Work, Organisations and Society
Work, Organisations and Society is an interdisciplinary research group investigating relations between people, organisations and society in the broadest possible sense.
The group uses a range of mainstream and critical theoretical perspectives, at both the micro-level of behaviour and inter-personal relations, and the macro-level of institutions and societies. Members adopt qualitative approaches such as video-reflexive ethnography, ethnography, observation and interviews, and quantitative analytical tools including panels, surveys and experiments.
Work, Organisations and Society research stands primarily on the pillars of sustainability, EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) and responsibility, in line with the School's ethos of responsible management. Group members question many of the generally-accepted ideas regarding organisations, and challenge orthodoxies of managerial practice. At the heart of the group is an interest in the sociological and psychological nature of organisational behaviour, and in the ethical and political context and consequences of organisations.
Research engages with a wide range of issues across the social sciences, and is organised under three overarching themes and their sub themes, as below.
The work theme includes:
- employment relations
- EDI
- fair work
- wellbeing at work
- sustainable work
- work monitoring and surveillance.
The sector or organisational type theme includes:
- social care
- sport
- entrepreneurial organisations
- wellbeing and resilience in higher education
- public sector
- circular economy
- performance of multinational corporations (MNCs)
- small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
- microbusinesses
- base of the pyramid (BoP) ventures
- informal economy
- emerging markets.
The processes of organising in society theme includes:
- leadership
- group processes
- crowd behaviour
- equality and inequality
- discarding and disadoption
- organisational capabilities
- export strategy
- diffusion of innovations and practices
- market creation and death
- net-zero transition
- entrepreneurship
- innovation
- reflexivity in organisations
- surveillance
- cybersecurity and cyberwarfare
- internationalisation strategy
- anti-corruption policies
- formal and informal lending.
Members of the group also work with the Centre for Research into Information, Surveillance and Privacy (CRISP), the Centre for the Study of Philanthropy and Public Good (CSPPG) and the Institute for Capitalising on Creativity (ICC).