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Business, but not as usual: Amazing array of research from Oxford Saïd

Published

The first Research Excellence Day was a resounding success.

Happiness, human rights and patient waiting times…The scope and depth of research from Oxford Saïd’s research community was highlighted and celebrated yesterday, at the School’s first Research Excellence Day. Attendees were able to hear first-hand from front-line researchers engaged in studies of finance, economics and business – but also about research from well beyond traditional areas. 

There were sessions about everything from marketing on social media to the impact of happiness on productivity, from common ownership to environmental and social shareholder risk - as numerous Oxford Saïd researchers showcased their work. The thought-provoking Research Excellence Day celebrated and highlighted an impressive range of subjects and researchers at all career stages in Oxford Saïd. 

Speaking at the opening of the Day, Professor Soumitra Dutta, Dean of Oxford Saïd, explained, research is a ‘collective effort’ and he said the Research Excellence Day celebrates and highlights an impressive range of subjects.

The first-ever SBS Research Excellence Day was a great success! Thank you to everyone who contributed to organising it, especially Amy Milligan and Eric Zhao, and the many colleagues who generously shared their research and impact stories with everyone.

Andrew Stephen AM

L’Oréal Professor of Marketing, Deputy Dean for Faculty and Research.

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Professor Stephen added: 'It was an inspirational day for all and demonstrated how vibrant, diverse, and impactful our research community is here at Oxford Saïd.’

Meanwhile, Professor Eric Zhao, (Dean's award winner) said: 'This event provided a fantastic opportunity to share ideas, showcase the outstanding research of our faculty, researchers, and students, and celebrate the remarkable contributions our colleagues have made to academia and practice. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to its success.”

At the end of the day came an awards ceremony, for winners across four categories: Early Career Research, Established and Senior Scholars and Research Impact. During the day, all 16 awards finalists had the opportunity to talk about their research and deliver interesting and engaging research briefings. Finalists gave talks about their research for the gathered audience from across Oxford. 

First to speak was Ximeng Feng, a postdoctoral research fellow, whose paper is about energy saving showering. Next, came Early Career finalist, Alex Rustler , (Research Excellence award winner) presenting his work on public perceptions of business possible links to human rights violations.  Next, came his fellow finalist, Dize Dinçkol, whose research is on regulation and also won a Research Excellence award. 

Following them came Violetta Splitter, (Dean's award winner) the established scholar, whose work is on middle managers' struggles. Bige Kahraman Alper, who won the Research Excellence established category, and appeared online to talk about her research on environmental and social risk and shareholder voice. 

The first senior scholar to speak was Niels Johannesen, (winner of both Dean's and Research Excellence Awards) who spoke about his work on monetary policy and inequality. The first contender for the Impact award was Professor Stephen (Dean's award winner) for a paper on social media and marketing, who was followed by Amir Amel-Zadeh and his paper on ESG and investors, and then Pedro Bordalo, (who also won both awards) who spoke about his research on credit cycles. 

 

 

 

It was an incredibly exciting day. The presentations were both powerful and thought-provoking, and the panel discussions were vibrant and engaging.

Eric Zhao

Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Strategy

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After lunch, Rafael Ramirez and Trudi Lang, two winners of Dean's awards, talked about their research on ghost scenarios. They were followed by Agni Orfanoudak, (a Research Excellence winner), who talked about her research on machine learning and risk. Then came Paulo Savaget, and his research on the four corporate workarounds. Then, came Martin Schmalz, who joined virtually to talk about his paper on common ownership, Next, up was Rhonda Hadi (Dean's award winner)  nominated for her paper on the metaverse. Then, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, who spoke about his highly-praised work on happiness and productivity. Finally, Siddharth Arora, shortlisted for his work on calculating patient times with machine learning. 

The getting published panel proved valuable and highly-entertaining. According to Kejia Hu, Associate Professor in strategy (Dean's award winner) , if researchers want to get published in a reputable journal, they need to make sure their work is:

  • Easy to read,
  • Easy to understand, and
  • Easy to publish.

Professor Stephen maintained: ‘It’s natural when you receive critical comments [from publication reviewers], to think they don’t understand.’

But he said: ‘It could be your fault. Reviewers might be annoying. But they might not have understood…Be responsive. Don’t ignore their points.’

Pedro Bordalo, who also gave a session on his credit cycles research, concurred, adding: ‘This could shape how people think of you. How you respond [to criticism] creates an impression.’

Meanwhile, Michelle Rogan, Professor of Strategy, insisted: ‘If someone sends you feedback, celebrate…someone on the review team is trying to help you…’

And Eero Vaara, Professor in organisation and impact (Dean's award winner) , added: ‘It’s important to place the comments in the bigger context - what is the main thing you are trying to say?’

Creating Impact was another panel discussion featuring Professors Michael Devereux, Agni Orfanoudaki, Pinar Ozcan and Andrew Stephen.

 

Full details of awards winners.

I wonder can you paint a picture about what a hard slog it is to get published?....it took 10 years to get one paper published.

Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science