Projects per year
Personal profile
Academic / Professional qualifications
1998 PhD in Management & Employment Relations (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
1992 Certificate in Company Direction (Institute of Directors of New Zealand and Victoria University Wellington)
1981 PGDip in Groundwater Hydrology (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
1978 MSc (Hons) in Physics (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
1975 BSc in Physics (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
Personal Statement
I joined Strathclyde Business School in 2004, a move that saw me relocating to Scotland from the University of Auckland Business School in my native New Zealand. My research activities at that stage were focussed primarily on the processes of technological learning in small manufacturing businesses, but I also maintained an interest in scientific and hi-tech innovation and the management of professionals, especially scientists.
My move to Scotland was just one of many major turning points in my career, which originally started out in geothermal hydrology, and then proceeded through international consultancy and the management of large multi-national science projects, before finally turning to my current academic focus. Along the way, I also started up two small companies, one in London and the other in Auckland, and I was appointed as a non-executive Director on the boards of two New Zealand science companies. This prior experience continues to inform my interests in organisational practice, whether this be in business, science or the arts. It has also been helpful in my empirical work, giving me the vocabulary to engage effectively across disciplines.
Research Interests
My research interests revolve around the social practices that shape creativity, innovation, and change in organisations, where these practices are continuously emerging from, and reproduced in, complex intersubjective engagements. The main object of my research is Leadership, which I conceive not as a quality or attribute of talented individuals, but rather as a dynamic movement that is generated in the social processes of organising. My work is deeply informed by the Pragmatist Philosophers, especially George Herbert Mead, who brings a richly processual perspective to bear upon the social dynamics of organisational practices. My recent publications have pursued these themes in philosophical, theoretical and empirical formats, and my current projects continue to develop process ontology as an alternative to conventional Humanist or critical studies.
I very much enjoy supervising postgraduate researchers and welcome inquiries from potential students who have interests that resonate with my ongoing research agenda. I am currently supervising a variety of doctoral-level projects that explore leadership work and the dynamics of creativity. I am particularly interested in attracting students who wish to take a fresh look at leadership as an emergent organisational practice.
Teaching Interests
My teaching experience encompasses undergraduate, postgraduate, and post-experience levels of student learning, as well as executive education and coaching. I also have extensive experience teaching across disciplines, especially between science/engineering, the performing arts, and business. The common goal of all of my teaching practice is to encourage students to see their world in new and challenging ways. My aim is always to develop independent and reflexive critical thinkers who, above all else, have learned how to learn for themselves. I see the two-way exchange between teacher and student as a fertile ground for the development of creative and innovative ideas. While I endeavour to incorporate my research activities into my teaching at all times, I also recognise the importance of grounding my teaching in the practical realities of my own experience as a manager, an entrepreneur, and a company director. I have been the recipient of a Universitas 21 Teaching Fellowship and an Outstanding Teaching Excellence Award.
In 2023/24 I am teaching and coordinating the following classes:
- Leadership for change and innovation (for Masters of Business Management students
I also contribute to Strathclyde Business School's Research Methods and Research Philosophy classes for postgraduate researchers, and I teach similar topics at Aalborg University in Denmark and IAE Lyon in France.
Expertise & Capabilities
- Processes of creativity, innovation and change in organisations
- Leadership in performative processes
- Methods of inquiry for process research
- Pragmatist philosophies in process research
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Doctor of Philosophy, Organisational transformation and environmental sensemaking in New Zealand's Crown Research Institutes, The University of Auckland
Feb 1995 → Dec 1997
Award Date: 1 Jul 1998
External positions
Senior Fellow of the Centre for Unframed Thinking, Rennes School of Business
Jul 2022 → …
Adjunct Professor, Aalborg Universitet
May 2021 → …
Visiting Professor, TU Delft
Aug 2019 → Dec 2021
Distinguished Professor of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg Universitet
Mar 2019 → May 2021
Keywords
- leadership
- Creativity and leadership
- Performative leadership
- Process ontology
- Doing process research
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 11 Finished
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Externally funded PhD Studentship - Public Leadership as robust collaborative action
Simpson, B. (Principal Investigator)
1/10/18 → 30/09/21
Project: Research - Studentship
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REA Studentship - Public leadership as robust collaborative action
Simpson, B. (Principal Investigator)
1/10/18 → 30/09/21
Project: Research - Studentship
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Collaborative leadership: a processual approach
Buchan, L. & Simpson, B., 24 May 2024, The Routledge Critical Companion to Leadership Studies. Knights, D., Liu, H., Smolović-Jones, O. & Wilson, S. (eds.). Abingdon-on-Thames, p. 80-90 11 p. (Routledge Companions in Business and Management).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Diffracting Collaborative Leadership: A Pragmatist Project
Simpson, B., 9 May 2024, (Accepted/In press) Oxford: Oxford University Press.Research output: Book/Report › Book
Datasets
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New engineering design processes through humour
Hatcher, G. (Creator), Ion, W. (Data Manager), MacLachlan, R. (Contributor), Wodehouse, A. (Contributor), Simpson, B. (Contributor) & Sheridan, M. (Contributor), University of Strathclyde, 31 Oct 2016
DOI: 10.15129/7a8c5e1e-988b-4f32-ba9a-0ad8c01c0dc6
Dataset
Prizes
Activities
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Lancaster University
Simpson, B. (Visiting researcher)
1 Oct 2023 → 30 Sept 2027Activity: Visiting an external institution types › Visiting an external academic institution
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39th European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS)
Beavan, K. (Organiser), Revsbaek, L. (Organiser) & Simpson, B. (Organiser)
4 Jul 2023Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course