Damian O'Doherty

Professor Damian O'Doherty is a leading academic in Management and Organization Theory at the Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester. He is currently Head of the Management and Organizations group and co-founder of the BEAM nuclear and social research network. His research focuses on organization theory, management education, and ethnographic studies of complex systems like airports and nuclear facilities. O'Doherty holds editorial roles in top journals including Organization Studies and Academy of Management Learning and Education, and has supervised over 12 doctoral students. He is also Director of the Manchester Ethnography Network and a visiting professor at Copenhagen Business School (2020/21).

• Education: PhD in Sociology from the University of Manchester (2003)

His research interests include the philosophy of organization, critical management studies, and the intersection of infrastructure (e.g., airports, nuclear sites) with societal structures. Notable works include Reconstructing Organization (2017), analyzing airports as contested political/economic spaces, and ethnographic studies of Sellafield nuclear facilities. He explores 'loungification'—how modern spaces reconfigure social relations—and the role of animals (e.g., 'Olly the Cat') in organizational dynamics. Recent projects include a 5-year nuclear ethnography funded by the British Nuclear Fuels Endowment and studies on landscape as a condition of business possibility.

Awards: Award-winning teacher recognized for innovative pedagogy. His work contributes to UN SDG 4 (Quality Education) through transformative management education.

• Grants: £2.5M+ for nuclear ethnography (British Nuclear Fuels Endowment)
• Key conferences: Hosted 2017 International Ethnography Symposium at Manchester

Labs/Networks: BEAM Research Network, Manchester Ethnography Network, Dalton Nuclear Institute collaborations.