Research Methods and Leadership Studies

Research Cluster

Further details

Biography

Alan joined the School of Management, University of Leicester, in August 2005 after working for 31 years in the Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University. His main areas of research lie in the following areas:

• Combining quantitative and qualitative research. For a long time, I've been interested in methodological issues and in 2003-4, I was funded as a fellow to work on the issue of how quantitative and qualitative research are combined in the social sciences. The fellowship was part of the Economic and Social Research Council's Research Methods Programme.
• Disneyization and McDonaldization. I'm interested in different aspects of modern consumer culture and their implications for organizational issues. I'm particularly interested in the impact that the principles associated with Disney theme parks are influencing how services and products are made available for consumption. I explored these issues in a book, The Disneyization of Society (Sage, 2004), which has been translated into Chinese, Portuguese, and Japanese.
• Effective leadership in higher education. I've been interested in leadership for many years and in fact have written two books on this topic: Leadership and Organizations (Routledge, 1986) and Charisma and Leadership in Organizations (Sage, 1992). In 2005/06, I worked full-time on a review of the literature on leadership in universities. This was funded by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.

Contact: Tricia Doherty 01392 722567