Alexandra Bristow

Call for book chapter contributions. The deadline for the initial chapter abstract submission is Monday 2nd September 2024.

This book is part of the Routledge Doing Academia Differently series edited by Alexandra Bristow, Olivier Ratle and Sarah Robinson, and contributes to the series aims of consolidating and fostering alternatives to the increasingly narrowing prescriptions for doing academic work. We focus, in particular, on Doing Research Methods Differently, seeking to make available, in an edited collection, cutting-edge, creative, and innovative contributions on the topic from inspiring researchers working around the world.

This is a call for papers for the Organization Special Issue on Expert futures. Deadline for submissions is 1st February 2024. The call can also be accessed here: https://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/cmscontent/ORG/Expert%20Futures%20Organization%20Special%20Issue%20cfp-1677079711.pdf

The role of experts and expertise needs urgent attention in organization studies as a paradoxical juxtaposition has come to the fore. On the one hand, we are witnessing a proliferation of experts in and around organizations (Reed and Thomas, 2019; Wedel, 2011). On the other hand, there have been growing claims that expertise is increasingly irrelevant, in crisis, or already demised (Eyal, 2019; Koppl, 2018; Nichols, 2017). This special issue seeks to explore this paradoxical treatment of experts and expertise in the organizational context, asking potential authors to consider the implications for expert futures in and around organizations. We aim to problematise and critically assess the organizational role of experts and expertise, and how they are, or may be, organized.

This is a call for papers for the Special Issue of Management Learning. Deadline for submissions: September 1, 2022. This Special Issue celebrates 100 years of Paulo Freire and revisits Freire's legacy in the context of contemporary management learning and education. We invite authors to rethink management learning and education through critical pedagogic lenses by engaging with Freire’s work, or addressing its implications. We welcome a broad range of perspectives and submissions, which can be conceptual, empirical or methodological in scope, and address a wide range of relevant questions.

This book aims to add to critical academic career studies and critical university studies by challenging orthodoxies and power relations in academic career trajectories. Given the increased pressure to conform to norms and the potential challenges of the (post-)pandemic world, we wish to illustrate how alternative career trajectories can be possible and, in many cases, preferable and advantageous. We wish to do so by inviting chapter contributions from authors in different career stages and parts of the world who are doing careers differently and/or not conforming to stereotypical academic norms and roles. In so doing we intend to disrupt the implicit discourse of the ideal academic type (e.g. male, Western, free of responsibilities, able-bodied, 100-hour per week working), thus questioning the sustainability of current ‘required’ trajectories and the system this supports.

We encourage authors to come out from behind their official ‘profiles’ and instead to paint an individual or group self-portrait which reflects individual and/or shared struggles, contradictions and hidden stories. Provocatively, we encourage authors to choose and work with a metaphor or epithet for their self-portrait which in some way challenges current notions of the neoliberal academic.

It is envisaged that most contributions will come from Business School based academics/management and organisation scholars, however contributions from other related disciplines are also welcome.

The deadline for submitting expressions of interest in the form of a 500-word abstract is 1st July 2020.

Brexit could be seen as the largest popular rebellion against the power elites in the UK modern history. It is also part of a larger phenomenon – the resurgence of nationalism and right-wing politics within Europe, the United States and beyond. Bringing in its wake the worrying manifestations of racism, xenophobia and anti-intellectualism, Brexit and its consequences should be a core concern for Critical Management Studies academics in helping to shape post-Brexit societies, organisations and workplaces, and in fighting and challenging the sinister forces that permeate them. In this paper, we consider how CMS can rise to the challenges and possibilities of this 'phenomenon-in-the-making'. We reflect on the intellectual tools available to CMS researchers and the ways in which they may be suited to this task. In particular, we explore how the key positions of anti-performativity, critical performativity, political performativity, and public CMS can be used as a starting point for thinking about the potential relevance of CMS in Brexit and post-Brexit contexts. Our intention is to encourage CMS-ers to contribute positively to the post-Brexit world in academic as well as personal capacities. For this, we argue that a new public CMS is needed, which would 1) be guided by the premise that we have no greater and no lesser right than anyone else to shape the world, 2) entail as much critical reflexivity in relation to our unintended performativities as our intended ones, and 3) be underpinned by marginalism as a critical political project.

Should academic careers always unfold in exactly the same way? Is there one best way of being an academic? This book says no. Assumptions about who academics are and what they should do are becoming increasingly narrow and focused on achieving so-called ‘excellence’ in teaching and research above anything else. This book problematises this and explores the scope for doing academic careers differently.

Authors paint individual or group portraits of their academic careers, working with metaphors which challenge the dominant discourses of how academic careers should be led. From rejecting the pressure to focus on ‘one big thing’, to prioritising nurture and care, transcending disciplinary boundaries, reshaping own daily practice, connecting with communities, and being academics outside academia, the chapters in this book offer those considering, starting or developing an academic career a treasure trove of many alternative possibilities.

Presented as a portrait gallery through which readers are encouraged to meander at will, this compilation of insights into alternative academic lives will help to inspire and encourage current academics to re-think and take ownership of their careers in their own terms, according to their own strengths, weaknesses and circumstances.

In this paper we apply the concept of 'targets and terror', previously used in the healthcare sector, to the audit culture within business schools. We explore to what extent terror, or the inculcation of fear through processes of domination, is identifiable in the micro-level experiences of early career academics (ECAs). Drawing on an international study of 38 Critical Management Studies ECAs from 15 countries, we develop a theoretical framework combining Bourdieu's modes of domination and Meyerson and Scully's Tempered Radicalism (TR), which helps us identify top-down and horizontal processes of micro-terror and bottom-up processes of micro-terrorism, specifically self-terrorization and counter-terrorization. In extending the study of 'targets and terror' cultures to contemporary business schools, we develop a clearer understanding of how domination plays out in the everyday processes of management and self-management. From Bourdieu's modes of domination, we discern a dark picture of institutional and interpersonal overt and symbolic violence in the name of target achievement. The TR lens helps us to understand ECA challenges that can lead to self-terrorization but also brings possible ways forward, showing ECAs how to resist mechanisms of micro-terror through their own small acts of counter-terrorization, providing some hope specifically as the basis for collective resistance.

Drawing on a dialectical approach to resistance, we conceptualise the latter as a multifaceted, pervasive and contradictory phenomenon. This enables us to examine the predicament in which early-career Critical Management Studies (CMS) academics find themselves in the current times of academic insecurity and 'excellence', as gleaned through this group's understandings of themselves as resisters and participants in the complex and contradictory forces constituting their field. We draw on 24 semi-structured interviews to map our participants' accounts of themselves as resisters in terms of different approaches to tensions and contradictions between, on the one hand, the interviewees’ CMS alignment and, on the other, the ethos of business school neoliberalism. Emerging from this analysis are three contingent and interlinked narratives of resistance and identity – diplomatic, combative and idealistic – each of which encapsulates a particular mode (negotiation, struggle, and laying one’s own path) of engaging with the relationship between CMS and the business school ethos. The three narratives show how early-career CMS academics not only use existing tensions, contradictions, overlaps and alliances between these positions to resist and comply with selected forces within each, but also contribute to the (re-)making of such overlaps, alliances, tensions and contradictions. Through this reworking of what it means to be both CMS scholars and business school academics, we argue, early-career CMS academics can be seen as active resisters and re-constituters of their complex field.

This paper explores how Early Career Academics (ECAs) come to understand their future and the nature of their academic labour at a time when the profession as a whole faces increasingly uncertain and challenging working conditions. Focusing on a group of 20 ECAs with an allegiance to Critical Management Studies (CMS), we explore how they attempt to find their feet and to practise in ways compatible with their own values within environments and evaluation systems potentially at odds with their CMS agendas. We draw on Bourdieu’s theory of practice and his concepts of ‘hysteresis’ and ‘illusio’ to understand the various transitions they have to make to practise in this academic field and why they feel the investment is nevertheless worthwhile. In so doing we paint a rich description of the often painful experiences of this group and identify a series of disjunctures between their habitus and the current field. We then explore how they use these disjunctures as springboards for learning how to manoeuver within the field through developing what we term a ‘critical’ habitus. We argue that their role as outsiders and their experiences of disjuncture might help these ECAs to negotiate the complex field, not only in working out the rules of the game but also in developing a facility to bend them and develop their own personal rules.

This is the proof copy of the Preface, Contents pages and Chapter 4 from the 9th edition, published in March 2023. It is uploaded with full permission from Pearson.

The chapter introduces the research onion, defines ontology, epistemology and axiology, and explain their relevance to business research; explains the main research paradigms that are significant for business research; explains the relevance for business research of philosophical positions of positivism, critical realism, interpretivism, postmodernism and pragmatism; helps you reflect on and articulate your own philosophical position in relation to your research; Discusses and explains deductive, inductive, and abductive approaches to theory development.

It also contains a tool developed by Alexandra Bristow and Mark Saunders called 'HARP' that will help you diagnose your own research philosophy.

****PLEASE NOTE THE FULLY REVISED AND EXTENDED CHAPTER FROM THE 9TH (2023) EDITION IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON ACADEMIA.EDU****

Learning outcomes:
By the end of this chapter you should be able to:
• define ontology, epistemology and axiology, and explain their relevance to business research;
• reflect on your own epistemological, ontological and axiological stance;
• understand the main research paradigms that are significant for business research;
• explain the relevance for business research of philosophical positions such as positiv-ism, critical realism, interpretivism, postmodernism and pragmatism;
• reflect on and articulate your own philosophical position in relation to your research;
• distinguish between deductive, inductive, abductive and retroductive approaches to theory development.

Gaining physical access to potential respondents is crucial to human resource development (HRD) survey research. Yet a review of the HRD, human resource management and bestselling business and management research methods texts in the USA and UK reveals that, even where the process of gaining access is discussed and its cruciality stressed, inside accounts and insights regarding the daunting and problematic nature and its impact upon data collected are rarely emphasized. More specialist methods literature, although outlining some potential issues, again offers few insights into the actual realities likely to be faced in the real world. Consideration of recent articles in HRD journals highlights also that, despite the widespread use of surveys, often via the Internet, such issues of physical access are rarely mentioned, reporting at best merely summarizing from whom and how data were obtained. We speak to this problem by offering two inside accounts of multi-organization research studies utilizing a survey strategy and Internet questionnaire, where gaining access to people across a large number of organizations threw up many challenges. These accounts offer clear insights into the issues and implications for rigor associated with gaining access when undertaking Internet surveys using both purchased lists (databases) and volunteer panels. In particular, they highlight the importance of recognizing that gaining access is often problematic, and provide a context for our recommendations for research practice, thereby assisting the mitigation of potential problems.

In this thought piece we take stock of and evaluate the nature of knowledge production in the field of trust research by examining the epistemologies of 167 leading trust scholars, who responded to a short survey. Following a brief review of major epistemological perspectives we discuss the nature of the prevalent views and their geographical distribution within our field. We call on trust researchers to engage in epistemological reflection, develop their own awareness of alternative epistemologies, and ensure their work draws on and cites relevant research contrary to their preferred epistemological approach. To support this we ask editors of relevant journals to foster pluralism in trust research, publishing work from a range of epistemologies.

****PLEASE NOTE THE FULLY REVISED AND EXTENDED CHAPTER FROM THE 9TH (2023) EDITION IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON ACADEMIA.EDU****

This is the proof copy for Chapter 4 from  the 7th edition, which was published in 2015.  It is uploaded with full permission from Pearson.  The chapter defines ontology, epistemology and axiology, and explain their relevance to business research; explains the main research paradigms that are significant for business research;
• explains the relevance for business research of philosophical positions of positivism, critical realism, interpretivism, postmodernism and pragmatism; helps you reflect on and articulate your own philosophical position in relation to your research; Discusses and explains deductive, inductive, and abductive approaches to theory development.  It also contains a tool developed by Alexandra Bristow and Mark Saunders called  'HARP' that will help you diagnose your own research philosophy.

Prompted by findings from the 2012 Kingston Smith funded national survey, Success in challenging times: Key lessons for UK SMEs, this new study focuses on the ways in which SMEs use and benefit from social capital is created through both offline activities such as networking events, and online activities including social media use.
Offline and online networking activities are not mutually exclusive
alternatives for SMEs. Successful SMEs network with a number
of different communities, integrating a combination of both offline
and online methods. SMEs’ websites are crucial and need to be
optimised to improve search engine positioning. Social media sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn are used widely to both showcase the business and build relationships with customers, but are not considered a substitute for face-to-face networking.
The most popular reason for SMEs using social media is to develop
their business image or to market products. The fast, easy and low
cost access to people and businesses provided by Web 2.0 and
social media helps them do this better. Online networking can enable SMEs to overcome the drawbacks of traditional face-to-face contact, such as limited numbers and diversity, and the associated high costs.
SMEs that proactively engage with social media can systematically raise their profiles to successfully compete with larger organisations. Few SMEs claim to be experts in social media use. IT and social media are regarded as necessary evils and SMEs consider that there is no choice other than to engage very proactively in these areas. However, there is a need to manage this engagement strategically, along with traditional networking, to avoid a disproportionate amount of resource being dedicated to this area.
Face-to-face (offline) networking events remain the most important form of all types of SME networking with roughly two thirds of SMEs devoting one to six hours per week to this activity. In general, locally oriented SMEs without a scalable business offering prefer face-to-face networking events, whereas globally oriented non-scalable SMEs put significant effort into social media. Networks included customers, associates and former employees who had moved on to become independent contractors. Networking is about making contacts,
outside the SME, who can offer feedback or advice or be used to
outsource work. These networks are regarded as a ‘community of
people’ who might join in with a new business proposal or be used to provide external expertise.
The methods SMEs use to increase social capital, must be fit for
purpose and appropriate to their business model. Social media are
complementary to, rather than a substitute for, traditional networking and events. The challenge facing SMEs is how best to integrate their online and offline activities to complement their business and generate social capital.

On June 2nd 2006 we hosted the Organizing Revolution seminar on the sun-drenched campus (and beach) of Swansea University, attracting an eclectic range of papers. The aim of the seminar was to open up the discussion as to what form 'revolution' might take in the 21st century, and in what direction our theorizing about 'organizing rev-olution' could/should develop. On the back of the Swansea event we also launched a call for papers for this special issue, inviting papers with a historical slant on the Figure 1 Editors on the Beach. all pre-sented insightful papers that for various reasons didn't end up in this special issue. We would like to acknowledge the input of their thought, and express our thanks for making the seminar a success. And before introducing the four papers that make up this issue we would like to outline briefly our own interest in the topic. Revolution seems a constant in the world of business. Textbooks talk about Taylorism and Fordism as revo...

This study focuses on the ways in which SMEs use and benefit from social capital. Social capital is created through both offline activities such as networking events, and online activities including social media use. Offline and online networking activities are not mutually exclusive alternatives.  Successful SMEs network with a number of different communities integrating a combination of both offline and online methods. SMEs’ websites are crucial and need to be optimised to improve search engine positioning.  Social media sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn are used widely to both showcase the business and build relationships with customers, but are not considered a substitute for face-to-face networking.

The most popular reason for SMEs using social media is to develop their business image or to market products. The fast, easy and low cost access to people and businesses provided by Web 2.0 and social media helps them do this better. Online networking can enable SMEs to overcome the drawbacks of traditional face-to-face contact, such as limited numbers and diversity, and the associated high costs(15). SMEs that proactively engage with social media can systematically raise their profiles to successfully compete with larger organisations(15).

The study reveals that few SMEs claim to be experts in social media use. IT and social media are regarded as necessary evils and SMEs consider that there is no choice but to engage very proactively in these areas. However, there is a need to manage this engagement strategically, along with traditional networking, to avoid a disproportionate amount of resource being dedicated to this area. Face-to-face (offline) networking events remain the most important form of all types of SME networking with roughly two thirds of SMEs devoting one to six hours per week to this activity. In general, locally oriented SMEs without a scalable business offering prefer face-to-face networking events, whereas globally oriented non-scalable SMEs additionally put significant effort into social media. Networks included customers, associates and former employees who had moved on to become independent contractors. Networking is about making contacts outside the SME who can offer feedback or advice or be used to outsource work. These networks are regarded as a ‘community of people’ who might join in with a new business proposal or be used to provide external expertise. 

The methods SMEs use to increase social capital, must be fit for purpose and appropriate to their business model. Social media are complementary to, rather than a substitute for, traditional networking and events. The challenge facing SMEs is how best to integrate their online and offline activities to complement their business and generate social capital. This article explores how this can be done to best effect.