Tomas Müllern

Biography

Tomas Müllern is Professor in Business Administration at Jönköping International Business School (JIBS). He has a PhD from Umeå University (Sweden) with a study on organizational learning in large renewal projects. He has published a number of books and articles in the field of leadership, culture and strategic change. Among his most recent publications is a book titled "Leadership in the new economy" (in Swedish). Müllern is at the moment engaged in four major research projects.

Research

The first project tries to understand the role of rhetoric in leadership and strategic change. Drawing both on the ancient rhetorical tradition and modern/post-modern influences, the project depicts leadership as essentially a communicative challenge. Among the more important publications in the project is a book (Persuasive leadership) published in 1999 (in Swedish).

The second project is an international research collaboration focusing on innovative forms of organizing. Based on both survey- and case-study data the project tries to describe new trends in organizing. A book based on case data was published 2000 where 8 cases from european companies were compared (Pettigrew & Fenton (eds.). The Innovating Organization). A second book elaboring a number of theoretical themes is under preparation (due to be published early 2002).

The third project is a collaboration between JIBS and Umeå University where the research team is developing a theory of organizing based on both intra- and interorganizational levels. The project is an attempt to bridge between idealist (sense-making and cultural perspectives) and materialist (activities and resource-based views) perspectives on organizing.

The last project focus on renewal in large cooperative firms. The empirical focus is renewal initiatives taken in individual companies and how they interplay with the learning
culture
in the company.