Dr Muhammad Akhtar
Associate Professor in Human Resource Management & People Analyt
HRM and People Analytics
Department of Business Entrepreneurship & Finance , Royal Docks School Of Business And Law
Dr Muhammad Akhtar is an Associate Professor in HRM and People Analytics, Interim Director of Research Impact & Innovation, Editor-in-Chief Working Paper Series, and Research Lead for the Department of Business Management, Entrepreneurship, Finance at the Royal Docks School of Business and Law. He received his PhD in Management from the School of Management, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, China (2012-2015) and an MA in Management (2007-08) from Chester Business School, University of Chester, UK.
Qualifications
- MA Management - Chester Business School, University of Chester, Chester, UK (2009)
- PhD Management - HUST School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan - PR China (2015)
Areas Of Interest
Interests include the intersection between human resource management, organisational behaviour, I/O psychology, and organisational change. Specifically, his current research is focused on the themes of high-performance work systems, flexible work practices, psychological contracts, organisational change, employee-employer relations, attitude and behaviours (individual, co-workers, and team levels), future of work, employee engagement, involvement, and thriving at work, meaningful work, performance management, and people analytics.
OVERVIEW
Dr Muhammad Akhtar has worked at MCB Bank, Bank Alfalah, The University of Faisalabad, Cyprus International University, and National University of Sciences & Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan prior to joining University of East London and brings over 20 years of industry experience, research scholarship, consultancy, and client engagement.
His professional career spans working in number of industries including banking, international education management, and higher education. He is an Academic Fellow (FCIPD) – Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, UK, fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA) – UK, and a senior management consultant. He has published peer-reviewed research papers in reputable international journals, commissioned research reports, consulting projects and presented his work in international research conferences.
He is also engaged with number of universities from UK and overseas as an external examiner, PhD supervisor, doctoral and master level dissertation examiner, keynote speaker, and editor. He has worked with number of universities to create international academic partnership projects such as student exchange, scholarships, split degree programs, faculty exchange and research supervision project with Mykolo Romeris University, Lithuania, Cyprus International University, TRNC, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.
Editorial Responsibilities
Dr Muhammad Akhtar is currently working as the Associate Editor Employee Relations (since August 2021) and also member of the Editorial Review Board for Internet Research (both journals published by Emerald Publishing Group, UK). He has also served as an article editor-in-chief for SAGE Open. Previously, he has worked as the Editor-in-Chief (founding editor) NUST Business Review. He has published peer-reviewed articles in well-reputed international journals such as Internet Research, Journal of Environmental Management, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, Employee Relations, Asian Journal of Social Psychology, Current Psychology, and Journal of Knowledge Management. He has been invited as a keynote speaker and presented papers at international conferences and visited a number of countries around the world.
Consultancy
Recognising people at the core of organisational transformation, Dr Muhammad Akhtar helps his clients to reinvent the employee experience through data-driven thought leadership. He founded MNA-HR Consulting and grew the workforce analytics and organisation practices, specialising in the facilitation of data-driven decision making, designing future digital organisations with a new purpose and sustainable principles, organisational performance, operational excellence, systems and skills. He applies his industry experience in guiding organisations and individuals toward success in their people analytics initiatives. Specifically, understanding how leadership is evolving in the digital age, how to better engage workforce throughout the change process, and how worker productivity can be improved through automation, data, and technology, and what makes employees thrive at work. His clients include private sector SMEs, manufacturing firms, universities, and training institutes. Currently engaged in developing management knowledge transfer partnership projects (mKTP).
Research
Most Recent
- Antecedents and outcomes of enabling HR practices: The paradox of consistency and flexibility.
TEACHING
PhD Supervision and Research Collaboration
Dr Akhtar is a learning facilitator, and research practitioner in academic enterprise. Since 2016, he has been involved in supervising scholarly activities such as PhD, and MS HRM dissertations, external examiner, research grants, consulting projects, and managing research development.
He is currently accepting PhD students for supervision and collaboration in the following research themes:
- High-performance work systems, flexible HR best practices, performance management, people analytics and digital HRM.
- Psychological contracts, attitude and behaviours (individual, co-workers, and team levels), employee well-being, emotions and moods at work,
- Future of work, employee engagement, involvement, burnout, thriving at work, and meaningful work,
- Leadership, organisational change, organizational psychology.
MODULES
- Leadership in a Global Context
- HRM Work-based Reflective Practice
- Digital & Human Resource Information Systems
- Leading, Managing and Developing Global Talent and Knowledge Management
- Knowledge Management, Metrics and Quantitative Data
- Organizational Change
- Research Methods
- Advanced Quantitative Methods
- Quantitative Data Analysis Program
Publications
Browse past publications by year.
Full publications list
Visit the research repository to view a full list of publications
- Adapting to change: redefining employee utilization in construction projects through lessons learnt from COVID-19 Employee Relations. 47 (1), pp. 193-216. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-06-2023-0320
- How and when negative workplace gossip influences service sabotage behavior? A study among hotel frontline employees in China Chinese Management Studies. 19 (1), pp. 99-115. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-02-2023-0086
- You have got a nerve: examining the nexus between coworkers' cyberloafing and workplace incivility Internet Research. p. In Press. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-09-2022-0700
- Positive leadership and employees’ pro-environmental behavior: a meta-analysis Current Psychology. 43, p. 31405–31415. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06727-6
- Antecedents and outcomes of enabling HR practices: The paradox of consistency and flexibility Human Resource Management Journal. In Press. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12571
- Self-serving Leadership and Employee Knowledge Hiding: A Dual-pathway Model Management Decision. p. In press. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-05-2023-0831
- Organizational Psychology in Asia in: Bal, P. M. (ed.) Elgar Encyclopedia of Organizational Psychology. UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp.445-448
- How and when supervisor bottom-line mentality affects employees' voluntary workplace green behaviors: A goal-shielding perspective Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. 31 (6), pp. 5357-5371. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2877
- Testing the Social Cognitive Model of Well-being among international students in China Current Psychology. 43, pp. 9944-9954. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04962-x
- Employee Voice: Insights from Pakistan in: Adisa, T., Mordi, C. and Oruh, E. S. (ed.) Employee Voice in the Global South: Insights from Asia, Africa, and South America. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp.183-206
- A Comparative Study of the Work-Life Balance Experiences and Coping Mechanisms of the Nigerian and British Single Student-Working Mothers Career Development International. 28 (2), pp. 217-233. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-10-2022-0280
- Bad apples spoiling the metaphor? How and why self-serving leaders stir up counterproductive behaviors at work Frontiers in Psychology. 13 (Art. 1008071). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1008071
- Authoritarian leadership and cyberloafing: A moderated mediation model of emotional exhaustion and power distance orientation Frontiers in Psychology. 13 (Art. 1010845). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1010845
- Humor at work that works: A multi-level examination of when and why leader humor promotes employee creativity Frontiers in Psychology. 13 (Art. 903281). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.903281
- Negative Influences of Differentiated Empowering Leadership on Team Members’ Helping Behaviors: The Mediating Effects of Envy and Contempt Psychology Research and Behavior Management. 15, pp. 9-20. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S346470