PhD student needed for research on cooperatives
Issued: Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:32:00 GMT
PhD in Business and Management student sought for a research project on cooperatives.
The United Nations has recognised 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives. This is an acknowledgement by the international community that co-operatives drive the economy, respond to social change, are resilient to the global economic crisis and are serious, successful businesses creating jobs in all sectors.
Discussion of cooperatives, mutuals and employee ownership is currently a popular point of discussion in the media, as well as in government. The rhetoric of the Big Society is particularly focused on this.
University of Glasgow Business School Professors Donald MacLean and Fiona Wilson are launching a research project that will extend initial exploratory research they have begun in Scotland on cooperatives, being published in Work Employment and Society.
Their main research questions are:
- How are cooperatives currently being defined? (see www.uk.coop/resources/documents/practical-tools-defining-co-operatives)
- What does cooperation mean to those who work in cooperatives?
- In what ways are cooperation and collaboration expressed in practice?
- How is co-operation done across organizational and even sector boundaries in pursuit of sustainability?
- What are the "wicked problems" of cooperation? How can they be solved?
- What are cooperative values?
- How are cooperative values expressed and where are they to be evidenced in the organization?
- What is the process of shared value creation?
MacLean and Wilson would like to hear from a potential PhD student who would work their research questions into a research proposal and would apply for doctoral study at the Business School. The scope of the study does not have to be limited to Scottish cooperatives; there is also interest in examples of successful cooperation to be found for example in Italy and Spain.
If you would like more information on applying for a PhD at the Business School, please contact Anne McCusker on anne.mccusker@glasgow.ac.uk. Further information about the PhD in Business and Management programme can be found here:
www.gla.ac.uk/schools/business/postgraduateresearch/management/phdinbusinessandmanagement/
This is not a funded place on the PhD programme. For information about fees, funding and available scholarships, visit: