Culture, Organization and Management
Widen your perspective with field research
Understanding everyday practice in organizations is obviously a demanding process. As a COM student, you have to be able to empathize with the inner world of others, while simultaneously continuing to wonder what drives and motivates them. You will learn to understand complex situations and analyse them from different angles. Guts, social understanding, sharp analytical skills and a healthy dose of human curiosity are the key attributes required to successfully complete field research.
Cultural aspects of megaprojects
Large infrastructure projects, such as the construction of metro and train connections or the expansion of the Panama canal, require cooperation between different partner organizations. Organizational cultural differences can have major impacts on the
success (or failure) of such projects. Staff members Alfons van Marrewijk and Marcel Veenswijk are currently researching megaprojects like these, and our students have the opportunity of participating in this research as part of their studies.
Public-private partnerships
Private sector companies are playing an increasingly important role in nature conservation. Staff member Marja Spierenburg is coordinating a number of research
projects in Southern Africa that deal with this trend. One of these projects focuses on large-scale, transfrontier conservation areas, where public-private partnerships are expected to contribute to both nature conservation and local socio-economic
development. Students have the opportunity to participate in studies on the cooperation between the different parties involved in the partnerships.
Diversity in organizations
Cultural and gender diversity in and beyond organizations is considered one of the bigger challenges of our time. Staff member Halleh Ghorashi is coordinating several research projects in which processes of exclusion and inclusion in organizations are
studied from a cultural perspective. Students are welcome to participate as part of their Master’s thesis projects.
Multistakeholder involvement in Cambodian development
Heidi Dahles coordinates the Cambodia Research Group which represents a collaborative effort between Dutch and Cambodian academics involved in a research program in close collaboration with international and Cambodian NGOs, Cambodian government institutes, diaspora organizations, private enterprises and business associations, and institutes of Higher Education (cf. www.cambodiaresearch.org). The specific objectives of the research programme are to contribute to capacity building for Cambodian institutes of higher education, assist in curriculum development and teaching relevant modules, involve students in the research as assistant, data collectors and authors of theses, stimulate original local research by local researchers in the fields under inquiry in this programme, and build a sustainable support-network of academic relations for Cambodian academics.
