Our core values are social justice and inclusivity, and environmental sustainability. Departmental colleagues are committed to collective excellence in teaching and research and bring a wide range of expertise from different disciplines. In our teaching and research we focus on:
- how business and management influence society – for example, in economic development, through innovation in environmentally beneficial products and systems, through responsible management practices, by management in the non-profit and public sectors and in businesses in the creative and cultural industries;
- how society shapes business and management – for example, through law and regulation but also through changing norms and expectations for equality and diversity and environmental sustainability.
In this age of rapid innovation, technological, and environmental change but also challenges of inequality and social division, our Department plays an 
important role in preparing our undergraduate and postgraduate students for the challenges of the work place. We host initiatives in Building the Anti-Racist Classroom and the BreakThrough project – The Bangladeshi Women’s Careers group. We also have professional placements as part of our MA in Heritage Management and MA in Creative Industries and Arts Organization.
SBM's Department of Business and Society is a centre of international excellence in a number of distinct areas such as public management, global and corporate governance, social and environmental sustainability, not-for-profit management, the relationship between law, regulation and business. Our research responds to the needs of practitioners across industries, countries, sectors and governmental bodies. Research-led and student-centred teaching fully reflects the rapidly changing economic, social, legal, political and regulatory environment of the global economy.
We are a lively department that values creativity, collegiality, and collaboration in teaching and research. We are a team of academics with strong international reputations who aspire to excellence in research and teaching, which are closely related and integrated.
Dr Giuliano Maielli
Under the broader themes of Business and Society, research and teaching can be clustered into four areas: (1) Political Economy and International Business Development (2) Regulation, Law and Institutional Development (3) Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (4) Creative and Cultural Industries and Heritage Management.
1. Political Economy and International Business Development
Research and teaching in this area includes:
- Global supply chains
- World economy and development
- Sustainability, social and environmental
- Business and society
- Not-for-profit management
- Social reproduction
- History of capitalism
2. Public Governance, Regulation, Law and Institutional Development
Research and teaching in this area includes:
- Legal issues in business and business law
- Institutional development and corporate governance
- Global governance and institutions
- Corporate social responsibility and business ethics
- Sustainable finance
- Public sector management and regulation
- Charity sector and social change
3. Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Research and teaching in this area includes:
- Strategic management
- Frugal and sustainable innovation
- New product development
- Business ecosystems
- Entrepreneurship and start-ups
- Innovation and global competition
- Responsible leadership
- Consulting on sustainability
- Professionalization of sustainability
4. Creative and Cultural Industries and Heritage Management:
Research and teaching in this area includes:
- Creative and cultural industries
- Heritage management
- History of cultural industries
- Race and postcolonialism
- Intersectional race, gender, class, ability and decolonising/post colonial studies of creative and cultural industries
- Creativity, environmental sustainability and organizational behaviour
- Creative labour process theory
- Creative and cultural value chain strategy and management
The departmental research has been extensively presented in world-leading conferences and published in world-leading, internationally-excellent academic journals and monographs.
Academic staff research
We publish in influential journals such as:
- Asia Pacific Journal of Management
- British Journal of Management
- Business History
- Economic Geography
- English Historical Review
- Environment and Planning A and D
- Harvard Business Review
- Human Relations
- Human Resource Management
- Industrial and Corporate Change
- International Journal of Management Reviews
- International Public Management Journal
- Journal of Business Ethics
- Journal of Business Research
- Journal of Economic Geography
- Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology
- Journal of Organizational Change Management
- Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory
- Journal of Public Policy
- Journal of World Business
- Organizational Research Methods
- Organisation Studies
- Public Administration
- Public Administration Review
- Regional Studies
- Research Policy
- Review of International Political Economy
- Sociology
We also publish books in leading publishing presses, including: Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Duke University Press, Routledge and Edward Elgar.
The Department of Business and Society currently has 18 PhD students supervised by its members. It seeks intellectually curious doctoral applicants with a strong academic track record who are interested in undertaking rigorous and innovative research across any of our areas of expertise. We are committed to educating scholars who will carry forward productive and rigorous research and who will lead in their fields of activity.
Prospective Doctoral candidates are encouraged to contact the Head, or other members, of the Department.
