Insights

Postgraduate researcher, Clare Matysova (University of Leeds), is interviewed by Emily Humphreys (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine), as part of the Business School’s Research and Innovation podcast series for International Women’s Day 2023. In this episode, Emily and Clare discuss how the gender pay gap is linked with parental leave, the difference between inequalities and inequities within parental leave, and what practical solutions the government and employers should be considering to make parental leave more equitable. 

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in March 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/296/international_womens_day_2023_research_podcast_series

About the speakers: 

Clare Matysova is a postgraduate researcher in the Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change at the University of Leeds, focusing on gender equality and exploring the impact of the UK’s shared parental leave policy from the perspective of couples’ decision-making. Clare also currently works as a Senior Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Partner at the University of Aberdeen. She has been working in EDI-related roles within HE for the past 15 years. Previously, she worked at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the University of East London and the University for the Creative Arts.   

Emily Humphreys is a part-time PhD student in social epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She also works part-time in public health, with experience in policy development and interests in mental health, wellbeing and health inequalities. She is particularly interested in how local or national government policies can affect health outcomes. She joined LSHTM as a research student in September 2021. Her research is investigating how changes to maternity, paternity and parental leave policies in the UK might have affected mental health for parents.

The inequities within parental leave

Dr Asiya Islam (Leeds University Business School) is joined by Nishi Khandelwal (Nirantar) to discuss their research project on gender inequalities in digital India, exploring digital literacy, access and use. Asiya and Nishi also talk about the work Nirantar does, as well as the intersection between location (rural and urban), caste and gender when it comes to digital literacy in India. 

Read the working paper: https://digit-research.org/publication/gender-inequalities-in-digital-india-a-survey-on-digital-literacy-access-and-use/  

Visit the project webpage. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/dir-record/research-projects/1946/gender-digital-technology-and-the-future-of-work-in-india  

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in March 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.    

About the speakers: Asiya Islam is Lecturer in Work and Employment Relations. Her research interests are in gender, class, emerging forms of work, particularly service work, and feminist research methods. 

Nishi Khandelwal heads the Women’s Literacy, Education, and Empowerment work at Nirantar, where she plays a crucial role in visualizing and planning the women's education programme, and training project staff and teachers of partner organisations. She is interested in researching issues around digital literacy of women and young girls to further strengthen their literacy and digital literacy skills.

Gender inequalities in digital India

Professor Marina Papanastassiou is joined by Professor Peter Buckley to discuss new challenges for multinationals in the fractured global economy, including political challenges, governance issues, and resilience in Global Value Chains. 

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in March 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.   

Visit the CIBUL website for further information about the research discussed in this episode. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/research-cibul

About the speakers: Marina Papanastassiou is Professor of International Business at Leeds University Business School, and is a member of the Centre for International Business University of Leeds (CIBUL). Marina’s research interests include the global innovation strategies in multinationals (MNEs) and their network of overseas subsidiaries and R&D laboratories; the decision making process in MNEs and in particular the dynamics between HQs and subsidiaries; global value chains and the role of MNEs in SDGs such as food security; impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on growth and development; the internationalisation of start-ups, and the role of incubators in local systems of innovation. 

Peter Buckley OBE is Professor of International Business at Leeds University Business School, and is the Founder/Director of CIBUL. His current research interests centre on the theory of the multinational firm; knowledge management in multinational firms; the international transfer of technology; the impact of foreign direct investment particularly in China; and outward direct investment from emerging countries: China and India.

New challenges for MNEs within fractures of the global economy

How do we bridge the gap between textile workers and consumers? And how can we encourage responsible production and responsible consumption? 

Dr Mark Sumner (University of Leeds), is joined by his colleagues, Dr Divya Singhal (Goa Institute of Management, India) and Dr Bethan Bide (University of Leeds), to discuss their latest project - “Cotton hidden voices: stories from the makers of your clothes” - and how this follows on from their past research looking at unravelling the trail of modern slavery in the fashion and textile industry, and how Covid-19 affected the management to eradicate modern slavery from global supply chains. 

Visit the project website for further information about the research discussed in this episode. https://sustainablethreads.leeds.ac.uk/

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in March 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.  

“Cotton hidden voices: stories from the makers of your clothes” is a University of Leeds and Goa Institute of Management project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/W006936/1). 

About the speakers: Dr Mark Sumner is a lecturer in the School of Design, focussing on sustainability within the textile, clothing and fashion industry. His research interests cover a diverse range of subjects such as textile technology, innovation, sustainability and consumer behaviour.  

Dr Divya Singhal is a Professor at the Goa Institute of Management, India. Her research focuses on responsible management. 

Dr Bethan Bide is a Lecturer in Design and Cultural Theory at the University of Leeds. Her research centres around the cultural, social and business histories of fashion.

Cotton hidden voices: stories from the makers of your clothes

Professor Annina Kaltenbrunner is joined by Dr Bianca Orsi and Dr Sophia Kuehnlenz to discuss Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and whether CBDCs alone are enough to change the hierarchical nature of the international monetary system. The team also talk about what effect CBDCs could have on the US dollar. 

Read the journal article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0275531922002203

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in March 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.   

About the speakers: Annina Kaltenbrunner is Professor of Global Economics at Leeds University Business School. She is a pluralist Macro-Development Economist with an interest in financial and monetary dynamics in developing and emerging economies. 

Dr Bianca Orsi is a lecturer in the Economics department at Leeds University Business School. Her main research interests are on monetary policy, monetary policy transmission mechanism, inflation, capital controls, interest rate, exchange rate, currency internationalization and currency hierarchy, and financial integration. 

Dr Sophia Kuehnlenz is a lecturer in Economics at the Manchester Metropolitan Business School.  Her research aims to establish an improved Minsky – inspired theory and an overhaul of methodology (mainstream and heterodox) with regard to modelling crisis episodes specifically and capitalist production economies more generally.

Central Bank Digital Currencies and the potential demise of the US dollar

In this episode of the “Just Transitions - a Global Exploration” podcast, Ursula Balderson and Aleksander Szpor – members of the project team – discuss the role of the European Union in Just Transition policymaking and action in Poland. 

This project is funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation – Just Transition: Aktivitäten im internationalen Vergleich 2021-582-2. 

Visit the project webpage. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/dir-record/research-projects/1990/just-transition-action-concepts-debates-and-strategies-an-international-comparison-across-11-countries

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in May 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available. 

 
About the speakers: Ursula Balderson is a postdoctoral research associate on a project on Work, Labour and Climate Change. She is an interdisciplinary social scientist interested in how the transition to a greener economy can improve worker well-being and quality of life. 

Olek (Aleksander) Szpor is a Lead Consultant in Climate and Energy at Ecorys Research Consultancy Poland.

Just Transitions – a global exploration: Poland

Dr Matthew Davis speaks to Afshan Iqbal about Afshan’s research on technostress and the impact it has on remote and hybrid workers. They discuss what technostress is, the effect it can have on workflow and on work-family conflict, and coping mechanisms for how to deal with it. 

A summary of Afshan’s research on technostress is available here. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/309/the_impact_of_technostress_on_remote_workers

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in July 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this research, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available. 

About the speakers: Dr Matthew Davis is an Associate Professor at Leeds University Business School, a Chartered Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. His research focuses on how people interact with their environments, office design, hybrid working and future workplaces. He also researches how businesses engage in CSR, particularly to address sustainability and modern slavery.  

Afshan Iqbal is a Research Fellow in Organisational Behaviour and Socio-Technical Systems, with a keen interest in virtual working, hybrid work, the future workplace and the use of technologies in new ways of working. Her doctoral research focused on the antecedents to technostress in remote workers and the impact this had on work-family conflict, performance and job satisfaction when boundaries between work and professional lives are increasingly blurred.

The impact of technostress on remote workers

Dr Lilith Brouwers asks Dr Abbie Winton about Abbie’s research on the impact of technology on labour in food retail. They discuss how technology is influenced by society, the economy, politics, culture, and pre-existing technologies, and how all these different aspects affect the future of work in retail – not just new technology in isolation. They also discuss how understanding historical context is a useful way to interpret what is happening in the labour market today.  

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in August 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.    

About the speakers: Dr Abbie Winton is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change (CERIC). Her research explores issues related to sociotechnical change in the retail, warehousing and logistic industries, and the quality of work. Currently, Abbie is working on the HuLog project which investigates how digital technologies shape work and employment conditions in warehouses across Europe. 

Dr Lilith Brouwers is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at CERIC. Their research focuses on marginalised workers in informal labour, how hyper-precarious workers use labour mobility, and on the intersection of disability and marginalised forms of work.

The social shaping of technology in food retail – why context matters for the future of work

In this episode of the “Just Transitions - a Global Exploration” series, Professor Vera Trappmann speaks to Dr Ursula Balderson about the Foundation Industries: how they can transition to Net Zero, how the energy crisis has affected the industry, and what the government is (or isn’t) doing to support the transition.

This project is funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation – Just Transition: Aktivitäten im internationalen Vergleich 2021-582-2. 

Visit the project webpage. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/dir-record/research-projects/1990/just-transition-action-concepts-debates-and-strategies-an-international-comparison-across-11-countries

The research on the foundation industry is also available as a report with the European Trade Union Institute, funded by the European Climate Foundation. 

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in July and October 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/294/podcast-just-transitions---a-global-exploration 

About the speakers:

Vera Trappmann is Professor of Comparative Employment Relations at Leeds University Business School. Her research engages with the comparison of labour relations across Europe, focusing on the dynamics of economic and organisational restructuring and its impact on working biographies, and organized labour.  Currently, climate crisis and just transition are her main focus.  

Dr Ursula Balderson is a postdoctoral research associate on a project on Work, Labour and Climate Change. She is an interdisciplinary social scientist interested in how the transition to a greener economy can improve worker well-being and quality of life.

How can the Foundation Industries reach Net Zero?

In this latest episode of the “Just Transitions - a Global Exploration” series, Professor Vera Trappmann and Dr Felix Schulz discuss German workers’ perception of the climate crisis, and the role of policy in transitioning to a greener economy. 

This project is funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation – Just Transition: Aktivitäten im internationalen Vergleich 2021-582-2. The Competence Centre mentioned in this episode is also funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation. 

Visit the project webpage. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/dir-record/research-projects/1990/just-transition-action-concepts-debates-and-strategies-an-international-comparison-across-11-countries

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in November 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/294/podcast-just-transitions---a-global-exploration

About the speakers:  

Vera Trappmann is Professor of Comparative Employment Relations at Leeds University Business School. Her research engages with the comparison of labour relations across Europe, focussing on the dynamics of economic and organisational restructuring and its impact on working biographies, and organized labour. Currently, climate crisis and just transition are her main focus.  

https://business.leeds.ac.uk/divisions-work-employment-relations/staff/544/dr-vera-trappmann%22%3EProfessor%20Vera%20Trappmann 

Felix Schulz is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Digital Futures at Work (digit) Research centre and on an international Hans-Böckler-Stiftung funded project on the role of labour in the “Just Transition”. His research is interdisciplinary, drawing on labour economics, industrial relations, environmental labour studies and social psychology, with justice and inequality as the overarching focus. 

https://business.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/staff/594/dr-felix-schulz

Just Transitions - a global exploration: Germany

Dr Peter Gittins and Dr Deema Refai discuss their research on constrained rural entrepreneurship. They talk about the constraints and opportunities farmers are facing post-Brexit, and also discuss how other entrepreneurs work within constraints to achieve positive changes. 

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in November 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.    

Visit the project webpage for further information. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/dir-record/research-projects/2187/constrained-rural-entrepreneurship The project is funded by Leeds University Business School’s Impact and Engagement Support Fund and International Research Collaborations Fund. 

About the speakers:  

Peter Gittins is a Lecturer in the Centre for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Studies (CEES) at Leeds University Business School. He has a practical working background in farm management, helping to run his family-owned livestock farm in West Yorkshire. His research interests are centred around agricultural business management, specifically rural entrepreneurship and approaches to strategic management in farming businesses.   

Deema Refai is an Associate Professor in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship in CEES and is currently Joint Editor in Chief of The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Deema’s research focus is developed around constrained entrepreneurship, with a particular interest in the refugee and rural contexts.

Examining constrained rural entrepreneurship – how farmers are adapting post-Brexit

Mattia Dessì speaks to Dr Alexander Beresford about their South African research as part of the project looking at just transitions across the globe. They discuss factors affecting just transition in South Africa, including how international partners fit into the domestic debates, the political sphere, and the role of the ruling elite. 

This project is funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation – Just Transition: Aktivitäten im internationalen Vergleich 2021-582-2. 

Visit the project webpage. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/dir-record/research-projects/1990/just-transition-action-concepts-debates-and-strategies-an-international-comparison-across-11-countries

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in October 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/294/podcast-just-transitions---a-global-exploration

About the speakers: Mattia Dessì is a Postgraduate Researcher at Leeds University Business School. His PhD research focuses on new technologies and the future of work in the South African mining industry. 

Dr Alexander Beresford is an Associate Professor in African Politics, and Director of Research and Innovation for the School of Politics and International Studies at the University of Leeds. His research provides a multi-layered insight into how global normative order is mediated and contested within and between two interwoven spaces - political struggles over inequality, power and corruption from everyday sites of politics through to the highest tables of power in South Africa; and the global diplomatic contestation of vaccine access, conflict resolution and climate change led by South Africa as an emerging power.

Just Transitions – a global exploration: South Africa

Dr Jo Cutter is joined by Sam Perry, Green Bargaining Officer for Yorkshire and the Humber Trades Union Congress (TUC), to discuss the work the TUC is doing in the region to support a Just Transition for workers. 

This project is funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation – Just Transition: Aktivitäten im internationalen Vergleich 2021-582-2.  

Visit the project webpage. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/dir-record/research-projects/1990/just-transition-action-concepts-debates-and-strategies-an-international-comparison-across-11-countries

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in November 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. To find out more about the TUC’s Just Transition work, or to join the Yorkshire and Humber Just Transition Network, email Sam Perry sperry@tuc.org.uk.  

A transcript of this episode is available. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/294/podcast-just-transitions---a-global-exploration

About the speakers: 

Dr Jo Cutter is a lecturer in Work and Employment Relations at Leeds University Business School. Her research focuses on employment relations, social dialogue and the regulation of work with a core focus on skills, education and training. She is currently researching these themes concerning two contexts: workers and the just transition and labour mobility. 

Sam Perry is the Green Bargaining Officer for Yorkshire and the Humber TUC. He is focused on raising the profile of environmental action within the labour movement and building capacity in trade unions to bargain for justice as organisations adapt to the need to decarbonise. His special interest is in making the case for a massive growth of energy efficiency retrofits to homes across Yorkshire and the Humber, where he brings together a background in social housing and political and union activism.

The Trades Union Congress on climate change and workers’ voices

Dr Olga Ustyuzhantseva speaks to Mattia Dessì about Russia’s energy situation and the state's views on it; the ecological impact of coal in Russia; and the role of the labour movement in Russia's coal industry. 

This project is funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation – Just Transition: Aktivitäten im internationalen Vergleich 2021-582-2. 

Visit the project webpage. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/dir-record/research-projects/1990/just-transition-action-concepts-debates-and-strategies-an-international-comparison-across-11-countries

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in May 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/294/podcast-just-transitions---a-global-exploration
 
About the speakers: Mattia Dessì is a Postgraduate Researcher at Leeds University Business School. His PhD research focuses on new technologies and the future of work in the South African mining industry. 

Dr Olga Ustyuzhantseva is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg (South Africa). Her recent research focus is on the sociotechnical transition to the sustainable development of coal-mining countries (South Africa and Russia), particularly climate, energy, and just transition policies and their impact on the coal phase-out trajectory.

Just Transitions – a global exploration: Russia

Professor Vera Trappmann, Dr Janina Myrczik and Dr Justyna Kajta discuss their paper - “Becoming a young radical right activist, biographical pathways of the members of radical right organizations in Poland and Germany”. 

Read the paper here. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00113921241239644

“Becoming a young radical right activist, biographical pathways of the members of radical right organizations in Poland and Germany.”, Current Sociology, Janina Myrczik, Justyna Kajta, Arthur Buckenleib, Mateusz Karolak, Marius Liedtke, Adam Mrozowicki and Vera Trappmann. 

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in May 2024. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.  https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/328/transcript---becoming-a-young-radical-right-activist   

About the speakers:  

Vera Trappmann is Professor of Comparative Employment Relations at Leeds University Business School. Her research engages with the comparison of labour relations across Europe, focusing on the dynamics of economic and organisational restructuring and its impact on working biographies, and organized labour.   

Justyna Kajta is a Professor Assistant at the Institute of Social Sciences, SWPS University (Warsaw, Poland). Her main research interests concern youth, social movements, class (im)mobilities, and social and political changes in Central and Eastern Europe. She is the author of several publications, including the book (in Polish) Young Radicals? On the Identity of the Polish Nationalist Movement and Its Participants (Nomos, 2020). 

Janina Myrczik is a Lecturer in Qualitative Methods and a Researcher at Medical School Berlin. Her research centres on rehabilitation, ageing, and the radical right. She is particularly interested in qualitative research, social inequality and political sociology.

Becoming a young radical right activist - an analysis of Poland and Germany

Drs Gabriella Alberti and Jo Cutter are joined by Caroline Keohane and Tanya Barringer from the Food and Drink Federation to discuss how the workforce in the UK food and drink sector has been affected since the end of the free movement of labour from the EU, and other subsequent crises. 

This episode has been recorded as part of the Labour Mobility in Transition (LIMITS) project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Visit the project webpage (https://business.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/dir-record/research-projects/1870/labour-mobility-in-transition-a-multi-actor-study-of-the-re-regulation-of-migrant-work-in-low-skilled-sectors-limits).

You can read the manifesto discussed in the episode here (https://www.fdf.org.uk/globalassets/about-fdf/powers-our-nation/fdf-2024-manifesto.pdf), and the LIMITS project Employer Survey report here (https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/332/employers-post-brexit-workforce-strategies-and-their-use-of-migrant-workers). 

This episode was recorded on 11 June 2024. If you would like to get in touch regarding this episode, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/333/podcast-transcript---labour-shortages

About the speakers: 

Dr Gabriella Alberti is an Associate Professor in Work and Employment Relations. Her research interests revolve around the conditions of workers at the bottom end of the labour market, whether on non-standard contracts, engaged in gig/platform work, excluded from social protections, migrants and minorities workers facing multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination and exclusion. 

Dr Jo Cutter is a lecturer in Work and Employment Relations. Her research focuses on employment relations, social dialogue and the regulation of work with a core focus on skills formation and training. She is currently researching these themes in relation to two contexts: workers and the just transition and labour mobility. 

Caroline Keohane is Head of Industry Growth at the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) which is the voice of the UK’s largest manufacturing sector. Caroline leads FDF’s policy work on growth, productivity and investment and works closely with senior government officials within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). She is also a Non-Executive Board member of the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink. 

Tanya Barringer is a Senior Industry Growth Policy Executive at the Food and Drink Federation.  Her areas of focus include skills (apprenticeships and skill shortages), employment and migration, the uptake of automation and digitalisation and supply chain fairness.

Labour shortages, automation, and upskilling in UK food and drink manufacturing

Dr Jo Cutter speaks to Hunter Moskowitz and Dr Mijin Cha from UC Santa Cruz about their case study, exploring the key themes in just transition in the US. The team discuss the roles of unions, coalitions, and policy priorities. 

This project is funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation – Just Transition: Aktivitäten im internationalen Vergleich 2021-582-2. Visit the project webpage. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/dir-record/research-projects/1990/just-transition-action-concepts-debates-and-strategies-an-international-comparison-across-11-countries

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in May 2024. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk.  https://soundcloud.com/leedsunibschool/sets/just-transitions-a-global

A transcript of this episode is available. https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/294/podcast-just-transitions---a-global-exploration

You can listen to the rest of the episodes in this series.

About the speakers:  

Dr Jo Cutter is a lecturer in Work and Employment Relations at Leeds University Business School. Her research focuses on employment relations, social dialogue and the regulation of work with a core focus on skills, education and training. She is currently researching these themes in relation to two contexts: workers and the just transition and labour mobility. 

Hunter Moskowitz is a doctoral candidate in World History at Northeastern with a BS in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.  He also works as a research specialist, examining climate and labor policy and just transitions at the University of California Santa Cruz. 

Dr Mijin Cha is an assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz and a fellow at the Climate Jobs Institute, Cornell University. Dr Cha’s research focuses on labour/climate coalitions and how to actualize just transitions.

Just Transitions - a Global Exploration: the US

Professor Aristeidis Theotokis speaks to special guest, Rashik Parmar MBE, about AI and the implications it could have on both business and society as a whole. In the episode, they discuss AI’s potential and limitations; people’s perceptions of AI; who the winners and losers are when it comes to creating value from AI; and what the biggest risks are when it comes to AI. 

Both Aristeidis and Rashik presented at Leeds University Business School’s “The Business of AI” event as part of Leeds Digital Festival in September. 

The HBR article Rashik referenced in this episode is “What is responsible computing?” 

This episode was recorded on 11th October 2024. If you would like to get in touch regarding this episode, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.

About the speakers:

Aristeidis Theotokis is Professor of Marketing at Leeds University Business School. He conducts research in the areas of shopper psychology, retail technology and prosocial behavior. He examines theories and phenomena in the areas of consumer psychology, behavioural economics and social psychology. His current research includes exploring how consumers understand and interact with AI. 

Rashik Parmar, MBE is a member of Leeds University Business School’s Research International Advisory Board. Rashik is Group CEO of British Computer Society (BCS) where he is responsible for realising the BCS mission to make IT good for society. He is focused on inspiring the programmes that the BCS colleagues, members and partners that help us deliver the BCS strategy. Previously he was the IBM Fellow and Vice President responsible for creating and driving IBM’s European technical strategy. Rashik is a member of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Council and also chairs the Employment and Skills Panel at the Leeds City Region LEP and the Board of Trustees for We are IVE.

The limitations and potential of AI - and the role humans have to play in its success

Dr Ziko Konwar is joined by Dr Christopher Hassall and Professor Ulf Andersson to discuss the intricate linkages between biodiversity and business strategies, with an emphasis on operations of multinational enterprises. As part of the conversation, they explore questions such as how can businesses co-create value when it comes to preserving biological resources and mitigating the pace of biodiversity loss. And what are some of the major challenges for multinational companies integrating nature-based solutions into their business models? 

This episode was recorded on 3rd October 2024. If you would like to get in touch regarding this episode, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available. 

About the speakers: 

Dr Ziko Konwar is an Assistant Professor of International Business at Leeds University Business School, and is the Director of Internationalization for the International Business Department. His research interests are in global strategy of multinational enterprises, with an emphasis on cross-national institutional and systemic challenges. He is the Leeds University Business School Research Lead for the 24-26 Cheney Fellowship project (see below), University of Leeds.   

Dr Christopher Hassall is an Associate Professor of Animal Biology in the School of Biology at the University of Leeds. He co-directs the Leverhulme Extinction Studies Doctoral Training Programme and co-leads the Aeroecology Research Group, which focuses on using radar for biodiversity monitoring. His research interests span fundamental ecology and biodiversity conservation, with a particular emphasis on interdisciplinary solutions to biodiversity challenges. 

Professor Ulf Andersson is a Professor of Business Studies in Mälardalen University, Sweden. Ulf is a research leader and expert on subsidiary management strategy of multinational enterprises, and is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business and European International Business Academy. Ulf is the first Cheney Fellow to be hosted at Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds. 

About the project:

The Cheney fellowship project will utilize inter-disciplinary research expertise to address the role of global strategy of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in biodiversity loss (e.g. species/habitat extinction and MNE global innovation). The research team comprises Professor Ulf Andersson (incoming Cheney Fellow), Dr Ziko Konwar, Professor Yingqi (Annie) Wei and Professor Frank McDonald (Leeds University Business School), Dr Christopher Hassall (Faculty of Biological Sciences,) and Professor George Holmes (School of Earth and Environment). Over the past ten years, the Cheney Fellowship programme has established fruitful and high-impact research partnerships in areas such as water security, molecular biology, medicine and materials science. This programme has been made possible through a $4 million gift from Bacteriology and Biochemistry graduate Peter Cheney and his wife Susan.   

All quiet on the biodiversity strategy front: multinational enterprises, value creation and sustainable ecosystems

David Loseby, Visiting Professor of Research Impact at Leeds University Business School, interviews Frank Lee, Chief Executive Officer at the Institute for Collaborative Working, asking what makes a great partner, and how value can be created through collaboration. 

Both David and Frank spoke at the “Ideas in Practice: Supply Chain Summit 2024”, which was co-hosted by Leeds University Business School and the Institute for Collaborative Working. The event, held in November 2024, explored how managing complex supply chains is increasingly vital to all organisations. 

Additional note: In the episode, David and Frank mention ISO 44000 and ISO 44001. These are standards created by the International Organization for Standardization, that provide frameworks for successful collaborative business relationship management. 

This episode was recorded on 3rd February 2025. If you would like to get in touch regarding this episode, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available. (https://business.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/354/podcast-transcript---collaboration-done-right)

About the speakers: 

David Loseby is Professor of Research Impact in Supply Chain Management at Leeds University Business School. He is a modern day “pracademic” that has spent over three decades in procurement and supply chain roles internationally across a diverse set of sectors from pharmaceuticals, banking, retail, manufacturing, and public sector (NHS and Westminster City Council) and more recently as the Group CPO for Rolls Royce. He is also a visiting scholar at the University of East Anglia involved in Executive MBA and MSc programmes, as well as his own active research portfolio in Behavioural Science.  

Frank Lee is the Chief Executive Officer at the Institute for Collaborative Working (ICW), a role he has held since early 2023. He joined ICW after more than 30 years with the British Standards Institution (BSI), where he held various leadership roles. Frank has been instrumental in establishing a new vision and purpose for ICW, transforming it into a modern, agile, and outward-focused institution. 

Collaborative working

Leeds University Business School’s Research and Innovation podcast brings you insights from our expert researchers. From the future of work, to disruptive technologies; green behaviours to emerging markets, we’ll be covering a wide-range of topical issues and novel ideas. 

Listen to the podcast to find out more about our research and how it’s inspiring business managers, informing policymakers and influencing society.

If you have any comments regarding any of these episodes, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk.