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About us

We live in a globalised society that is increasingly concerned with social and environmental sustainability.

Global challenges such as climate change, global financial crises, global supply chains and high-profile corporate scandals have increased the pressure on businesses for more accountability and responsibility on social and environmental issues.

As a result, businesses are increasingly required to understand such issues and integrate them into their everyday practice.

Our aim is to develop and promote a better understanding of how various social and environmental issues affect businesses and how businesses can affect them.

Our vision is to create a better world through more responsible and sustainable businesses.

We define ‘responsible businesses’ as those businesses whose policies and practices reflect responsibility which goes beyond the law for their impacts on their stakeholders, including the environment and the wider society.

The Responsible Business Centre is housed in the Birkbeck Business School, but we are also a member of the Network for Business Sustainability (NBS), sustainability centres community, a network of more than 150 sustainability research centres worldwide.

Our team

We are a dynamic and multidisciplinary group of academics, working with individuals and organisations, where research interests coincide.

Birkbeck academic members

  • Dr Luca Andriani, Lecturer in Economics
    • Interests: trust, corruption, tax morale
  • Dr Ioanna Boulouta (Director), Lecturer in Corporate Social Responsibility
    • Interests: corporate social responsibility, gender diversity
  • Dr Benedetta Crisafulli (Deputy Director), Senior Lecturer in Marketing
    • Interests: social innovation, corporate social responsibility
  • Dr Fred Guy, Senior Lecturer in Economics
    • Interests: environmental economics, political economy
  • Dr Wendy Hein, Senior Lecturer in Marketing
    • Interests: gender equality, responsible marketing, sustainable consumption
  • Dr Sue Konzelmann, Reader in Management
    • Interests: public policy
  • Dr Ashok Kumar, Lecturer in Management
    • Interests: sweatshops, industrial relations
  • Professor Emmanuel Mamatzakis, Professor of Finance
    • Interests: accounting and finance, earnings management, credit risk and financial stability
  • Arron Philips, Lecturer in Management
    • Interests: whistleblowing, industrial relations, governance, ethics
  • Dr Karin Shields, Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance
    • Interests: sustainability accounting, gender issues in accounting, financial reporting quality
  • Dr Fred Yamoah, Senior Lecturer in Marketing
    • Interests: responsible marketing, sustainable supply chains, sustainable business strategy
  • Dr Ellen Yu, Lecturer in Accounting and Finance
    • Interests: ethical investment, sustainable finance

External academic members

Research associates (practitioners and students/alumni)

  • Blanca Grey (PhD student)
  • Jacinth Boudier (PhD student)
  • Viresh Amin (PhD student)