Professor Mehdi Boussebaa
- Professor in International Business (Management)
telephone: 0141 330 4579
email: Mehdi.Boussebaa@glasgow.ac.uk
Biography
Professor Mehdi Boussebaa joined the Adam Smith Business School in 2016 and currently serves as the deputy head of the International Business & Enterprise Research Cluster. Previously, he worked at the University of Bath and the University of Oxford, where he retains roles as Visiting Professor and International Research Fellow, respectively. He has also held visiting positions in Canada, China, France and Sweden. He is currently Associate Editor of Critical Perspectives on International Business and also serves on the editorial boards of Journal of World Business, Organization Studies and Journal of Professions and Organization. He holds a PhD and an MA (with Distinction) from the University of Warwick.
Mehdi's research examines two related issues:
- the impact of globalisation on organisational behaviour
- the role of multinationals in the globalisation process.
He is especially interested in issues of culture, language, identity and power, with a particular focus on the ways in which the (post)colonial context shapes these phenomena as they interact with the 'global'. Empirically, he examines these issues principally in the professional services sector and higher education using qualitative research methods. Theoretically, his work is informed by international business studies, institutional theory, Foucauldian theorising, postcolonial theory and research on the professions and professional service firms.
Mehdi's work has been published in a wide range of leading academic journals as well as major edited volumes. In 2015, he received the Dean’s Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Research at the University of Bath School of Management (and the Dean’s Award for Research Excellence in 2012). One of his recent papers – the first postcolonial analysis to be published in the top-ranked Journal of International Business Studies – was a finalist for the US Academy of Management’s all-academy Carolyn Dexter Award for the Best International Paper. Mehdi has also been shortlisted twice (2016 and 2017) for the Col. Lyndall F Urwick Memorial Cup awarded by the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants. In 2018, he was selected for the prestigious "High-end Foreign Experts Program" run by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.
Prior to joining academia, Mehdi spent 2½ years working for a leading (now bankrupt) US telecoms research and consulting firm in London following undergraduate studies at Cass Business School and (as an Erasmus student) Complutense de Madrid, Spain. He was born in France and speaks Algerian Arabic, French and Spanish as well as English.
Research interests
Mehdi is a member of the International Business and Enterprise research cluster.
Areas of expertise:
- Globalisation and international management in business and in academia
- The identity and institutional implications of globalisation
- Identity, language and power in and through multinational enterprises
- Professional service firms and their role as agents of globalisation
- Postcolonial theory and theories of imperialism
Grants
- "High-end Foreign Experts Program" award, State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, China, 2018.
- International Research Mobility Award, LabexMed, Aix-Marseille Université, France, 2016
- Research Seed Corn Fund Award, University of Bath School of Management, 2013
- Research Seed Corn Fund Award, University of Bath School of Management, 2011
- Research Mobility Award, Alberta School of Business, Canada, 2009
- Strategic Development Fund Award, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, 2009
- Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship, Said Business School, University of Oxford, 2008-2009
- Overseas Institutional Visit Award, ESRC, 2007
Supervision
Mehdi welcomes applications from potential doctoral students in the related areas of globalisation, international management and transnational governance. He is particularly, but not exclusively, interested in the following topics:
- The lived experience of globalisation, especially in emerging markets
- Identity management in global and internationalising organisations
- Globalisation in the professional services sector
- Globalisation in business schools and universities more broadly
- Headquarters-subsidiary relations and knowledge/practice transfer in multinational enterprises
- The ethics of international business
- The history of international business
Current PhD students (at Glasgow)
Christoph Biber
Mehdi is also currently supervising two doctoral students at the University of Bath and at the University of Warwick:
- Rachel Johnson (Bath) - internationalisation in the higher education sector, UAE focus
- Kevin Lam (Warwick) - internationalsation of the professional services service sector, China focus
Additional information
- International Research Fellow, Said Business School, University of Oxford, since 2009
- Visiting Professor, University of Bath School of Management, since January 2017
- Associate Editor, Critical Perspectives on International Business, Emerald, since January 2016
- Editorial Board Member, Journal of World Business, since January 2017
- Editorial Board Member, Organization Studies, Sage Publications, since 2013
- Editorial Board Member, Journal of Professions & Organization, Oxford University Press, since 2013
- External Examiner, University of Edinburgh Business School, since 2014
- Shortlisted for the Col. Lyndall F Urwick Memorial Cup, Worshipful Company of Management Consultants, 2017
- Invited LabexMed Scholar, Aix-Marseille Université Aix-en-Provence, France, May 2016
- Shortlisted for the Col. Lyndall F Urwick Memorial Cup, Worshipful Company of Management Consultants, 2016
- Invited Scholar, Indian Institute of Management Indore, India, June 2015
- Dean’s Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Research, University of Bath School of Management, 2015
- Invited Visiting Professor, University of Tongji School of Management & Economics, Shanghai, China, September 2014
- Invited Scholar, University of Lund School of Economics & Management, Sweden, May 2014
- Finalist for the Carolyn Dexter Award for Best International Paper, US Academy of Management (All-Academy Award), 2014
- Invited Scholar, Laboratoire d’Economie et de Sociologie du Travail (LEST), Aix-Marseille Université, Aix-en-Provence, May-June 2013
- Dean’s Award for Research Excellence, University of Bath School of Management, 2012
- Dean’s Award for Innovation & Enterprise, University of Bath School of Management, 2011
- Invited Post-Doctoral Researcher, Alberta School of Business, Canada, 2009
