Peter McNamara

Peter Mc Namara is Professor of Management and Head of Maynooth University School of Business. He is the Past Chairperson of the Management Education and Development division of the Academy of Management (AOM has approximately 20,000 members worldwide), where he led the division through a series of changes in domain focus, structures, and growth both member and programs. He has previously held academic appointments in University College Dublin Schools of Business, Cass Business School (University of London), and visiting appointments at University of Kent Business School, University of Amsterdam, University of Fribourg (Switzerland), and University Pierre Mendes (France) amongst others.

His research focuses primarily on three areas. First, his research explores the process and performance consequences of management and career decisions upon business schools, universities and employees. Second, he explores the process and performance consequences of innovation in terms of science, knowledge work, and business processes, with a particular interest on the relationship between failure experience and performance. Third, he explores the process and performance consequences of collaboration within and between organisations, including an interest in the role of soft power in collaborative strategy formulation and implementation.

His research has been published in leading journals including the Journal of Management, Academy of Management Learning and Education, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Research Policy, Journal of Business Venturing, British Journal of Management, Technovation, LRP, and the Journal of World Business, amongst others. His research work has won awards from the Academy of Management, the European Academy of Management and the Case Centre. He has received research grants from Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and the HEA.

His teaching experience includes undergraduate, postgraduate, executive education and doctoral programs in management, strategy and research methods.

Research

My research explores the process and performance consequences of collaboration and innovation, using qualitative and quantitative methods.

I work with collaborators and students (and welcome new ones) on four major themes.

1. Management and performance of Business Schools: what are the drivers of individual career performance; the performance landscape and drivers of Global Business Schools; strategy formulation and implementation of Business Schools in university settings, and what is the efficacy of our education programs (assurance of learning)

2. The process and performance consequences of: collaboration between organisations (including the role of soft power in collaboration) innovation, especially the role of failure, setbacks and success experience

3. The process and performance consequences of business model design and innovation

4. I believe in bridging the space between research and the class room and therefore write business case studies that can be used in the class to demonstrate how management concepts and tools can be applied.

I undertake research in a variety of industrial settings such as pharmaceuticals, connected health, sport, not for profit organisations, business schools amongst others.

My research has been published in leading journals including Journal of Management, Academy of Management Learning and Education, Research policy, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of World Business, British Journal of Management, Long Range Planning, and Technovation amongst others.

My research, in conjunction with collaborators, has won a number of awards including both the Carlo Masini Award for Innovative Scholarship and the Global Forum Award (twice) from the Academy of Management, the Best Strategy Paper and one of the three overall conference award finalists at the European Academy of Management, and multiple awards for my business case writing from the Case Centre, including the overall Best Entrepreneurship Case Award.