibility. This research will look at the 'Union Experiences of Labour Market Regulation' and will assess the impact of the Industrial Disputes Act – a key labour legislation in India – on workplace employment relations.
07/07/09

Distinguished Visitor Returns to China

Visiting researcher, Wu Chong, returned to Central South University in Changsha on 9th May, after completing a highly successful one and a half year stay with the Technology and Information Management group in the School of Management. His visit to Royal Holloway was made possible by a prestigious scholarship he received from the Chinese government.

Wu Chong has been working primarily with Dr David Barnes on research into new techniques for partner selection in agile supply chains. The pair presented an overview of their work at a School of Management lunchtime research seminar on 6th May. A more detailed summary appears in the School of Management Research Paper Series No. SoMWP0808.

They will also present their research at the 3rd International Conference on Operations and Supply Chain Management in Wuhan, China in July. A research paper arising from the collaboration has recently been published in the leading operations management journal Production Planning & Control*. Another has just been accepted for publication in the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management. Further research papers from the work are currently under review with other academic journals.

* Wu, Chong, Barnes, David, Rosenberg, Duska and Luo, Xinxing (2009) ‘An analytic network process-mixed integer multi-objective programming model for partner selection in agile supply chains’, Production Planning & Control, Vol.20, No.3, pp. 254-275.
12/05/09

Research for the Prince of Wales' Accounting for Sustainability Project

Professor Jeffrey Unerman (and Professor Anthony Hopwood of the Saïd Business School) are leading and co-editing a case study project investigating how sustainability accounting and reporting can be effective in changing organisations' sustainability strategy and actions. A synopsis of the case studies is to be published at the Accounting for Sustainability Forum due to be held at St James's Palace and to be chaired by the Prince of Wales in December 2009. » For more about the research teams and companies studied see Accounting for Sustainability Project aims to embed sustainability in decision-making
06/05/09

NHS Research and Knowledge Mobilisation plus 'SAS' Paramedics

Dr Ashok Jashapara has recently been awarded funding for the following two projects.

Research Utilisation and Knowledge Mobilisation (with Prof. Ewan Ferlie)
Funded by the National Institute for Health Research: Service Delivery & Organisation (SDO) programme - £70K

This project is a synthesis of the literature around knowledge mobilisation and research utilisation by managers in the NHS. There has been criticism that relatively little high quality NHS research has an impact on policy or practice. Dr Jashapara and Prof. Ferlie have been looking at the extensive literature and developing a number of propositions. This research is aimed at informing SDO’s commissioning agenda and to provide guidance to the SDO as a research producer and knowledge broker. The outputs of the research shall also provide briefing papers for a new SDO research funding call in May 2009 on knowledge mobilisation among NHS managers.

Evaluation of Critical Care Paramedics – ESRC Research Fellowship
Funded jointly by ESRC, SDO and the South East Coast Ambulance NHS Trust - £100K

Dr Jashapara will be evaluating an innovative pilot scheme that has developed around 25 ‘critical care’ paramedics in the south east of England to tackle more effectively the 5-8% of patients who require very high levels of care such as resulting from heart attacks, premature pregnancies and road traffic accidents. To prevent fatalities, the first 45 minutes is critical in all these cases. These latest ‘SAS’ paramedics will use new technologies in their ambulances such as blood transfusion and body scanning machines. They have been trained to a high level over the past year. The use of technology and high levels of training are assumed to make a difference to the care of these high risk patients. The final evaluation report on this project will be received by the Department of Health to help them decide whether a national rollout scheme of ‘critical care’ paramedics would be beneficial. Dr Jashapara will be working with a team of doctors, paramedics and information analysts on this project.
23/04/09

The Nature of Operations Management

Dr Alan Pilkington presented the results of a major study into the nature of operations management in a seminar at Cass Business School (2.4.09). The work, based on the innovative application of citation analysis shows the emerging structure of the field and the increasing importance of theory construction.
15/04/09

"So you want to be a consultant ..." IEEE Seminar

The School of Management recently hosted a seminar in association with the IEEE Engineering Management Society. The topic "So you want to be a consultant ..." was delivered by Anthony Bainbridge CEng FIET SMIEEE and was organised by Dr Alan Pilkington, current Chair of the IEEE (UK/Republic of Ireland) Technology Management Council. More information on similar activities can be found at: http://ewh.ieee.org/r8/ukri/em_pc/
15/04/09

Media Briefing on President Obama’s Visit to Turkey

WASHINGTON – Dr Gül Berna Özcan was one of three speakers at an on-the-record media breakfast briefing at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars yesterday. This briefing offered an in-depth look into the current affairs in Turkey and the goals of President Obama's forthcoming visit.

The briefing included a discussion on the significant changes and thoughts on what the Obama administration hopes to achieve through a strengthened relationship with Turkey. Speakers also addressed how these objectives are complicated by the war in Iraq and the strong U.S. support for Israel as well as problems that have developed in Turkey's accession negotiations with the European Union. Each of the speakers gave brief remarks followed by a Q&A session.
31/03/09

Marketing group publishes two new books this month  

Marketing group professors Pauline Maclaran and Chris Hackley have each had new books published this month. Both books are the first teaching texts in their respective sub-fields. Professor MacLaran is co-editor, with Liz Parsons of Keele University, of ‘Contemporary Issues in Marketing and Consumer Behaviour’. Chris Hackley is author of ‘Marketing – a critical introduction’. Each book takes a critical perspective on marketing in its historical, social and global context. Both texts will form part of the teaching on the new MA Marketing to be launched in 2009.
31/03/09

Exploring employee attitudes and motivation in a range of organisations

According to research released by Kingston University and Royal Holloway, University of London, people who have a passion for their work are happier and perform better. Dr Chris Rees, from the School of Management at Royal Holloway, said, ′This and other research suggests that engagement is strongly correlated with genuine opportunities for employee voice and involvement in workplace decisions. Employers clearly need to address this aspect or the danger will be that engagement strategies may be perceived as no more than empty rhetoric′. Read the press release: Passion prompts profits in the workplace
18/03/09

Dr Özcan Gives Public Lecture at Woodrow Wilson in Washington DC

Dr Gül Berna Özcan, Senior Lecturer in Corporate Governance and International Business at the School of Management and Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Center, gave a lecture at the Kennan Institute on 'Paradoxes of Capitalism: Market Building in Central Asia' on January 26th 2009.

Dr Özcan analysed the 20 year experience of three Central Asian states of market building and private enterprise development, and explained why these efforts have paradoxically resulted in oligarchic markets, consolidated authoritarian regimes, and a wary engagement with western institutions. A summary of her lecture will be published in the Kennan Institute Newsletter, which has a circulation of 6,000.
» Summary | Event details
23/02/09

Sameer Hosany highly commended for doctoral research

The doctoral thesis of Dr Sameer Hosany, Lecturer in Marketing at the School of Management, has been chosen as a Highly Commended Award winner in the 2008 Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Awards. His study entitled ‘The determinants and consequences of emotional responses towards tourist destinations’ was one of the outstanding entries in the Hospitality Management category. For the 2008 Awards, 119 high-quality entries were received from around the world. » More about Sameer's Doctoral Research Award
27/01/09

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