Michael Fischer

Michael D Fischer is Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Leadership, Visiting Scholar at University of Oxford where he was previously a senior research fellow, and a Program Director at Melbourne Business School. He holds a PhD in organisational behaviour from Imperial College London, University of London.

Trained as a business school social scientist and clinical group analyst, his research has a strong empirical focus on the practice-level microsociology of organisational change in research-intensive settings, especially in healthcare.A He specialises in ethnographic and comparative case studies, analysing intersubjective relations, emotions and power, and their potential to mobilise organisational change.A He has a particular interest in executive education and the role of business schools in a rapidly developing knowledge economy.

His research is published in leading international journals in the Financial Times 'top 50', ABDC A* and CABS 4* lists, including Accounting Organizations and Society, Human Relations, Organization Studies, Public Administration, and Social Science and Medicine.A He has led major competitive research grants as principal and co-investigator, including funding by the National Institute of Health Research, the University of Oxford and Kings College London.A

He is a highly active researcher with a strong focus on practice-level processes of organisational change, especially in research-intensive settings. His research draws on sociomaterial perspectives to analyse dynamics of influence and change in complex organisations. By focusing on the 'backstage' work of everyday emotions, affect and politics, he analyses their effects in mobilising ideas, material practices and technologies that can dynamically stimulate major organisational change.

In his original ethnographic research at Imperial College London, he examined a UK healthcare policy from inception to implementation and subsequent collapse. Its formal risk management systems had unintended consequences on organisational life, undermining organisational functioning and leading to policy collapse. He later investigated the impact of professional regulation on healthcare professionals, analysing how embedded practices of self-regulation may be undermined by regulatory transparency, performance metrics and sanctions. His research highlights the role of supportive 'formative spaces' and forms of self-regulation which can be more effective in supporting good practice.

In a related second research theme, he examines how micro-sociological dynamics operate in knowledge leadership. His leadership research provides an in-depth analysis of how leaders interpret and 're-assemble' ideas, techniques and materials, and utilise these in their leadership practices.A Through a series of longitudinal case studies focused on research-intensive settings,A he has analysed how the most effective leadership practices assemble and mobilise organisational change.A In his research at the University of Oxford, he analysed at first hand flagship leadership programmes at Sa??d Business School - its High Performance Leadership and Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme.

His international career in public services focuses mainly in the healthcare sector where he has held senior clinical, managerial and policy adviser roles. Before joining academia, Michael had an accomplished career as a Lead Consultant Psychotherapist in leading teaching hospitals in Manchester, Liverpool and London, most recently at St Thomas' Hospital, London. He is a noted expert in the group and intersubjective relations that influence contemporary organisations and can powerfully mobilise organisational change.

Education

• PhD in Organisational Behaviour & Leadership Imperial College London (2001 — 2007)
• MInstGA Institute of Group Analysis, London (1992 — 1997)
• Manchester University Hospitals | NWIDP The University of Manchester (1989 — 1995)

Companies

• Professor of Leadership & Organisational Culture Australian Catholic University (2016)
• Program Director & Visiting Faculty University of Melbourne, Melbourne Business School (2014)
• Visiting Professor | Senior Fellow Saïd Business School, University of Oxford (2009)
• Lead Consultant Psychotherapist | Clinical Director NHS (1988 — 2016)
• Senior Research Fellow | Hon Consultant Psychotherapist King's College London (2008 — 2012)