Carley Foster

Carley Foster is a Professor at Derby International Business School, University of Derby, where she serves as Head of the Business Improvement Research Centre. Her extensive academic career spans over two decades with significant contributions to retail management, marketing, and professional doctoral education.

Her research interests focus on retail management, consumer behavior, diversity management, women's entrepreneurship, and DBA education. Foster's work bridges academic theory and practical business applications, particularly in pop-up retail ecosystems, service quality, and talent management. She has developed frameworks for understanding women's business survival in developing economies and identity formation among DBA students.

Her publication record demonstrates consistent scholarly output with 15 recent articles spanning retail innovation, doctoral education, and consumer behavior. These works reveal a strong pattern of interdisciplinary research connecting retail practice with academic theory, particularly focusing on value co-creation in emerging retail formats and the professional development of doctoral candidates.

Foster maintains active research collaborations with scholars including Brindley, Kirk, and Whysall across multiple projects examining retail dynamics, women's entrepreneurship, and professional education.

As Head of the Business Improvement Research Centre, she leads initiatives connecting academic research with business practice, focusing on practical applications of scholarly work in real-world business contexts.