Research Areas
Research Themes
Research across The Open University Business School is characterised by a shared interest in engagement with professional practice and with policy-makers. The Research Units provide focus in addressing specific sectors or disciplines, but the boundaries between research units are not rigid and Open University Business School research is also united by the interdisciplinary cross-cutting themes, including those described here. These give Open University Business School research as a whole its distinctive qualities.
Socially-responsible management
Socially-responsible management includes research into social enterprise, corporate social responsibility, social marketing, public and non-profit management, and sustainability. The socially-responsible management theme is highly synergistic with The Open University’s social justice agenda.
Managing across boundaries
The boundaries that confront managers include cultural, organisational, functional and international barriers. Open University Business School contributions include major research programmes in partnership and collaboration management, supply chain management, and managing knowledge processes across boundaries.
Managing knowledge, innovation and learning.
Much Open University Business School research converges on these interrelated concepts, though from different traditions and perspectives. Open University Business School researchers have pioneered research into the question of knowledge management, the role of knowledge processes in innovation, and in investigating how innovation is perceived by managers. More recently the notions of social learning, social innovation, learning through narrative, and cross-cultural learning have added to the richness of the contributions.
