Achieving Impact on Society

Our research examines the interconnectedness of business and society, issues of social justice, and the challenges of running public, private and third sector organisations in today’s world. It is essential that our work has a meaningful impact on society, and that’s why we work closely with a wide range of UK and international partners beyond higher education collaborating on research, and organising workshops, public and community-led events.

Working with public policy makers

We work with numerous policy-making bodies, including:

• international agencies, such as the European Union, the EU Agency for Fundamental Human Rights, the European Finance Research Advisory Group, the International Monetary Fund, and the governments of Portugal and India;
• UK government departments including Communities and Local Government, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Business, Innovation and Skills, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Department of Justice;
• local authorities, including Enfield, Leeds, Devon, Tower Hamlets; and
• non-governmental bodies such as the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Collaborations with practitioners and professional services

We also work with professional bodies, unions, businesses and public bodies including:

• the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the Institute of Chartered Accountants;
• the TUC, AFL/CIO, UK and US unions, the International Transport Workers’ Federation, the High Pay Centre, Greenpeace; and
• the Asian Investment Bank, Barclays, Ernst & Young, BBC and Network Rail.

Reaching a wider audience

Our academics reach out to audiences well beyond academia. We organise academic-practitioner workshops and exhibitions, and have written for newspapers including The Economist, Guardian, Observer, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, El Mundo, Público, as well as Bloomberg, the BBC, ABC Canberra and Reuters Italia.

Examples of our impact

Here are just a few examples of how our research has had an impact on society. We have:

• Explored the links between diversity and innovation in a large IT multinational, one of the world’s largest IT services provider (and)
• Conducted an experimental visual ethnography in an east London market leading to an art exhibition, workshops and seminars ()
• Created a network of academics, policymakers and practitioners on equality and procurement and examined the Olympic Park legacy of the ‘Women into Construction’ project, leading to recommendations for the construction industry and government ()
• Worked with the Romanian Embassy on the issue of Romanian migration to the UK ()
• Investigated the links between cultural factors and recruitment at the BBC (and)
• Researched essential medicines in rural Indian villages, which informed an intervention that led to a significant reduction in the neonatal mortality rate ()
• Given evidence to the Commons Select Committee Report into Women in the Workplace ()
• Collaborated with the Pacific Islands and Seychelles fishing agencies, EC and UN to ensure that the international tuna trade operates more fairly for developing economies ().
• Helped develop more sustainable environmental regulations through a work placement at the Better Regulation Team in the UK’s Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) ().
• Provided consulting help to local businesses via QConsult and mentoring of entrepreneurs (, , Forkmann).

Case study examples of our impact