Research underway

What our researchers are actually working on.

Most doctoral sites show you the brochure. We show you the work. Every thesis below is in progress, linked to its supervisor, and updated quarterly. Some researchers opted to be named; others chose to remain anonymous.

18
Theses in progress
Updated quarterly
18
In foundations
Year 1 — lit review, proposal
18
In fieldwork
Year 2 — data collection
36
Writing or defending
Year 3 — thesis stage

18 / 18 theses

  1. 2025 · 10 Y1

    Year 1 · Foundations · Updated 2026 · 03

    Board composition and long-term value creation in UK listed firms

    Event-study examination of how post-2020 governance reforms shaped board composition and long-term return in UK listed firms. Currently assembling the event window dataset.

    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  2. 2025 · 10 Y1

    Year 1 · Foundations · Updated 2026 · 02

    Brand storytelling in B2B SaaS: an interpretive content analysis

    Interpretive content analysis of 200 UK B2B SaaS brand campaigns (2020–25). Currently designing the coding framework.

    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  3. 2025 · 10 Y1

    Year 1 · Foundations · Updated 2026 · 01

    Cross-border trade adjustment in UK-India SMEs post-Brexit

    Mixed-methods study of how UK SMEs adapted commercial operations with Indian counterparts between 2021 and 2025.

    Anonymised researcher Supervised by Prof. Stanley Oliver DBA
    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  4. 2025 · 10 Y1

    Year 1 · Foundations · Updated 2026 · 03

    Post-Brexit divergence in sustainability disclosure: a three-regime comparison

    Comparing how the UK, Ireland, and France interpret the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Foundation-stage work focuses on documentary analysis of regulatory guidance.

    Anonymised researcher Supervised by Prof. Stanley Oliver PhD
    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  5. 2025 · 10 Y1

    Year 1 · Foundations · Updated 2026 · 03

    Resilience in UK food-manufacturing supply chains after the 2022 energy shock

    Eight-firm comparative case study in UK food manufacturing. Foundation work involves structuring a supplier-exposure dataset and designing case protocols.

    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  6. 2025 · 10 Y1

    Year 1 · Foundations · Updated 2026 · 03

    Supervision pedagogy in professional doctorates: a narrative synthesis

    Foundation-stage narrative synthesis of 40 studies on supervision in professional doctorates (1998–2024).

    Strategy & Leadership
  7. 2023 · 10 Y2

    Year 2 · Fieldwork · Updated 2026 · 03

    AI triage in NHS emergency departments: a realist evaluation

    Fieldwork currently underway across three NHS trusts trialling AI-assisted ED triage. The researcher is observing 60 shifts and interviewing 24 clinicians across the trusts.

    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  8. 2023 · 10 Y2

    Year 2 · Fieldwork · Updated 2026 · 02

    Institutional adaptation in West African banking M&A

    Multi-case study of six cross-border banking acquisitions in Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d'Ivoire (2018–24). Currently analysing 34 practitioner interviews.

    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  9. 2023 · 10 Y2

    Year 2 · Fieldwork · Updated 2026 · 02

    Network effects in UK vertical SaaS: evidence from accountancy platforms

    An ESRC-funded quantitative study estimating direct and indirect network effects in UK accountancy SaaS. The researcher has assembled a panel of 1.2M firm-month observations across four platforms.

    Anonymised researcher Supervised by Prof. Stanley Oliver PhD
    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  10. 2023 · 10 Y2

    Year 2 · Fieldwork · Updated 2026 · 02

    Researcher wellbeing in part-time online doctoral study: a longitudinal study

    A three-wave longitudinal study of 120 online doctoral researchers. The researcher is currently in wave-two data collection.

    Anonymised researcher Supervised by Prof. Stanley Oliver PhD
    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  11. 2023 · 10 Y2

    Year 2 · Fieldwork · Updated 2026 · 03

    The DCUK Supervisor CPD programme: an action-research evaluation

    An action-research evaluation of DCUK's supervisor CPD programme from the inside — the researcher is a programme participant and co-designer.

    Anonymised researcher Supervised by Prof. Stanley Oliver EDD
    Strategy & Leadership
  12. 2023 · 10 Y2

    Year 2 · Fieldwork · Updated 2026 · 03

    The pivot portfolio: a practice-based study of early-stage founder learning

    A practice-based doctoral study in which the researcher is simultaneously founder of a UK health-tech start-up. The thesis examines the decision ecology of four pivot moments.

    Anonymised researcher Supervised by Prof. Stanley Oliver DBA
    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  13. 2022 · 10 Y3

    Year 3 · Writing · Updated 2026 · 03

    AI governance in the boardroom: building audit trails a regulator can follow

    A case study of how a FTSE-250 insurer adapted its board-level AI oversight between 2023 and 2026. The study traces the emergence of a reviewable audit trail through three successive risk committee redesigns.

    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  14. 2022 · 10 Y3

    Year 3 · Writing · Updated 2026 · 04

    Digital transformation in UK third-sector organisations

    Mixed-methods examination of how 30 UK mid-sized charities digitised service delivery between 2020 and 2024. Thesis in final edits.

    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  15. 2022 · 10 Y3

    Year 3 · Writing · Updated 2026 · 04

    Moral injury in UK junior doctors: a phenomenological study

    A deep phenomenological study of moral injury among 18 UK junior doctors, drawing on three waves of interviews 2023–25. The thesis is currently in the final writing stage.

    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  16. 2022 · 10 Y3

    Year 3 · Writing · Updated 2026 · 04

    Parasocial trust in luxury brand ambassadors: an experimental study

    Three experimental studies (N = 2,400) examining how parasocial attachment to brand ambassadors transfers to purchase intent. Full thesis submitted for external examination April 2026.

    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  17. 2022 · 09 Y3

    Year 3 · Writing · Updated 2026 · 04

    ESG reporting quality in mid-cap UK firms: a content-analytic study

    Systematic content analysis of 120 FTSE-250 sustainability reports (2020–25). The thesis identifies four disclosure archetypes and the firm-level antecedents of each.

    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership
  18. 2022 · 01 Viva

    Viva · Defending · Updated 2026 · 04

    Elective surgery recovery: a discrete-event simulation of five NHS trusts

    A discrete-event simulation model of elective recovery pathways across five NHS trusts. Mock viva passed January 2026; real viva scheduled May 2026.

    Strategy & Leadership Strategy & Leadership

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