Research projects

The project will investigate the impacts of Covid-19 and Brexit on the Adult Social Care sector in England. This is important because:

a) the Adult Social Care sector offers a critical service and has been facing significant challenges, mainly due to lack of adequate funding and workforce shortages; 
b) recent evidence suggests that the sector has been among the most dramatically affected by the recent significant shocks caused by Covid-19 and Brexit.

The research will identify these impacts by developing relevant theory, and state-of-the-art statistical methods, such as machine learning, to bring together and analyse all available data sources on workforce, performance, and technology in Adult Social care in England. Results of the projects will inform the management and economics literature on the links among workforce, technology, and performance and inform policy and practice on how and what HRM practices and technologies could be used to mitigate external negative impacts of shocks on firm performance.

The significant amount of waste in food supply chain is a multifaceted problem with several economic, social, and environmental manifestations. Yet, there has never been a systematic solution which transcends individual supply chain and target the larger scale supply networks. However, extra-ordinary measures can be coordinated via the concept of “supply chain control towers” which is the focus of this project. We develop mechanisms and implementation road maps for matching up supply of excessive food items and redirecting the flow of products in accordance with shifts in demand. Using analytics and data sciences, the project enables the creation of novel connection in agri-food supply networks to reduce wastage of food and implement this with the help of industry partners and policy makers.

This project aims to develop an interdisciplinary cluster on “Food Waste Reduction Spillovers: From Children/School to Parents/Home”. The research question it aims to answer is: Can children targeted school-based food waste reduction (e.g., portion control) interventions motivate relevant behaviour amongst children that spills over to parents’ food waste behaviour at home?

We will:

(1) seek to answer this aforementioned research question via a literature review; 
(2) support a virtual roundtable discussion of creative interventions focused on this area that will be used to pursue external funding; and
(3) serve as means for the development of data collection protocols to be utilised in the external funding application. The cluster’s roundtable discussion will be supported by key contacts in London-based councils based on previous consultancy work (Harrow Council & Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) by inviting them to join the roundtable and will also seek further support from the Greater London Alliance. The cluster will focus on developing interventions targeted to the 13.5% of the Greater London population who are children between the ages of 5 and 14 years old and develop methods to assess the potential spillovers on their parents.

B Corporations appear to offer a positive solution to today’s social, economic and environmental problems, and to (re-)build public trust in the corporations, that has been in significant decline in recent years. However, to date, there are only 3499 certified B Corporations around the globe, and very little research on the issue. This project aims to explore the following questions:

• To what extent does B Corporation certification fundamental transform businesses to balance profit and purpose?
• To what extent does B Corporation certification deliver economic, social and environmental value at the firm level?
• To what extent does B Corporation certification help build public trust in corporations?