Michael Gill
Associate Professor in Organisation Studies
- michael.gill@sbs.ox.ac.uk
Saïd Business School
University of Oxford
Park End Street
Oxford
OX1 1HP
Profile
Michael's research interests lie in the experience of modern work and qualitative research methods.
Michael's research focuses on the causes and consequences of individuals’ suffering in the workplace, complemented by his interest in qualitative research methods. His studies have explored how organisations can support or threaten workers’ mental health and damage their subjective sense of self. He has explored this topic across different occupational groups including accountants, elite chefs, lawyers, management consultants, medical doctors, nurses, and police officers.
Michael received his doctorate from Jesus College, University of Oxford, having been funded by a scholarship from the Centre for Professional Service Firms. He went on to join the University of Bath’s School of Management as an Assistant then Associate professor. Following this, he returned to Oxford, where he joined Saïd Business School and St Edmund Hall.
Prior to starting his academic career, Michael worked in sales and marketing management positions for FMCG companies Unilever and PepsiCo, across a range of brands. He also worked at Kearney as a consultant, focusing on organisational redesign and manufacturing optimisation.
Research
Michael’s primary research focus is on the experience of modern work, which he seeks to examine from the perspective of workers themselves.
Michael’s research has been funded by the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council. He is the sole author of research articles in leading theoretical, empirical, essay, and methodological management journals including Academy of Management Review, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, and Organizational Research Methods. He has also collaborated on a variety of international research projects, which have been published across a range of scholarly and practitioner journals.
Recognition for his methodological research includes a ‘best published paper award’ (Organizational Research Methods), inclusion in ‘Editor's Favourite Papers’ (Organizational Research Methods) and ‘best conference paper award’ (Research Methods Division, Academy of Management annual meeting), each awarded for separate articles.
Publications
Talking about disappointments: identification work through multiple discourses at a prestigious university(opens in new window)
- Journal article
- Human Relations
Understanding the spread of sustained employee volunteering: how volunteers influence their coworkers’ moral identity work(opens in new window)
- Journal article
- Journal of Management
The Significance Of Suffering In Organizations: Understanding Variation In Workers’ Responses To Multiple Modes Of Control(opens in new window)
- Journal article
- Academy of Management Review
Mentoring for mental health: A mixed-method study of the benefits of formal mentoring programmes in the English police force(opens in new window)
- Journal article
- Journal of Vocational Behavior
The possibilities of phenomenology for organizational research(opens in new window)
- Journal article
- Organizational Research Methods
Engagement
Michael works closely with a range of professional service and public sector firms to support them in addressing significant challenges.
Michael collaborates with a range of professional service and public sector firms to support them in addressing significant challenges. For example, his insights helped a law firm to understand their employees’ changing aspirations for partnership. His research supported a global accounting firm’s development of an award-winning mental health training programme. He worked with a police force to support their development of an award-winning mentoring scheme.
Teaching
Michael’s teaching experience spans undergraduate, MBA and executive education.
Michael’s current teaching spans undergraduate tutorials in Organisational Behaviour and General Management; MBA classes in Organisational Behaviour; and graduate seminars in Research Methods. He has also delivered open and custom executive education programmes. His teaching awards include Poets & Quants ‘Top 40 MBA professors under 40,’ Business Because ‘MBA Professors to Look Out For’, and University of Oxford Social Science Division ‘Teaching Excellence Award’.
