A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Management Research (Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Cheap Books) - Softcover

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Emma Bell is Professor of Organisation Studies at the Open University. Her research explores culture and materiality in organizations using qualitative methods of inquiry. She is the author of: Business Research Methods (2018 with Alan Bryman and Bill Harley), A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Management Research (2013 with Richard Thorpe) and Reading Management and Organization in Film (2008). She is co-editor of The Organisation of Craft Work: Identities, Meanings and Materiality (2018), Major Works in Qualitative Research in Business and Management (2015) and The Routledge Companion to Visual Organization (2014).  Emma’s research has been published in journals including Organization Studies, Human Relations, Academy of Management Learning & Education, Organization and British Journal of Management. She completed her PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2000 based on an ethnographic study of payment systems and time in the chemical industry.

Richard Thorpe is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Leeds where he was latterly Professor of Management Development and Pro Dean for Research at Leeds University Business School. His early industrial experience informed the way his ethos has developed. Common themes are a strong commitment to process methodologies and a focus on action in all its forms; an interest in and commitment to the development of doctoral students and the development of capacity within the sector; and a commitment to collaborative working on projects of mutual interest. Following a number of years in industry, he joined Strathclyde University as a researcher studying incentive payment schemes. This led to collaboration on Payment Schemes and Productivity (Macmillan, 1986). In 1980 he joined Glasgow University where he widened his research interests to include small firm growth and development as well as making regular contributions to the Scottish Business School’s doctoral programme. In 1983 he attended the International Teachers’ Programme in Sweden where he met Mark and embarked on a PhD under Mark’s supervision. Collaboration continued through the 1990s with the ESRC Teaching Fellowship Scheme. In 1996 he was instrumental in establishing the Graduate Business School at Manchester Metropolitan University and in 2003 joined the ESRC Training and Development Board. There, he was involved in establishing the training guidelines for both doctorate and professional doctorate provision and more recently in initiatives to address capacity building in management and business. In 2003 he contributed to the ESRC’s Evolution of Business Knowledge programme. His research interests have included: performance, remuneration and entrepreneurship, management learning and development and leadership, and he has published (with others) a number of books including: Remuneration Systems (Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2000); Management and Language: The Manager as Practical Author (Sage, 2003); The SAGE Dictionary of Qualitative Management Research (Sage, 2008); Performance Management: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (Palgrave, 2008); Gower Handbook of Leadership and Management Development (Gower, 2010) ) and more recently, two research methods books, Management Research, in the Sage ‘A very Short, Fairly Interesting and reasonably Cheap Book About’ series and A Guide to Professional Doctorates in Business and Management (Sage, 2015). He was a past Present of the British Academy of Management in 2007, Dean of Fellows in 2012 and in 2009-2015 he was Chair of the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies. In this latter role he initiated the ESRC/SAMS/UKCES Management and Business Fellowship Scheme.

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Bell and Thorpe provide a stimulating and critical overview of the key theoretical debates on research paradigms and methodologies and relate them to the day to day practice of the research, demystifying the process and providing invaluable insights into the politics and practice of research.