Eleanor Murray
Senior Fellow in Management Practice
- eleanor.murray@sbs.ox.ac.uk
Saïd Business School
University of Oxford
Park End Street
Oxford
OX1 1HP
Profile
Eleanor's research interest is focused on how change is constructed in organisations and systems, the context of change and the impact and outcomes of change for stakeholders.
Her ongoing research re-evaluates large-scale change theory, interpreting recent policy initiatives to deliver integrated care programmes in the UK and internationally as empirical case studies. The newly emerging field of organisational resilience is a concurrent interest and Eleanor’s research examines how resilience can be understood, assessed and applied in a range of sectors.
Eleanor has extensive experience in the health sector: a twenty-year career in health services management involved ten years in senior manager and executive director roles; and since 2008 as a director of her own consulting company, advising on health, education and government projects.
Previously, Eleanor was an Honorary Lecturer, research fellow and post-doctoral researcher in the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London. Her PhD examined organisational resilience in the UK health sector. She has a MSc in organisational behaviour and a MA in managing health services.
Prior to taking up her current role, Eleanor was Senior Research Fellow at Saïd Business School, supported by a three-year improvement science fellowship with the Health Foundation.
Research
Eleanor’s research interests lie in the area of organisational and system change and resilience, with interests in sensemaking and leadership.
She conducts research in a range of public sector organisations, with a particular interest in the health sector, studying teams and organisations associated with health from the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Publications
The influence of personality on psychological safety, the presence of stress and chosen professional roles in the healthcare environment(opens in new window)
- Journal article
- PLoS ONE
Exploring the working environment of Hospital Managers: a mixed methods study investigating stress, stereotypes, psychological safety and individual resilience(opens in new window)
- Journal article
- BMC Health Services Research
How do critical care staff respond to organisational challenge? A qualitative exploration into personality types and cognitive processing in critical care(opens in new window)
- Journal article
- PloS One
Qualitative, grounded theory exploration of patients’ experience of early mobilisation, rehabilitation and recovery after critical illness(opens in new window)
- Journal article
- BMJ Open
Perceptions of Risk and Safety in the ICU: A Qualitative Study of Cognitive Processes Relating to Staffing.(opens in new window)
- Journal article
- Critical care medicine
Engagement
Eleanor’s background enables her to translate research into practice.
During her career, she has worked closely with a broad range of practitioners in an organisational and research capacity in a number of NHS Trusts. Her management career incorporated work in governance, operations, project and programme management, organisational development and human resources as a manager and director. She is an experienced management consultant in the health sector, having led assignments that involved organisational mergers and redesign, change programmes, leadership development and coaching. More recent translational research with the Health Foundation, in the wake of the Francis inquiry, involved the development of innovative integrated data systems for intensive care teams to improve safety and manage risk in relation to staffing.
Teaching
Eleanor has considerable experience with the healthcare sector.
She has taught senior clinical leaders on an MSc in Quality and Safety and developed educational programmes for boards and senior clinical and management teams as a consultant and coach.
Eleanor is also the Programme Director of the Oxford Leading Through Uncertainty and Disruption Programme.
