Department of People and Organisations

We bring together world-class research and teaching across organisational behaviour, human resource management, and employment relations - exploring how people, organisations, and institutions interact in an ever-changing world of work.

Our work champions the values of social justice, equality, diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing, shaping how organisations can lead responsibly and sustainably. We investigate the realities of leadership, learning, innovation, and personal and professional growth through a multidisciplinary lens — using both established and cutting-edge research approaches.

In short, we’re not only studying the future of work — we’re helping to shape it.

Our Department is home to the CIPD-accredited International Human Resource Management MSc and our academics staff contribute to the School’s BSc programmes in management, through core and elective modules. We take pride in preparing a diverse community of students to become globally responsible professionals — ready to thrive in corporate, public, and non-profit sectors, or as entrepreneurs shaping the future of business.

Our research is rigorous, impactful, and globally recognised, influencing both academic debate and professional practice. Members of the Department have received prestigious awards, secured significant research grants, and published in world-leading journals. Our academics are regularly invited to advise government bodies, professional organisations, trade unions, and major corporations — and their work is often featured in national and international media.

Beyond research, our Department fosters a collegiate and supportive environment that nurtures curiosity, collaboration, and critical inquiry. We are proud to play an active role in shaping the national and international higher education agenda — from leading committees to hosting global teaching and learning conferences such as the Academy of Management’s TLC@AoM.

Together, we are committed to advancing understanding of people and organisations — and to making a meaningful difference through research, teaching, and community impact.

Professor Stefan Krummaker, Interim Head of Department 

Under the broader themes of People & Organisations the areas that our academic staff and doctoral students specialise in can be grouped into the following themes:

1. Careers, Work & Employment

• Careers (including career progression of women and ethnic minorities)
• Intersection of multiple identities at work (incl. gender and professional identities)
• CEO careers
• Management, professional and occupational practices
• Employment and skills
• Women’s bodies at work
• Moral dilemmas at work

2. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

• Advantage and disadvantage at work (on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability)
• Inequalities and discrimination in the labour market (incl. gender pay gap)
• Organisational and regulatory strategies to address inequality
• Diversity on boards and in leadership
• Social justice

3. Human Resources and Employment Relations

• Human resource management and development
• Trade union policies and actions
• Labour economics and labour market inequality and policy
• Occupational regulation
• Organizational psychology (Emotions at work, psychological contract, job quality, wellbeing)

4. Knowledge, Learning and Organisational Change

• Evidence-based practices in management
• Organisational innovation processes and practices
• Social, organisational, management and leadership learning
• Knowledge work
• Communities and networks of practice
• Organisational development
• Science & technology
• Change management

5. Leadership and Management Education

• Leadership practices
• Leader-follower relationship
• Responsible leadership
• Power and politics
• Leadership development
• Management education and development

6. Methods

• Qualitative and quantitative research methods
• Evidence-based research and systematic reviews
• Ethnomethodology and conversation analysis

Overall, members of our Department are actively participating in the School’s research centres and groups aligned to the Department’s interests such as CRED and OPPRG. The academic staff of the People and Organisations Department regularly secure funding/grants for their research projects and have received numerous awards from academic and professional bodies. Being part of a Department that is highly international and diverse, our People and Organisations academic staff have long established national and international collaborations with scholars from other academic institutions. With the research of our Department anchored towards contribution in both academia and practice, the produced studies by our academics are frequently mentioned in the media. Our academic staff have been active in engaging with external organisations (private, governmental and intergovernmental organisations) to produce research reports on a variety of issues relating to people and organisations. Last but not least, our academics have been consistently contributing to the School’s research impact efforts by producing impact case studies for the REF.

Academic staff research

We publish in leading international journals such as:

General Management

• Academy of Management Learning & Education
• Academy of Management Perspectives
• Academy of Management Review
• British Journal of Management
• Harvard Business Review
• Human Relations
• International Journal of Management Reviews
• Journal of Business Research
• Journal of Management Studies
• Journal of Organizational Behavior
• Organization
• Organization Studies

Specialised journals

• Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal
• British Journal of Industrial Relations
• Business & Society
• Business Ethics: A European Review
• Economic and Industrial Democracy
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• European Journal of Industrial Relations
• Gender, Work and Organization
• Human Resource Management
• Human Resource Management Journal
• Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• Industrial Relations Journal
• International Journal of Human Resource Management
• Journal of Applied Behavioral Science
• Journal of Business Ethics
• Journal of Managerial Psychology
• Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology
• Journal of Organizational Change Management
• Journal of Vocational Behavior
• Leadership Quarterly
• Management Learning
• Work, Employment & Society

We also publish books in leading publishing press including: Oxford University Press, Bristol University Press, Routledge, Palgrave Macmillan, Elsevier and Edward Elgar.

Postgraduate programme:

MSc International Human Resource Management 

The Department of People and Organisations is seeking hard-working, committed and intellectually curious doctoral applicants from diverse backgrounds who have a strong academic record and a keen interest in producing cutting-edge research in this field. We expect our PhD students to actively contribute to the School’s intellectual community. They will be provided with the support to explore interesting research questions drawing on a variety of research methods, under the supervision of People & Organisations academic staff. Our students are offered a range of opportunities for development of research skills, participation in conferences to present their research or in the organisation of research activities within the School. They are also offered the opportunity to contribute to teaching and build a portfolio of skills that would allow them to carry successful careers in academia into the future.

Prospective doctoral candidates are encouraged to contact the Head of Department, or other academic staff within the People & Organisations Department for informal enquiries about the programme and potential research topics for PhD supervision.

• Find out more about studying a PhD and our current PhD researchers.