Afshan Iqbal (Leeds University Business School) and Lucy Gordon (Walker Morris) discuss working from home during the pandemic, and what employers need to think about when transitioning back to the office. 

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in June 2021. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact [email protected]. For more information about The Future Workplace project, visit the webpage. A transcript of this episode is available. 

About the speakers:  

Afshan Iqbal is an ESRC-funded postgraduate researcher at Leeds University Business School. Upon previously graduating from the Business School with an MSc in Management, Afshan went on to build a career in Financial Services, working as a Business Development Manager in the North East of England for a UK Life & Pensions company. Afshan’s first-hand experiences of remote and virtual working has inspired her research in this area. 

Lucy Gordon is a Director in the Employment Team at Walker Morris. She has over 15 years’ experience in advising national and international businesses on employment law. Lucy has particular expertise in advising on group restructures, TUPE and multi-jurisdictional redundancy programmes. 

Dr Annina Kaltenbrunner and Dr Bianca Orsi talk about the implications different types of currency internationalisation have, particularly in the context of emerging markets, and discuss their research on the Brazilian real. They highlight the strategy of currency regionalisation, rather than full currency internationalisation, and introduce the SML – a South American regional payment mechanisms – which could support such a currency regionalisation.    

You can read the reports on currency internationalisation and on the SML on the project webpage.

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in May 2021. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact [email protected]. A transcript of this episode is available.  

About the speakers: Dr Annina Kaltenbrunner is Associate Professor in the Economics of Globalisation and the International Economy at Leeds University Business School. Her research focuses on money, finance and macroeconomic policy in developing and emerging economies.  Dr Bianca Orsi is a Teaching Fellow in the Economics division, with research interests in monetary policy, inflation, capital controls, currency internationalisation and currency hierarchy.  

Dr Vita Kadile and Nicky Kinsey discuss their current research project which focuses on reshaping and mapping a curriculum onto entrepreneurial competencies. They talk about the need for a holistic approach to understand entrepreneurial competencies and their importance in entrepreneurship research and pedagogy. 

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in May 2021. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact [email protected]. A transcript of this episode is available.  

About the speakers: Vita Kadile is a Lecturer in Marketing at Leeds University Business School. Her research interests include cognitive and behavioural entrepreneurship, international and strategic marketing. Nicky Kinsey is a Teaching Fellow in the Marketing Division. Her interests lie in team dynamics, leadership and emotional intelligence. Her research interests centre around entrepreneurial competencies. 

How is strategy work changing in organisations and what role have digital technologies played in these transformations? Dr Josh Morton and Professor Krsto Pandza discuss open strategy and how utilising digital platforms can lead to more transparency and inclusion in strategy work.  

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in May 2021. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact [email protected]. A transcript of this episode is available. 

About the speakers:  Krsto Pandza is Professor of Strategy and Innovation at Leeds University Business School and Director of the Centre for Technology, Innovation and Engagement. His research interests lie at the intersection of strategy, technology innovation and organizational theory. Josh Morton is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Strategy and Innovation. Josh's research interests focus on strategy and innovation, including: strategy in pluralistic contexts, strategic agility, open strategy, legitimation, responsible innovation, digital innovation, and sustainability strategies.

Related papers:

The digital work of strategists: Using open strategy for organizational transformation

How Strategy Professionals Develop and Sustain an Online Strategy Community: The Lessons from Ericsson

Dr Sourindra Banerjee, Associate Professor of Marketing at Leeds University Business School, interviews Gareth Turner, Head of Brand at Weetabix, in this latest episode of the Research and Innovation Podcast. They discuss the brand’s recent viral tweet, and how agility, bravery, and a consistent tone of voice across all channels can help brands engage with consumers. 

You can read Dr Banerjee’s article on the effect viral tweets can have on a company’s sales here. 

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in April 2021. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact [email protected]. A transcript of this episode is available.

About the speakers:  

Dr Sourindra Banerjee is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Leeds University Business School. He specialises in understanding: how emerging market firms grow through international expansion and innovation; how to improve the effectiveness of salespeople; and how firms can effectively use social media. 

Gareth Turner is Head of Brand at Weetabix. He has over 20 years’ sales and marketing experience working on household name brands like John Smith’s, Bulmers, Lurpak, Arla and now Weetabix where he has been Head of Brand since June 2019. Career highlights so far include buying a racehorse for John Smith’s, new product development launches like the Bulmers fruit cider range and the Lurpak Cook’s Range, and the “Weetabix and Beans” social media post in February 2021. 

 Dr Matthew Davis, Dr Mark Sumner and Fergus Dowling discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has had a positive effect on some brands’ empathy, which can lead to more resilient supply chains within the fashion and textiles industry.  

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in March 2021. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact [email protected]. A transcript of this episode is available. 

This research project – Impact of Covid-19 on management to eradicate modern slavery from global supply chains: A case study of Indian fashion supply chains – is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and is a collaboration between the School of Design at the University of Leeds and Leeds University Business School. 

About the speakers: Dr Matthew Davis is an Associate Professor at Leeds University Business School, a Chartered Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. His research centres on how people interact with their environments, the impact of different office designs and how businesses engage in CSR, particularly to address sustainability and modern slavery. 

Dr Mark Sumner is a lecturer in the School of Design, focussing on sustainability within the textile, clothing and fashion industry, having spent over 15 years working in retail for a major international retailer. His research interests cover a diverse range of subjects such as textile technology, innovation, sustainability and consumer behaviour. 

Fergus Dowling is a Research Assistant on the project “Impact of Covid-19 on management to eradicate modern slavery from global supply chains: A case study of Indian fashion supply chains”. 

Dr Calum Carson (Leeds University Business School) and Daniel Howard (Living Wage Foundation) talk about the distinction between the National Living Wage and the Real Living Wage, why employers decide to become Living Wage employers, and what else affects in-work poverty. 

Find out more about the Living Wage Foundation by visiting the website www.livingwage.org.uk 

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in March 2021. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact [email protected]. A transcript of this episode is available.

About the speakers: Dr Calum Carson is an academic researcher at Leeds University Business School, having recently completed a PhD on the Real Living Wage. He is also a Labour Market and Policy Research Officer at the Employment Related Services Association (ESRA). 

Daniel Howard is a Programme Manager for the Living Wage Foundation’s “Living Hours” campaign, which seeks to guarantee workers an adequate number of regular hours alongside receiving Living Wage rates of pay. He has previous research and policy experience at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in York and at the Department for Work and Pensions in Leeds. 

Dr Matthew Davis and Dr Helen Hughes, Associate Professors at Leeds University Business School, talk about what office space might be like post-pandemic, asking questions such as whether the office is dead, how different sectors will respond, and whether employers will use this as an opportunity to re-think what office space should be for. 

This project - Adapting offices to support COVID-19 secure workplaces and emerging work patterns - is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as part of UK Research and Innovation’s rapid response to Covid-19. Visit the webpage www.bitly.com/adaptingoffices 

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in March 2021. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact [email protected]. A transcript of this episode is available.   

About the speakers: Dr Matthew Davis is an Associate Professor at Leeds University Business School, a Chartered Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. Dr Helen Hughes is also an Associate Professor at Leeds University Business School and the Programme Director for the British Psychological Society accredited MSc in Organisational Psychology.  

Fergus Dowling and Solène Bryson discuss how the pandemic has impacted the global clothing and textiles industry, and supply chain management of modern slavery. 

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in March 2021. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact [email protected]. A transcript of this episode is available.

About the speakers: Fergus Dowling is a Research Assistant on the project “Impact of Covid-19 on management to eradicate modern slavery from global supply chains: A case study of Indian fashion supply chains”. Solène Bryson is the Social Development Lead for Private Sector Department at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

This research project – Impact of Covid-19 on management to eradicate modern slavery from global supply chains: A case study of Indian fashion supply chains – is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and is a collaboration between the School of Design at the University of Leeds and Leeds University Business School. 

Visit the project webpage to find out more. Impact of Covid-19 on management to eradicate modern slavery from global supply chains: A case study of Indian fashion supply chains