Professor Mehdi Boussebaa
- Professor in International Business (Management)
telephone:
0141 330 4579
email:
Mehdi.Boussebaa@glasgow.ac.uk
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4283-2468Biography
Before joining the University of Glasgow in 2016, Mehdi held positions as Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Reader at the University of Bath School of Management. He completed an ESRC-funded PhD at the University of Warwick in 2008, followed by a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
Mehdi’s research examines the organisational and societal implications of globalisation. He is particularly interested in how processes of organisational control and knowledge production intersect with colonial legacies and interplay with contemporary structures of inequality and power. He has explored these issues in various contexts, including transnational professional service firms, offshore call centres and universities. In recent years, Mehdi has also become a key voice in the 'decolonizing the business school' movement, contributing significantly to its development. His work bridges the fields of international business, organisation studies and business and society, drawing on postcolonial thought and globalisation theories.
Mehdi's research has been published in top-tier journals such as Human Relations, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business and Organization Studies. One of his papers was a finalist for the US Academy of Management's Carolyn Dexter Award and another two were shortlisted for the Col. Lyndall F Urwick Memorial Prize awarded by the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants, City of London. Mehdi also received the Dean's Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Research in 2015 and the Dean's Award for Research Excellence in 2012 at the Univesity of Bath.
Mehdi serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Critical Perspectives on International Business and sits on the editorial boards of Human Relations, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Professions and Organization, Journal of World Business and Organization Studies. He has held visiting positions at institutions in Canada (Alberta), China (Tongji and UIBE), France (Aix-Marseille), and Sweden (Lund).
Mehdi currently leads the International Business and Enterprise Research Cluster at Glasgow and is also a member of the business school's management subject leadership team.
Prior to academia, Mehdi worked for a now-defunct US-based telecoms market research and consulting firm in London for 2½ years after completing undergraduate studies at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) and Complutense de Madrid, Spain, as an Erasmus student. In his late teens and early twenties, he financed his studies and travels by working various small jobs in Paris and London. He is fluent in two major world languages and has some proficiency in two others, although those have become rusty over time.
Research interests
- Corporate globalisation and global North-South relations
- Transnational management consultancies as agents of globalisation
- Identity regulation in a global context
- Eurocentrism and the politics of management knowledge
- Decolonising management research and education
- The politics of English as a 'global' language in business and academe
- Qualitative research, especially interviewing and discourse analysis
Grants
- BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant, 2023
- BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant, 2020
- International Research Mobility Award, LabexMed, Aix-Marseille Université, France, 2016
- Research Seed Corn Fund Award, University of Bath School of Management, 2013
- Research Seed Corn Fund Award, University of Bath School of Management, 2011
- Research Mobility Award, Alberta School of Business, Canada, 2009
- Strategic Development Fund Award, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, 2009
- Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship, Said Business School, University of Oxford, 2008-2009
- Overseas Institutional Visit Award, ESRC, 2007
Supervision
Mehdi welcomes applications from prospective doctoral students interested in international business and society, as well as those looking to explore management and organisational issues in a global context. Please refer to Mehdi's 'Research Interests' section for potential topics.
- Bristy, Jannatul Ferdous
Identity Regulation by Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) through Employer Branding: A Postcolonial Perspective
Teaching
Mehdi has taught at all levels, both in the UK and internationally. His research-led teaching draws on a broad range of scholarship, including international business, organisation studies, international political economy and postcolonial/decolonial thought. He is passionate about helping students develop an interdisciplinary and critical understanding of international business and management. He currently teaches the following courses:
- Global Business
- International Management
- Understanding Transnational Corporations
Additional information
Editorships
- Co-Editor-in-Chief, Critical Perspectives on International Business, Emerald, since 01/2022
- Associate Editor, Critical Perspectives on International Business, Emerald, since 01/2016-12/2021
Editorial Review Board Memberships
- Journal of Management Studies, 01/2021 - present
- Human Relations, 09/2020 - present
- Journal of World Business, 01/2017 - present
- Organization Studies, Sage Publications, since 2013
- Journal of Professions & Organization, Oxford University Press, since 2013
Other
- Visiting Professor, University of International Business & Economics (UIBE), Beijing, China, 07/2017 - present
- Fellow, Scaling Business in Africa (SBIA) consortium, University of Edinburgh, 10/2020 – present
- Visiting Professor, University of Bath School of Management, 01/2017 - 01/2020
- External Examiner, University of Edinburgh Business School, 2014-2018
- Shortlisted for the Col. Lyndall F Urwick Memorial Prize, Worshipful Company of Management Consultants, 2016 and 2017
- Research Fellow, Said Business School, University of Oxford, 2009-2018
- Invited LabexMed Scholar, Aix-Marseille Université Aix-en-Provence, France, May 2016
- Dean’s Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Research, University of Bath School of Management, 2015
- Invited Visiting Lecturer, University of Tongji School of Management & Economics, Shanghai, China, September 2014
- Invited Scholar, University of Lund School of Economics & Management, Sweden, May 2014
- Finalist for the Carolyn Dexter Award for Best International Paper, US Academy of Management (All-Academy Award), 2014
- Invited Scholar, Laboratoire d’Economie et de Sociologie du Travail (LEST), Aix-Marseille Université, Aix-en-Provence, May-June 2013
- Dean’s Award for Research Excellence, University of Bath School of Management, 2012
- Dean’s Award for Innovation & Enterprise, University of Bath School of Management, 2011
