Biographical note

Mark Easterby-Smith is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Lancaster. His field is organizational learning. He has a first degree in Engineering Science and a PhD in Organizational Behaviour from Durham University and has been an active researcher for over 30 years with primary interests in methodology and learning processes. He has carried out evaluation studies in many European companies, and has led research projects on management development, organizational learning, dynamic capabilities and knowledge transfer across international organizations in the UK, India and China. Richard Thorpe is Professor of Management Development and Pro Dean for Research at Leeds University Business School. His research interests have included: performance, entrepreneurship, knowledge and leadership as well as research methods in management research. His early career as a management trainee on a Clarks programme informed the way his ethos has developed. Following a period in industry his first academic appointment was as a researcher at Strathclyde University in the Pay and Reward Research Centre. There, as a consequence of the research conducted he developed close links with practitioners, intermediaries and policy makers, something he has strived to maintain as his career progressed. Common themes in his work are: a strong commitment to conducting research in collaboration with practitioners; a focus on action and change; an interest in and commitment to the development of doctoral students and the development of capacity within the sector. Richard has been past president and chair of the British Academy of Management and member of the ESRC Training and Development Board. He is currently chair of the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies. Paul R. Jackson is Professor of Corporate Communications and member of the Business Economics and Strategy group at the Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester. Over the years he has undertaken various roles including Director of Doctoral Programmes at the University of Sheffield and, at UMIST, Head of the Division of Marketing, International Business and Strategy as well as designing the doctoral training programme at MBS. He has been teaching research methods to undergraduate, Masters and doctoral students since 1975 and has contributed to books on research methods teaching as well as workshops for students and teachers on behalf of the British Academy of Management.