Background:

Paul joined Birmingham Business School in April 2011; he was Head of the Department of Management for three years. He was at Warwick Business School for over 30 years, where he was Director of the Industrial Relations Research Unit and held several Associate Dean positions. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and has served as the chair of the Academy’s Social Science Group. He has served on three sub-panels for business and management for the Research Excellence Framework (formerly the Research Assessment Exercise).

Paul’s research career began with the study of workplace industrial relations and industrial conflict. He has subsequently studied new management practices in the workplace and managerial careers, both in the UK and in international comparison. Research projects include the first representative survey of the human resource management practices of multinational companies in the UK, a survey that was emulated in several other countries through the INTREPID network.

Why Paul became a ReWAGE expert:

ReWAGE is a powerful means of improving the links between research evidence and practice, through conversation and dialogue, and not a simplistic model of ‘knowledge transfer’.

What achievements make Paul most proud:

Mentoring early career researchers, as PhD students or research fellows -- at least 11 now hold chairs. Working in the British Academy to help to have business and management recognised as field.

Current projects

Working with ReWAGE colleague Monder Ram on ‘productivity from below’; reflecting on the links between critical social science and practice.

Area of expertise:

Small firms and their employment practices and the impact of employment legislation within the firm, with a particular emphasis on firms run by new migrants to the UK.

Publications

· The Good, the Bad and the Ordinary: Work Identities in “Good” and “Bad” Jobs in the UK’

· Managing Low-skill Workers: A Study of Small UK Food Manufacturing Firms

· Social Theory at Work

· The Politics of Working Life

ReWAGE’s Expert Group is uniquely placed to offer the government informed practical advice and policy recommendations to support its strategic response to the recovery and renewal of work and employment in the UK as it tackles the impact of Covid-19 and other challenges.