Research at BBS

A vibrant research community

Bristol Business School is one of the leading post-1992 university centres for research in the fields of business, management and employment. We support a thriving and vibrant research community with over 100 academic staff and large numbers of research students. Our research values are to promote innovative and collaborative research activity with a high level of commitment to theoretical development and empirical research that has practical relevance to the needs of business and the wider community.

International and national research

The Business School is a multi-disciplinary unit and is home to six main research groups. Our research staff achieved excellent results in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. In Accounting and Finance, 10 per cent of staff output was graded ‘world-leading’, 30 per cent was graded ‘internationally excellent’ and a further 40 per cent was graded ‘internationally recognised’. In Business and Management, 30 per cent of staff output was graded ‘internationally excellent’ and another 55 per cent was graded ‘internationally recognised’. Over the past six years, staff have presented over 500 different papers at such conferences as: Royal Economic Society; European Economics Association; European Group for Organisational Studies; Critical Management Studies; British Academy of Management; International Labour Process Conference; British Universities Industrial relations Association; Academy of Marketing; Market Research Society; and World Congress of Sociology.

The six research groups are:

Accounting and Finance

Accounting and Finance is home to two research centres. The Centre for Global Finance conducts work in the area of financial markets, corporate finance, financial economics, banking and international monetary systems. The Bristol Centre for Management Accounting Research is jointly organised with researchers at the University of Bristol. The centre operates in close contact with practitioners, companies, and professional bodies, particularly CIMA. Other staff research interests include Accounting Education (where we have a new research unit); Financial Reporting, Taxation and Public Policy; and Accounting History.

Economics

Bristol Economics carries out consultancy and academic research in applied economics, broadly defined. We have particular expertise in economic evaluation and quantitative analysis and have successfully completed work for a long list of businesses, organisations and government bodies. Much of our work is interdisciplinary, has strong practical relevance and is backed up by academic rigour. Our researchers are driven by the desire to provide insight of the highest quality, to find out something new and to share knowledge in a mutually beneficial way.

Employment Studies

This group is based in the Centre for Employment Studies Research, a university-approved research centre. Members have recently held the Presidency of the British Universities Industrial Relations Association and the editorship of the BSA journal, Work, Employment and Society. CESR members have developed a strong and distinctive research agenda combining pure, applied and policy-oriented work in the areas of career development and skills; equality and diversity; new work organisation and HRM; vulnerable work and workers; employee representation and forms of trade union organising; labour history; and critical realism.

Marketing

This group has a strong applied focus with a philosophy that its researchers should contribute to knowledge creation and transfer in an applied setting, that is, in partnership with knowledge users. It is home to the Bristol Social Marketing Centre which focuses activity on the improvement of health, the environment and overall quality of life across all sectors of the population via the study and dissemination of world-class social marketing research. The mainstream marketing field is covered by the Applied Marketing Group. Members of the group have expertise in marketing and customer engagement in many different contexts. In addition to carrying out many types of applied research the group often undertake Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, mentoring, consultancy, and offer tailored short courses and facilitated workshops to address particular marketing and customer engagement issues.Over recent years many of the Marketing Department’s projects have been built through collaborations with organisations such as the NHS, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, The National Social Marketing Centre, The South West Public Health Observatory, Channel 4 TV, and organisations in the non-profit and voluntary sector.

Organisation Studies

This group is concerned with the study and facilitation of organisational change, learning and development. Through published work and engagement with practitioners the group has established a strong reputation in the areas of group relations, action research and systemic change intervention. Many staff from this group are based in the Bristol Centre for Leadership and organisational Ethics. The Centre aims to establish a regionally, nationally and internationally recognised centre of excellence and expertise in leadership and organisational ethics and to contribute to the development of theory and methodology through rigourous scholarship and research in the fields of leadership and organisational ethics.

Strategy and Operations Management

This group conducts work on a range of research themes in the fields of strategic and operations management. In strategic management, we focus on the evolution and development of institutions, strategy, knowledge, enterprise. We have also established an Asia Research Unit. Research carried out by staff members incorporates international comparative methodologies and demonstrates members' commitment to a historical orientation to inquiry. In operations management, researchers have generated strong links with business practitioners, employers and researchers to develop a network of experts in business systems and innovation. Core research themes are critical studies of project management, supply chain management, tourism and technology management and sustainable development.

There are many research opportunities within the Business School, both for organisations wishing to work with us and for research students wishing to do a research degree. We particularly welcome proposals of an interdisciplinary nature and those with an international dimension, but we are always interested in new developments and possible collaborative ventures, whatever the topic.

If you would like to discuss your research ideas and how we could help you, contact us by e-mail, phone or drop us a line. In addition, we always welcome visitors to our various seminar series (see details in the web pages of the various research centres and units).

Research, Business and Innovation (RBI) co-ordinates research activity for the university as a whole.

Page last updated 15 February 2013

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