Professor Peter McKiernan

Personal statement

In 2011, I joined Strathclyde Business School as a Professor of Management in the Department of Strategy and Organisation. I have held full-time Professorial positions at the Universities of Warwick, St Andrews, and the Sir Walter Murdoch Chair in Management and Governance at Murdoch University, Australia.  Across these institutions, I have held the positions of Dean, Head of School, Head of Group, and Chair of Department. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Economics, a Masters's degree in Business Analysis, and a Doctorate in Corporate Strategy.

My main research focus is on how organisations learn about how their future might unfold and how they might prepare their current strategies to cope. Over the years, my research output has covered organisational turnaround, fast-growing SMEs, sector studies (e.g., Jute, Automobiles), and public policy. This research has appeared in top journals in the US and in Europe and has won several journal and conference prizes. I have authored, co-authored, or edited 10 books, including the best seller on corporate turnaround - Sharpbenders; Strategies of Growth; Inside Fortress Europe; Inside the Omani Corporate Culture; Strategic Leadership: Governance and Renewal; Hidden Champions in Central and Eastern Europe, and Turkey; Productivity and Innovation in SMEs; and Scenario Thinking. Currently, I sit on the Boards of several academic journals. Also, I have won competitive grants from major organisations e.g., DTI, European Commission, Singapore Government.

I have worked with a range of blue-chip organisations around the world in strategy and marketing e.g., IBM, BP, Philips, Jardine Matheson, Reed-Elsevier, Siemens-GPT, Marks and Spencer. Additionally, I have held many Board positions in the private and public sectors e.g., the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS), and chaired those of major public bodies e.g., West Lothian FE College. I have directed a host of scenario planning projects on 4 continents for governments, cities, regions, and organisations in the private, public and third sectors.

I have been President of the British Academy of Management (BAM) and of the European Academy of Management (EURAM), where I co-founded the Academy and its house journal -  European Management Review. In addition, I hold Fellowships with the BAM, the EURAM, the Governance Institute of Australia, the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, the Academy of Social Sciences, the Royal Society of Arts, and the Chartered Management Institute. In 2008, I was awarded an inaugural Companionship of the Association of Business Schools (UK); in 2013, I was the winner of the CEEMAN "Institutional Champion of the Year" prize and in 2015, BAM honoured me with the Richard Whipp Life Time Achievement Award. In 2016, I co-founded the community for Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM). I have served two periods as the Dean of the Fellows College of the BAM and in 2021, I was elected as the inaugural Dean of the Fellows College of the EURAM. In 2022, I was honoured with the highest award from the BAM - the 'Cooper Medal' for outstanding contribution and leadership.

I am a part-time Professor at Strathclyde, and, having held the APS Bank Chair in Strategy at the University of Malta, I hold a Distinguished Adjunct Professorship at the Brussels School of Governance, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, an Adjunct Professorship in Management at the University of Notre Dame Australia and a Fellowship of the Asian Research Centre at Murdoch University, Australia.

Also, I am keen on all sporting activity and hold a full University BLUE from St Andrews, where I was Chair of the Athletic Union for nearly a decade.

At Strathclyde, I have been the Interim Head of the Department of Management, the Interim Head of the Department of Strategy and Organisation, Co-Chair of the EURAM Conference, Director of Post-Graduate Research Students in the Department of Strategy and Organisation, the Global Director of the MBA for the Business School, Director of the strategy and foresight consulting group and, I am presently the Executive Academic Director of Strathclyde's Dubai campus.