Mats Alvesson

Video Portrait

Short CV

Positions at Concordia University, Montreal, Linköping University and Stockholm University, 1985-1991.
Full Professor, Dept of Business Administration, Gothenburg University, 1991-1994, at Lund University, 1994- (partly on leave), at University of Queensland, Business School, 2008- (25 %), at City University London, Bayes Business School, 2013- (20 %), University of Bath 2022- (50 %).
Published over 30 books, many articles in leading journals in management and organization studies. Most cited European scholar in this field.

Selected Awards

• 2018, Honorary doctor, Copenhagen Business School
• 2010, Wallenberg Scholar Fellowship, 2.nd round 2015

Research Interests

Critical theory, leadership, qualitative methodology, functional stupidity/unreflective practices, organizational culture, power.

Selected Publications

• Knowledge Work and Knowledge-Intensive Firms. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2004 (also in Swedish).
• Changing Organizational Culture London: Routledge 2008 (with S Sveningsson) (also in Swedish), 2.nd ed 2015.
• Constructing Research Questions. Doing Interesting Research through Problematization. London: Sage 2013, w J Sandberg.
• The Triumph of Emptiness. Consumption, Higher Education and Work Organization. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2013. 2nd ed 2022.
• Reflexive Leadership. Organizing in an Imperfect World. London: Sage (with M Blom & S Sveningsson) 2017.
• Managerial Lives. Leadership and  Identity in an Imperfect World. Cambridge University Press 2016, (with S Sveningsson).
• The Stupidity Paradox. The Power and Pitfalls of Functional Stupidity at Work. London: Profile 2016 (w A Spicer) (Also published in Italian, Turkish, Chinese and Swedish).
• Return to Meaning. For a Social Science With Something to Say. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2017 (w Y Gabriel & R Paulsen).
• Doing Critical Research. London: Sage 2021, w S Deetz.
• Re-imagining the Research Process. London: Sage 2021, w J Sandberg.