Leads Research and Knowledge Exchange and is the Professor of Management at the Business School. Current research interests include the economy, sociology and ecology of knowledge and innovation, and politics of meaning. These research themes critically explore: ways in which discourse promotes and embodies particular kind of values and interests, and actively constructs at the same time as it reflects reality in social organisation; the contestability of social concepts and constructs with no fixed meaning; the usage of contested concepts and constructs in fostering and extending particular values, agendas and practices; ways in which a dominant discourse governs truth as a regime and shapes the conditions for “knowing” within a given context; and the dynamics and struggle of competing discourses in winning legitimacy.

Professor Chaharbaghi has undertaken work for organisations such as Hewlett-Packard, Rolls Royce, GEC-Althom, Ford and Van Leer, and has served as the Executive Board Member of the Management Division of IEE and Association for Global Business. He has over 100 publications which have appeared in journals such as Long Range Planning, Journal of General Management, British Journal of Management and Management Decision.

Research and Knowledge Exchange

The economy, sociology and ecology of knowledge and innovation, and politics of meaning.

• MBA

Research Methods and Innovation

• Chaharbaghi (2010) The audit dilemma in public services. International Journal of Critical Accounting, forthcoming.

• K. Chaharbaghi and J. Barry (2010) Paradoxing Relevance in the Research Quality Debate. Philosophy of Management Journal, forthcoming.

• “The Problematic of Strategy: A Way of Seeing is Also a Way of Not Seeing”, Special Issue of Management Decision on “Hierarchy of Strategies and Strategic Fit”, Volume 45, Issue 3, 2007.

• “Collective Creativity: Wisdom or Oxymoron?” Journal of European Industrial Training, Volume 32, Issue 1, 2008 (this paper was also presented at the Academy of Management Conference, Atlanta, USA, 2006).

• “Sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa: Issues of knowledge development and agenda setting”, International Journal of Development Issues Volume 8, Issue 2, 2009.

• “Provision of Public Services in an Age of Managerialism", Equal Opportunity International (Special Issue on “Gender and Management in the Public Sector"), Volume 27, Issue 4, 2007 (this paper was also presented at the EURAM Conference, Norwegian School of Management, Oslo, Norway, 2006).

• “Cruel Comforters: Management Gurus as Outsourced Thinkers”, Philosophy of Management Journal, Volume 6, Issue 1, 2007.

• “The Limits of Rationality”, Philosophy of Management Journal, Volume 6 Issue 3, 2007 (this paper was selected for publication by the editor following its presentation at the Practising Philosophy of Management Conference, St Anne's College, Oxford University, 2005).

• “Intellectual Capital: Direction, Not Blind Faith”, Journal of Intellectual Capital, Volume 7, Issue 1, 2006 (this paper was selected for publication by the editor following its presentation at the CMS conference, Robinson College, Cambridge University, 2005).

• "The Discipline, Study and Practice of Management: A Reflective Inquiry", Management Decision, Volume 42, Issue 3/4, 2004 (granted the Emerald Highly Commended Special Issue Award).

• “Meaning, Legitimacy and Impact of Business Models in Fast-moving Environments”, Management Decision, Volume 41, Issue 4, 2003.

• “Aligning Strategies, Processes and Information Technology: A Case Study”, Journal of Information Management Systems, Volume 17, 2000.

• “The Technology and Economy of Technology”, Management Decision, Volume 38, Issue 7, 2000.

• “The Study and Practice of Leadership”, Journal of Knowledge Management, Volume 4, Issue 1, 2000.

• “Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Towards a Dynamic Resource-based Strategy”, Management Decision, Volume 37, Issue 1, 1999.

• “The Study and Practice of Sustainable Development”, Engineering Management Journal, Volume 9, Issue 1, 1999.

• “Corporate Culture Myths”, Long Range Planning, Volume 31, Issue 4, 1998.

• “Strategy: the Missing Link between Continuous Revolution and Constant Evolution”, International Journal of Operations and Production Management: Special Issue on Business Process Re-engineering, Volume 18, Issue 9/10, 1998.

• "Developing Creative Teams for Operational Excellence", International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Volume 16, Issue 1, 1996.

• “Innovating: Towards an Integrated Learning Model”, Management Decision, Volume 34, Issue 4, 1996.

• "Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Perspective", Engineering Management Journal, Volume 6, Issue 1, 1996.

• "Researching Strategy Formulation and Implementation in Dynamic Environments", International Journal of Benchmarking for Quality Management and Technology, Volume 3, Issue 2, 1996 (granted the Literati Club Award for Excellence – Outstanding Paper Award).

• “Strategic Alliances in Fast Moving Markets”, Long Range Planning, Volume 29, Issue 6, 1996 (acknowledged by The Antidote, CSBS, Issue 7, 1997 as a Key Contribution to Management Thinking).

• “A New Generation of Competitors”, Management Decision, Volume 34, Issue 7, 1996.

• "Analysis of Strategy Formulation and Implementation at Hewlett-Packard",   Management Decision, Volume 33, Issue 10, 1995 (acknowledged by Anbar Management Magazine, Issue 1, 1996 as essential reading).

• "Strategy Development: Past, Present and Future", Management Decision, Volume 33, Issue 6, 1995 (granted the Literati Club Award for Excellence – Outstanding Paper Award).

• "Dynamic Strategy Formulation and Alignment", Journal of General Management, Volume 20, Issue 3, 1995.

• "Dynamic Strategy Ownership", Management Decision, Volume 33, Issue 4, 1995.

• "Performance Measurement in Strategic Change", International Journal of Benchmarking for Quality Management and Technology, Volume 2, Issue 2, 1995.

• "Problem-based Learning: Potential and Implementation Issues", British Journal of Management, Volume 6, Issue 4, 1995.

• "Towards the Dynamic Organisation", Management Decision, Volume 32, Issue 6, 1994.

• "Defining Competitiveness - A Holistic Approach", Management Decision, Volume 32, Issue 4, 1994.

• Fellow of RSA, Fellow of IET, Member of Chartered Management Institute, Member of editorial board of Management Decision and International Journal of Applied Knowledge Management

K. Chaharbaghi (2010) The audit dilemma in public services. International Journal of Critical Accounting, forthcoming.

Whilst in some way, audits can be seen as positive in terms of bringing about external accountability and regulation of high standards, the involvement of an approach in maintaining such standards by attaching a heavy weight to ‘quality’ control considerations is questionable. This is because such an approach shifts the focus from performance, which is about results, to conformance which emphasises norm-following behaviour. In other words, it shifts focus from what professionals can do in delivering public services to what they cannot do. This can be demonstrated using the arguments put forward in a recent public debate on the audit culture which enjoyed the participation of a significant number of academic professionals who have experienced it and question its legitimacy and those in the position of authority who promote and reinforce it. The evidence from this debate suggests that whilst audits have their origin in the Utopian craving for imagined ideal public services, when they crystallise into a culture, involving sets of largely unconscious assumptions, they can be distorted to such an extent that they conceal more than they reveal with the result that the actual policy pursued is the exact opposite of the professed ideal.