Practice based academy

Since 2003, Corporate Community has convened non-organisation specific opportunities to enable large-group conversations about organising and leadership. People from across different organisations and sectors meet, mingle and critically question the reality of lived experience in organisations. This contributes to creating the conditions that make workplaces more appreciative of the energy, creativity and talent of their people.

The concept of a ‘practice-based academy’ is of vital importance in the life of Corporate Community as we have a keen interest developing ideas and fresh thinking about organising. We constantly ask questions about who gets to generate theory and how insights from organisations are legitimised and discussed in the wider culture.

Our interest in promoting practice-based scholarship is influenced by collaboration between colleagues in SOLAR (Social and Organisational Learning through Action Research) and the Bristol Business School based at the University of the West of England. This has now evolved into a new alliance between ex-SOLAR colleagues, Dr Alan Taylor Coventry University and Dr Clare Hopkinson who is still based at the University of the West of England.

Current research interests interweave around leadership, organisational culture, healthcare and research practice. In spite of the tensions that often emerge in these academic/practice interfaces, we are endlessly fascinated by the troublesome insights that emerge and challenge the dominant narrative of how organisations work in practice.