Davide Nicolini

Davide Nicolini is a Professor of Organization Studies and Director of the IKON Organisation and Work Group at Warwick Business School, University of Warwick. He concurrently serves as a Visiting Professor at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo. His prior affiliations include faculty positions at the University of Trento (Italy) and a senior social scientist role at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London, where he developed extensive experience in action-learning program design and action-research interventions.

Professor Nicolini's research centers on practice-based approaches to understanding organizational phenomena through the lens of everyday work practices. He investigates how knowing, learning, and change emerge in complex environments—particularly healthcare systems—with significant contributions to innovation processes, safety management, and ethical decision-making frameworks. His work bridges theoretical rigor with practical application, employing ethnographic methods to uncover the micro-foundations of organizational life while advancing action-based methodologies for systemic change.

His recent scholarly output reveals strong thematic continuity across publications spanning ethics, attention dynamics, and evidence mobilization. Articles like 'What is the right thing to do?' and 'Towards a practice-theoretical view of attention' demonstrate his focus on situated ethical sensemaking and cognitive processes in organizational contexts. The recurring healthcare setting in his work highlights practical relevance, while methodological innovations in video-based research and diffraction approaches showcase theoretical advancement.

As Director of the IKON Organisation and Work Group, Professor Nicolini leads a research collective dedicated to exploring practice theory applications in organizational transformation. The group actively engages in collaborative projects that translate theoretical insights into practical interventions, particularly for improving complex systems like healthcare organizations through action-research methodologies.