UoA 19 Business and Management

The University of Exeter Business School staff in Business and Management UoA are organised into four departments - Accounting, Finance, Management Studies, and Organisational Studies.

Our research strategy focuses on the sustainable delivery of world-leading, internationally excellent research across a broad range of areas and encourages individual members of staff to set their own research agendas with the assistance of academic leads within the various research groups.

Our mission is to make imaginative, novel and critically reflexive contributions to a range of management questions.

We have grown considerably since 2008 and our research profile has expanded correspondingly. This is evidenced by increased levels of research income secured from a diverse range of sources, research students, and a growing number of high quality publications.

Key results

  • 73 per cent of research rated as world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*) which is higher than the national average for the discipline which was 69 per cent.
  • This unit was ranked as 27 out of 101 nationally.

Impact case studies

NameSummary
Leading sustainable procurement in the public and private sectors Research at the University of Exeter Business School has embedded low carbon practice into the procurement policies and supply chains of several Cornish private and public sector organisations - including police and health authorities, education and council institutions. Through the Clear About Carbon (CAC) project, innovative methods to nurture leadership qualities which advance sustainable practice locally have led to those models being replicated both nationally and Europe-wide as part of the global drive to meet emissions targets. The research has contributed to sustainability initiatives led by the Department of Health and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and boosted economic competitiveness of participating organisations.
Broadening understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation An enhanced appreciation of entrepreneurship, innovation and new enterprise growth has become crucial to economic policy around the globe. Led by Professor Gordon Murray OBE, research at the University of Exeter continues to play a significant role in broadening understanding of this increasingly important area. Professor Murray’s research and expertise have assisted in shaping policy in several countries, including the UK, and have underpinned the formation of an influential international academic policymaker forum. The effective delivery of the research to business and industry has strengthened the vital links with academia, and through consistent engagement with a wider audience in high-profile media appearances, the work continues to influence economic policy.
Managing the responsible emergence of science and innovation in society A Responsible Innovation Framework developed by Professor Richard Owen is transforming how research councils and the Innovate UK fund and deliver programmes of science and innovation. The Framework recently became a central element of EPSRC’s research policy. It has supported key governance decisions by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) concerning the first, contentious UK field trial of climate engineering technology. It was embedded in EPSRC’s Delivery Plan and Doctoral Training Centres, and Innovate UK’s Synthetic Biology Roadmap, Industrial Feasibility and Innovation and Knowledge Centre programmes. It has been an important input into a restructuring by the European Commission of the European Research Area, underpinning its Horizon 2020 Strategy and Innovation Union.

Research centres

CentreAbout the centre
Centre for Finance and Investment (Xfi)

The Xfi Centre for Finance and Investment is a graduate teaching and research institute with a commitment to be an internationally recognised centre for excellence in financial market research.



Research in Xfi is characteristically collaborative and empirical in nature. Xfi continues to build its research themes around the performance of financial markets, closely tuned to both the current preoccupations and future changes in the global finance industry. Xfi has two research clusters: 'Asset Pricing and Valuation' and 'Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance'.

Centre for International Service Research (ISR)

ISR is recognised as a strategic ‘research peak’ in the School.  Research foci are process and operational management in manufacturing and services.

ISR’s research builds on existing knowledge produced by other research initiatives focussing on service and process management research; carrying forward a strong tradition of linking academic and practitioner research.

Centre for Leadership Studies (CLS)

CLS addresses some of the challenging questions of leaders, leadership and followership, in a variety of contexts, including public and private sector organisations.

These can be grouped around four main themes: responsibility in leadership: personal challenges of leadership; new ways of thinking about leadership; improving leadership development and learning; and the relationship between leadership and organisational performance.

Centre for Sport, Leisure and Tourism Research (CSLTR)

CSLTR consolidates our reputation as an international leader in these connected fields. Research in this group focuses on a range of topics driven by a clear management agenda, including innovation, knowledge transfer mechanisms, sustainable business practices, social marketing and behaviour change, and corporate social responsibility and the co-production of knowledge with businesses.

Research groups

GroupAbout the group
Entrepreneurship and Innovation group

This group focuses on a number of key research themes, in particular public policy in the development of venture capital markets, sustainable innovations, aspects of high risk innovations and rapidly changing environments, emerging technologies, business start ups, labour market dynamics, firm level predictors of business performance and cross-cultural differences.

Marketing group

This group addresses a range of research questions including innovation and its impacts on consumer culture, marketing, professional services, and consumer desires. The group is dominated by early and mid career researchers, producing a dynamic research environment with a lot of creative thinking.

Operations Management and Supply Chain Management group The group’s research interests span across manufacturing, sustainable supply chains, strategy and information systems.  It has received funding from the EU and comprises of a good mix of early career established staff.
Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management group

The group embraces research issues concerned with workplace equality, work-life balance, gender and diversity, and social mobility, elites and philanthropy.

Accounting group

The Accounting group shares and promotes the view that accounting continually plays an important social and organizational role. The group consists of a number of research clusters, including: Management Control; Capital Markets and Financial Reporting; Audit, Corporate Governance and Regulation; Social and Environmental Accounting and Sustainability; Taxation Policy and Practice.

UoA 19 Business and Management

The University of Exeter Business School staff in Business and Management UoA are organised into four departments - Accounting, Finance, Management Studies, and Organisational Studies.

Our research strategy focuses on the sustainable delivery of world-leading, internationally excellent research across a broad range of areas and encourages individual members of staff to set their own research agendas with the assistance of academic leads within the various research groups.

Our mission is to make imaginative, novel and critically reflexive contributions to a range of management questions.

We have grown considerably since 2008 and our research profile has expanded correspondingly. This is evidenced by increased levels of research income secured from a diverse range of sources, research students, and a growing number of high quality publications.

Key results

  • 73 per cent of research rated as world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*) which is higher than the national average for the discipline which was 69 per cent.
  • This unit was ranked as 27 out of 101 nationally.

Impact case studies

NameSummary
Leading sustainable procurement in the public and private sectors Research at the University of Exeter Business School has embedded low carbon practice into the procurement policies and supply chains of several Cornish private and public sector organisations - including police and health authorities, education and council institutions. Through the Clear About Carbon (CAC) project, innovative methods to nurture leadership qualities which advance sustainable practice locally have led to those models being replicated both nationally and Europe-wide as part of the global drive to meet emissions targets. The research has contributed to sustainability initiatives led by the Department of Health and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and boosted economic competitiveness of participating organisations.
Broadening understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation An enhanced appreciation of entrepreneurship, innovation and new enterprise growth has become crucial to economic policy around the globe. Led by Professor Gordon Murray OBE, research at the University of Exeter continues to play a significant role in broadening understanding of this increasingly important area. Professor Murray’s research and expertise have assisted in shaping policy in several countries, including the UK, and have underpinned the formation of an influential international academic policymaker forum. The effective delivery of the research to business and industry has strengthened the vital links with academia, and through consistent engagement with a wider audience in high-profile media appearances, the work continues to influence economic policy.
Managing the responsible emergence of science and innovation in society A Responsible Innovation Framework developed by Professor Richard Owen is transforming how research councils and the Innovate UK fund and deliver programmes of science and innovation. The Framework recently became a central element of EPSRC’s research policy. It has supported key governance decisions by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) concerning the first, contentious UK field trial of climate engineering technology. It was embedded in EPSRC’s Delivery Plan and Doctoral Training Centres, and Innovate UK’s Synthetic Biology Roadmap, Industrial Feasibility and Innovation and Knowledge Centre programmes. It has been an important input into a restructuring by the European Commission of the European Research Area, underpinning its Horizon 2020 Strategy and Innovation Union.

Research centres

CentreAbout the centre
Centre for Finance and Investment (Xfi)

The Xfi Centre for Finance and Investment is a graduate teaching and research institute with a commitment to be an internationally recognised centre for excellence in financial market research.



Research in Xfi is characteristically collaborative and empirical in nature. Xfi continues to build its research themes around the performance of financial markets, closely tuned to both the current preoccupations and future changes in the global finance industry. Xfi has two research clusters: 'Asset Pricing and Valuation' and 'Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance'.

Centre for International Service Research (ISR)

ISR is recognised as a strategic ‘research peak’ in the School.  Research foci are process and operational management in manufacturing and services.

ISR’s research builds on existing knowledge produced by other research initiatives focussing on service and process management research; carrying forward a strong tradition of linking academic and practitioner research.

Centre for Leadership Studies (CLS)

CLS addresses some of the challenging questions of leaders, leadership and followership, in a variety of contexts, including public and private sector organisations.

These can be grouped around four main themes: responsibility in leadership: personal challenges of leadership; new ways of thinking about leadership; improving leadership development and learning; and the relationship between leadership and organisational performance.

Centre for Sport, Leisure and Tourism Research (CSLTR)

CSLTR consolidates our reputation as an international leader in these connected fields. Research in this group focuses on a range of topics driven by a clear management agenda, including innovation, knowledge transfer mechanisms, sustainable business practices, social marketing and behaviour change, and corporate social responsibility and the co-production of knowledge with businesses.

Research groups

GroupAbout the group
Entrepreneurship and Innovation group

This group focuses on a number of key research themes, in particular public policy in the development of venture capital markets, sustainable innovations, aspects of high risk innovations and rapidly changing environments, emerging technologies, business start ups, labour market dynamics, firm level predictors of business performance and cross-cultural differences.

Marketing group

This group addresses a range of research questions including innovation and its impacts on consumer culture, marketing, professional services, and consumer desires. The group is dominated by early and mid career researchers, producing a dynamic research environment with a lot of creative thinking.

Operations Management and Supply Chain Management group The group’s research interests span across manufacturing, sustainable supply chains, strategy and information systems.  It has received funding from the EU and comprises of a good mix of early career established staff.
Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management group

The group embraces research issues concerned with workplace equality, work-life balance, gender and diversity, and social mobility, elites and philanthropy.

Accounting group

The Accounting group shares and promotes the view that accounting continually plays an important social and organizational role. The group consists of a number of research clusters, including: Management Control; Capital Markets and Financial Reporting; Audit, Corporate Governance and Regulation; Social and Environmental Accounting and Sustainability; Taxation Policy and Practice.