Brad Jackson (New Zealand)
PhD in Management Learning, 1999
In the early '90s I was an assistant professor in Continuing Education at the University of Calgary in Canada. It became patently obvious to me that, if I was to move any further in my academi career, a PhD was absolutely essential. My undergraduate and master's studies in Geography at the University of Bristol and the University of British Columbia had reinforced the critical importance of selecting the right school in which to conduct your studies. I was therefore determined not to take the first and easiest option, but to take the time to consider many different possibilities.
I'm glad to report that one of the options I considered was Lancaster University Management School. Commencing my part-time doctoral studies in 1994, I came to relish my visits to the Department of Management Learning. The DML faculty and staff were not only friendly and supportive, but they showed a keen interest in what I was doing and how I was progressing. The intellectual 'buzz' at Lancaster University Management School is readily detectable as soon as you arrive – and it is highly infectious. Moreover, I am constantly impressed by how widely Lancaster University is recognised and respected around the world.
I am now a Fletcher Building Education Trust Professor of Leadership at The University of Auckland Business School, New Zealand. My thesis, 'Management Gurus and Management Fashions: a Dramatistic Perspective' was published by Routledge as a book in 2001. In the same year I published the Penguin book, 'The Hero Manager', with Ken Parry.
