Dr Alexander Beresford speaks to Dr Temitayo Odeyemi about Temitayo’s research, exploring the key complexities and challenges of just transition in Nigeria. They discuss the involvement of Nigeria’s labour unions and sector-specific unions in shaping government policies around just transitions, and the different conversations that are happening at a national and subnational level when it comes to just transitions and the concept of decent work.

This project is funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation – Just Transition: Aktivitäten im internationalen Vergleich 2021-582-2.

Visit the project webpage.

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in May 2025. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.

About the speakers:

Dr Alexander Beresford is an Associate Professor in African Politics, and Director of Research and Innovation for the School of Politics and International Studies at the University of Leeds. His research provides a multi-layered insight into how global normative order is mediated and contested within and between two interwoven spaces - political struggles over inequality, power and corruption from everyday sites of politics through to the highest tables of power in South Africa; and the global diplomatic contestation of vaccine access, conflict resolution and climate change led by South Africa as an emerging power.

Dr Temitayo Odeyemi is a Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds, and Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Parliamentary Research, Berlin, Germany. His PhD research at the University of Leeds (2024) explored the public engagement repertoires of the Nigerian national and subnational Lagos State legislatures. This built on his wider interest in how key democratic institutions drive resilience and sustainability through connections with non-state actors and everyday citizens, particularly in Sub-Saharan African contexts.

Dr Felix Schulz speaks to Professor Melanie Laroche and Jonathan Michaud from the University of Montreal about how the concept of just transitions is understood and implemented in Quebec, Canada. In the episode, they cover the province's unique industrial relations system, proactive and reactive union strategies for addressing the climate crisis, and challenges in equipping union representatives with climate expertise.

This project is funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation – Just Transition: Aktivitäten im internationalen Vergleich 2021-582-2. Visit the project webpage.

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in December 2024. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast episode or the project, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk.

A transcript of this episode is available.

You can listen to the rest of the episodes in this series.

About the speakers:

Felix Schulz is an interdisciplinary researcher at Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS). Prior to joining LUCSUS, he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change (CERIC), the Digital Futures at Work (digit) Research Centre and the Hans-Böckler-Foundation funded Competence Centre on social-ecological transformations at the University of Leeds, where he remains as Visiting Research Fellow

Melanie Laroche is a professor at the Université de Montréal's...

Professor Nick Williams speaks to Dr Lee Wainwright about Lee’s research on how restorative entrepreneurship can empower marginalised individuals to reclaim social and economic standing. They discuss ableist workplace norms, the parallels between societal treatment of disabled individuals and other marginalised groups, and recommendations for creating a more inclusive workplace.

This episode was recorded on 5th March 2025. If you would like to get in touch regarding this episode, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.

Read the book: The Routledge Companion to Disability and Work, Edited by Oana Branzei, Anica Zeyen. Lee Wainwright’s chapter: Disability and Restoration Work.

About the speakers: Nick Williams is Professor of Entrepreneurship at Leeds University Business School. His research mainly focuses on entrepreneurship in challenging contexts, and he has particular interests in the role of entrepreneurial activity in crises. Lee Wainwright is a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship Studies at Leeds University Business School. His research focuses on how entrepreneurship can act as a process to take people out of restrictive or oppressive contexts.

Drs Lauren Machon and Helen Hughes talk about the behaviour lab at Leeds University Business School, and how it can help organisations solve real-world challenges.

In this episode, they discuss how the Behaviour Lab can be used by companies to test consumer reactions, optimise workplace design, and refine communication strategies using eye-tracking, virtual reality, and other state-of-the-art tools.

Visit the Behaviour Lab webpage for equipment details and further information, or contact the team via LUBSBehaviourLab@leeds.ac.uk.

This episode was recorded on 31st March 2025. If you would like to get in touch regarding this episode, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.

About the speakers: Dr Lauren Machon is the Behaviour Lab Manager. Her research interests lie in innovation adoption and technology acceptance. Dr Helen Hughes is the Behaviour Lab Director and is an Associate Professor at Leeds University Business School. Her research focuses on the social dynamics of workplace relationships, as well as graduate employability and early career transitions to the workplace.

In this episode, Addi Manolopoulou speaks to Dr Costas Lambrinoudakis and Elliot (Zhengfa) Zhang about their recent paper – The Impact of Social Media Influencers on the Financial Market Performance of Firms. They discuss high-profile cases, including Rihanna and Kylie Jenner, and examine whether other social media stars have the power to influence stock prices.

This episode was recorded on 25th March 2025. If you would like to get in touch regarding this episode, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.

Read the journal article: The impact of social media influencers on the financial market performance of firms, European Financial Management. Kevin Keasey, Costas Lambrinoudakis, Danilo V. Mascia, Zhengfa Zhang.

About the speakers:

Addi Manolopoulou is the Departmental Manager for the Accounting and Finance Department at Leeds University Business School. She is committed to translating complex research into real-world impact.

Costas Lambrinoudakis is Assistant Professor of Finance at Leeds University Business School. His research interests lie in corporate finance, financial markets, social networks, and big data.

Zhengfa (Elliot) Zhang is a postgraduate researcher in the Centre for Advanced Studies in Finance. His main research areas are financial markets, textual analysis, LLMs, behavioural finance, and empirical asset pricing.

In this episode, Drs Bianca Orsi, Peter Hughes and Juliane Scheffel talk about their project “WISE - Women into Studying Economics” - a research project that is tackling the gender imbalance in economics. They discuss why so few women choose to study economics, the stereotypes that discourage them, and the impact a lack of diversity in the field has on policy and society. Through school visits and conversations with students, the team is uncovering key barriers and working to change perceptions.

Visit the project webpage.

This episode was recorded on 26th February 2025. If you would like to get in touch regarding this episode, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.

About the speakers:

Dr Bianca Orsi is a lecturer in economics at Leeds University Business School. Her main research interests are on monetary policy, monetary policy transmission mechanism, inflation, capital controls, interest rate, exchange rate, currency internationalization and currency hierarchy, and financial integration.

Dr Peter Hughes is also a lecturer in economics at Leeds University Business School. His areas of expertise are: monetary economics, behavioural economics, institutional economics, money, history of economic thought, and economic methodology.

Dr Juliane Scheffel is an associate professor in economics at the Business School. Her research interests are in: labour economics, development economics, migration, education, and elderly care.

David Loseby, Visiting Professor of Research Impact at Leeds University Business School, interviews Frank Lee, Chief Executive Officer at the Institute for Collaborative Working, asking what makes a great partner, and how value can be created through collaboration.

Both David and Frank spoke at the “Ideas in Practice: Supply Chain Summit 2024”, which was co-hosted by Leeds University Business School and the Institute for Collaborative Working. The event, held in November 2024, explored how managing complex supply chains is increasingly vital to all organisations.

Additional note: In the episode, David and Frank mention ISO 44000 and ISO 44001. These are standards, created by the International Organization for Standardization, that provide frameworks for successful collaborative business relationship management.

This episode was recorded on 3rd February 2025. If you would like to get in touch regarding this episode, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.

About the speakers:

David Loseby is Professor of Research Impact in Supply Chain Management at Leeds University Business School. He is a modern-day “pracademic” that has spent over three decades in procurement and supply chain roles internationally across a diverse set of sectors from pharmaceuticals, banking, retail, manufacturing, and public sector (NHS and Westminster City Council) and more recently as the Group CPO for Rolls Royce. He is also a visiting scholar at the University of East Anglia involved in Executive MBA and MSc programmes, as well as his own active research portfolio in Behavioural Science.

Frank Lee is the Chief Executive Officer at the Institute for Collaborative Working (ICW), a role he has held since early 2023. He joined ICW after more than 30 years with the British Standards Institution (BSI), where he held various leadership roles. Frank has been instrumental in establishing a new vision and purpose for ICW, transforming it into a modern, agile, and outward-focused institution.

Digital transformation is a game changer for businesses and economies. But SMEs, which play a major economic role, lag behind larger firms in developing digital capabilities. In this episode, Drs Alex Kevill, Mariana Estrada-Robles (Leeds University Business School) and Selen Kars-Unluoglu (University of the West of England), discuss how digital transformation is not solely a technical challenge, and how companies need to focus on people and relationships to effectively integrate technology into their organisations.

This episode was recorded on 21st November 2024. If you would like to get in touch regarding this episode, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.

Visit the project webpage for further information.

The research discussed in this episode is funded by the BA Leverhulme Small Research Grants scheme.

About the speakers:

Dr Alex Kevill is a lecturer in enterprise at Leeds University Business School. He has a keen interest in capability development in entrepreneurial firms, and how knowledge developed from entrepreneurial learning interventions influences entrepreneurial cognition and behaviours.

Dr Mariana Estrada-Robles is also a lecturer in enterprise at Leeds University Business School. She is a researcher in the field of entrepreneurship and family business. She is also interested in examining particular challenges faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and highlighting their importance in countries like the UK, Mexico and the global context.

Dr Selen Kars-Unluoglu is an associate professor in organisation studies at the University of the West of England. Her research focuses on understanding the ways organisations and entrepreneurs develop and deploy their intangible resources, such as knowledge, capabilities, and networks to generate growth and achieve learning.