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University of Bedfordshire
Park Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
UK, LU1 3JU
To apply for a research degree, please make sure you fulfill the entry requirements and then complete the online research degree application form and upload your supporting documents.
You should have a good honours degree (2:1 or above) or masters degree or equivalent in the relevant subject area.
International applicants should be aware of our research degree English language requirements
My research interests can best be described as eclectic. They include:
I am currently developing journal articles/conference papers from my thesis. In the near future, I will endeavour to obtain funding (perhaps from the ESRC or the British Academy) to explore whether there are gendered implications when managing in the workplace using quantitative/qualitative measures, thus building on the PIE (Performance Intermediary Executive) concept from my PhD thesis. The research for my PhD thesis sought to understand the implications of the extensive communication networks, and capabilities of the Internet in businesses and organizations. It specifically examined the complex relationships these systems, policies and strategies create between management, staff, and customers.
Findings from this research show how individual managers perceive electronic monitoring as being a required, but unpopular element of their job. The research further demonstrates that managers while understanding why electronic performance management takes place are uncomfortable with how they have to use it. In addition, they are increasingly concerned about how using quantitative data affects their ability to manage people on a daily basis. Some managers rather than managing the way they wish to are relegated to what I call “Performance Intermediary Executives” or PIE, where ‘performance is everything’. Instead of managing people, some of these PIE men and women are increasingly managing processes by diktat, preferring power typologies of obedience and domination over that of reciprocity.
In addition, I have been considering undertaking research on what visually constitutes a good web site, not using the typical usability guidelines, such as those from Nielsen, instead using the Technology Acceptance Model. This research would help determine how/why individuals make instantaneous decisions on how good/bad a web site is, based on its visual appearance, rather than its functionality. This research, with the potential opportunity to access students in Singapore, might also allow me to take a cultural approach to TAM. Other research themes include looking at the surveillent uses of RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification), and developing an original notion applicable to social networks.
