More about the Empowering Project

The Developing Empowering Methodologies in Management Research Project is an initiative by Professor Emma Bell from the Open University and Professor Sunita Singh Sengupta from the University of Delhi. They both submitted an application to the UKIERI UK-India Education and Research Initiative on October 2017.

The initial idea is to use post-colonial theory to look at power imbalances related to globalisation, colonialism and imperialism which are still affecting the planning and execution of management research in India. The Project will involve the use of politically-aware, humanist methods that ensure researchers' ethic of care towards participants and enable them to speak openly, including in ways which potentially challenge dominant managerial perspectives.

The Project will aim to recruit 6 Indian PhD students to work on Case Studies where they can implement the use of Empowering Methodologies. We are hoping that, in their methodological implementation,  each Case Study will account for and demonstrate the cultural and traditional background of researcher and participants. One area in which I am personally interested to see is Religion and Spirituality. I am hoping to see how these two "concepts" can play a part the de-colonisation of methodologies.

Anyway, Professor Sengupta and Professor Bell got a £50000 grant secured (for 2 years) and we started working in early May 2018. First we will plan a visit to the University of Delhi, India to meet with Professor Sengupta and promote the project among students. The visit will take place last week of May 2018.

I will keep you up-to-date with our activities and outcome of the visit to India here.

Welcome to the Empowering Blog!

Welcome to the Empowering Methodologies in Management Research Blog. My name is Cecilia Loureiro-Koechlin and I work at the Open University Business School. I will be in charge of updating this blog with thoughts, news and events.

Developing Empowering Methodologies in Management Project

The purpose of the project is to enhance research capacity, develop researchers' skills and strengthen methodological understanding of approaches to business and management research that seek to empower research participants. Empowerment is defined as a means of giving voice to marginalised organisational members in the context of postcolonial, globalised India.

The  objectives  of  the  project  are  to:
1)  Develop  a  conceptual  definition  of  empowering  methodologies  in  business  and  management  research  as  a  basis  for  operationalisation;  
2)  Explore  potential  applications  of  empowering  methodologies  in  business  and  management  research;  
3)  Evaluate  the  benefits  and  challenges  associated  with  empowering  methodologies  and  develop  a  set  of  online  educational  resources  that  enable  ongoing  researcher  development.


This project is a collaboration between the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi and The Open University Business School.

I work closely with:

Dr Sunita Singh Sengupta, Head and Dean of the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi.

Email: sunita.singhsengupta@fms.edu

Dr Emma Bell, Professor of Organisation Studies at the Department for People and Organisations, The Open University Business School

Email: emma.bell@open.ac.uk

Dr Tim Butcher, Senior Lecturer in Organisational Studies, Department for People and Organisations, The Open University Business School

Email: tim.butcher@open.ac.uk