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Christopher Wright

Professor of Organisational Studies, University of Sydney

Chris is Professor of Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney Business School and Network Leader of the Balanced Enterprise Research Network. His research interests include the diffusion of management knowledge, managerial and professional identity, and organisational and workplace change. His current research focuses on business and organisational responses to climate change; identity, emotion and justification in organizational life; and the role of consultancy in organisational change and innovation.

Chris has published in broad range of leading international journals including Journal of Management Studies, Organization Studies, Research Policy, Human Relations, British Journal of Management, Organization, Management Learning, Environment & Planning A, and Work, Employment and Society. In addition his work has appeared in a range of edited collections and he is the author of several monographs including The Management of Labour: A History of Australian Employers (Oxford University Press, 1995). He has been a Chief Investigator on a range of major research projects and is the team leader on a current Australian Research Council Discovery project (2011-2013) into business responses to climate change.

Experience

  • 2009–present
    Professor of Organisational Studies, University of Sydney
  • 2004–2007
    Associate Professor, University of NSW

Education

  • 1991 
    University of Sydney, PhD
  • 1986 
    University of Sydney, BEc(Hons) First Class

Publications

  • 2013
    'Corporate Corruption of the Environment: Sustainability as a Process of Compromise' (with Daniel Nyberg), British Journal of Sociology
  • 2013
    'Incorporating Citizens: Corporate Political Engagement with Climate Change in Australia' (with Daniel Nyberg and Andre Spicer), Organization
  • 2012
    ‘Working With Passion: Emotionology, Corporate Environmentalism and Climate Change’ (with Daniel Nyberg), Human Relations
  • 2012
    ‘“Hippies on the Third Floor”: Climate Change, Narrative Identity and the Micro-Politics of Corporate Environmentalism’ (with Daniel Nyberg and David Grant), Organization Studies
  • 2012
    'Justifying Business Responses to Climate Change: Discursive Strategies of Similarity and Difference' (with Daniel Nyberg), Environment & Planning A
  • 2012
    ‘Management Innovation Through Standardization: Consultants as Standardizers of Organizational Practice’ (with Andrew Sturdy and Nick Wylie), Research Policy

Grants and Contracts

  • 2011
    Sustainable organisational change: Australian business responses to climate change
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Australian Research Council Discovery Grant
  • 2008
    Internal Consultants as Agents of Change
    Role:
    Partner Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Economic and Social Research Council (UK)
  • 2003
    The Impact of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems on Australian Organizations
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Australian Research Council Discovery Grant
  • 2003
    Strategy And Structure Of The Korean Chaebol: Changes After The 1997 Economic Crisis And Implications For Australia
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Australian Research Council Discovery Grant

Research Areas

  • Organisation And Management Theory (150310)
  • Organisational Planning And Management (150312)