Dr Alastair Watson is Assistant Professor at the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) and currently teaches Business Communications, Introduction to Management and Strategic Management at undergraduate and postgraduate level. He has a keen interest in Management, Marketing and Organisational Behaviour. Prior to joining UOWD Alastair was Assistant Professor in Management at Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus, and Teaching Assistant during the completion of his PhD at their Edinburgh Campus. He also spent a number of years as an active operating manager within branded restaurants as well as hotels in the UK.  Whilst completing his doctorate, he moved into training, quality and regional recruitment with a large branded restaurant operator in the UK.

Dr Watson’s research interests are Staff Commitment & Motivation, Institutions, and Customer Service and Loyalty.

 

Dr Babak Taheri is an Associate Professor in Marketing at Heriot-Watt University. His research has a dual focus: 1) unpacking and theorising cultural consumption experiences; 2) services marketing management. This work is often quantitative (including: scale development and scale validation, structural equation modelling (SEM), path analysis using partial least squares (PLS), experimental design and intervention, multiple regression, testing for mediation and moderation), qualitative (thematic analysis, grounded theory using Leximancer) or mixed methods (sequential or parallel approaches).

Colin Gregor is a PhD student at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. His PhD thesis involves a longitudinal study of a high performance sports team to investigate the process of conflict and its effects on the team. Further research will explore the impact of conflict on performance, the relationship between conflict and cohesion, and how conflict is rationalised within a team dynamic. Colin is former captain of Scotland’s 7 a-side rugby team and the third highest points scorer of all time. He teaches on the Management in a Global Context course.  

Lakshman Wimalasena is an Assistant Professor in Human Resource Management, in the School of Management and Languages, Heriot-Watt University and obtained his PhD in Management also from Heriot-Watt University. He is also a graduate in human resource management (HRM) and also holds an MBA (with merit) and a postgraduate diploma in social research methods (with distinction). His main research interests are meaning of work (MoW),social inequality, agential reflexivity, and habitus. His doctoral study explores the MoW within a postcolonial society – Sri Lanka. This study which develops a new integrated framework to the study of MoW, also extends the applicability of realist reflexive theory and contributes to the ongoing debate ‘can reflexivity and habitus work in tandem’.

Norin is an economist by background with professional experience both in the public and private sectors. She completed her PhD in 2012 at Strathclyde University and undertook a post-doc for 8 months before moving to Heriot-Watt University in 2013. More recently, she joined the University of Dundee in October 107 as an Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Since joining the University of Dundee, Norin has been appointed the PG Director for the MSc Management programme and its pathways, and is the Employability, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise lead for the School of Social Sciences.

Her work concentrates on enterprise policy. In particular, the role and contribution from those closely linked to the formulation process (ministers and civil servants), whilst also examining how enterprise policy is implemented (national, regional and local economic development agencies), and how entrepreneurs/SMEs experience and utilise such policy initiatives. Her research interests also include exploring festivals, accelerators and the context in her work within entrepreneurship and business strategy.  Institutional theory is the theoretical lens used to highlight the dynamics of the policy process in her work.

Norin has published in Small Business Economics, Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, Journal of Business Research, and International Journal of Management Reviews. She is involved with research and projects with numerous stakeholders: governments include the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (England), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Japan) and Innovation, Science and Economic Development (Canada); prominent think tanks such as The Entrepreneurs Network, and is a member on the advisory board for Innovation Caucus (ESRC and Innovate UK). She is also a visiting scholar at IÉSEG School of Management in Paris.

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Rebecca Maxwell Stuart is a PhD student at Heriot-Watt University. Her research examines student experiences of Heriot-Watt University’s transnational education initiatives by using action research. Her doctoral studies are being part funded by the University’s Academic Registry as her research will support the Global Student Experience Strategy. Before coming to Heriot-Watt University she was an elected student officer at the University of Strathclyde and she has just graduated from the Erasmus Mundus Masters in Research & Innovation in Higher Education (MARIHE) which was based in Austria, Finland and China. Rebecca has also been involved in a number of student engagement projects with organisations such as the National Union of Students, QAA Scotland, British Council and the Commonwealth Secretariat.    

Rodrigo Perez Vega is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the School of Marketing and Reputation at Henley Business School. His research interests are in digital marketing, social media, and online consumer behaviour. Rodrigo received an MRes in Management (2011) by investigating the incidence of positive and negative electronic word-of-mouth on Twitter, he also has an MSc in Strategic Project Management (2010) and a BA Hons in Marketing (2006). Rodrigo’s PhD looked at how the immediacy of a Facebook Fan page affects the level of customer engagement with that page. Before his PhD, Rodrigo had marketing experience in several digital marketing and brand management roles within FMCG and service industries.