Professor Gerry Johnson
PhD Strategic Management, Aston
Professor of Strategic Management
Department
Centre for Strategic Management
Teaching
Strategic Management on Full-time MBA.
Research Interests
My research interests focus on management practices and processes associated with strategy development and strategic change, especially the role of political, cultural and cognitive processes. This has manifested itself in a number of research projects.
Earlier work focussed on the links between strategy development and organisational culture and gave rise to a book and papers now widely cited in the academic community as well as frameworks used in teaching and by consultants.
This also led to work in the field of management cognition and a series of collaborative projects mainly concerned with managers’ understanding of competitive structures of markets. The interest in strategy development also took the form of a cross-sectional study on processes of strategy development partly funded by the Economic and Social Research Council as well as longitudinal case-based work; in particular the study of the institutionalisation processes of operating companies within the British Rail process of privatisation.
My future research interests are concerned with what has become known as “Strategy as Practice”. The evidence from my work to date and that of others suggests that major issues in strategic management require research which addresses everyday, often routine, aspects of organisational behaviour. To address this topic I am working in collaboration with other academics internationally. This project has already taken form in the Special Issue of the Journal of Management Studies (Jan 2003), an international network of scholars with an associated website, tracks and specialist workshops at international conferences. Together with Professors Ann Langley, Leif Melin and Richard Whittington, the book “Strategy as Practice” was published by Cambridge University Press in Summer 2007.
As a Senior Fellow of AIM I have also been involved in two major research projects. The first links to the interest in Strategy as Practice and examines the phenomenon of strategy workshops and away days. The second is concerned to understand the historic management processes that have contributed to the very few UK companies that have effected major strategic transformation in the last 20 years without the trigger of financial downturn.
All of this work builds on the conviction that good quality research in management needs to combine both rigorous research methods and relevance to management and organisations. Most of my work has been undertaken as collaborative ventures with managers, takes form in teaching and teaching materials (including my text book) and is applied in consultancy work. As such it is subject both to the judgement of academic peers and of practitioners.
Research Grants
In addition to my current funding as a Senior Fellow of the UK Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM), I have received the following research grants from the Economic and Social Research Council Research Awards:
R000 23 5100, 1994 – 1996, with Andy Bailey, “Organisational Context and the Process of Strategy Development”
R000 23 2883, 1991 – 1993, with Leslie de Chernatony and Kevin Daniels, “Identifying Managers’ and Consumers’ Perceptions of Competitive Industry Structures”
Profile
2003: Appointed a Senior Fellow of the UK Advanced Institute of Management Research
2000 to 2006: Professor of Strategic Management at the Graduate School of Business, Strathclyde University
1988 – 2000: Professor of Strategic Management at Cranfield School of Management
1992 – 1996: Director of Research and Deputy Director at Cranfield School of Management
1988 – 1993: Head of Strategic Management Group at Cranfield School of Management
1986 – 1988: Senior Fellow in Strategic Management at Manchester Business School
1979 – 1985: University of Aston Management Centre
Lecturer in Business Policy and Head of Strategic Management Group (1983-1985).
1976 – 1979: Hull College of Higher Education
Senior Lecturer in Marketing
1968 – 1976: Marketing executive and consultant
View all publications (21)
Journal/Serial (11)
Book (6)
Chapter in Book (4)
Selected Publications
- Johnson G and Bourque N, 2008, 'Strategy workshops and "away-days" as ritual', in The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Decision Making, (eds) Hodgkinson GP and Starbuck WH, Oxford University Press, Oxford, ISBN: 9780199290468
- Johnson G, Langley A, Melin L and Whittington R, 2007, Strategy as Practice: Research Directions and Resources, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, ISBN: 0521681561
- Yip G and Johnson G, 2007, 'Transforming strategy', Business Strategy Review, vol 18(1), pp 11-15
- Johnson G, Scholes K and Whittington R, 2007, Exploring Corporate Strategy, Prentice Hall, London, ISBN: 0273711911
- Delbridge R, Gratton L and Johnson G, 2006, The Exceptional Manager, Oxford University Press, Oxford, ISBN: 0199292221
- Hodgkinson GP, Whittington R, Johnson G and Schwarz M, 2006, 'The role of strategy workshops in strategy development processes: formality, communication, co-ordination and inclusion', Long Range Planning, vol 39(5), pp 479-496
- Balogun J and Johnson G, 2005, 'From intended strategies to unintended outcomes: the impact of change recipient sensemaking', Organization Studies, vol 26(11), pp 1573-1601
- Balogun J and Johnson G, 2004, 'Organizational restructuring and middle manager sensemaking', Academy of Management Journal, vol 47(4), pp 523-549
- Johnson G, Melin L and Whittington R, 2003, 'Guest editors' introduction: micro strategy and strategizing: towards an activity-based view', Journal of Management Studies, vol 40(1), pp 3-22
- Daniels K, Johnson G and de Chernatony L, 2002, 'Task and institutional influences on managers' mental models of competition', Organization Studies, vol 23(1), pp 31-62
