Public Leadership and Social Enterprise

The Department for Public Leadership and Social Enterprise (PuLSE) is committed to generating public and social value through the impact of research, policy and practice.

Areas of interest

  • collaborative and co-operative socio-economic governance
  • leadership and management of public and voluntary sector organisations
  • social and sustainable enterprise
  • ethical professional practice

We aim to combine a critical understanding of leadership and management with practical relevance, close collaboration with practitioners, and through our research-informed contributions to teaching and learning. Our reputation and success is manifested in our contribution to the work of the following research centres:

Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership (CVSL) provides voluntary sector organisations with access to free leadership development modules and research-led insight.

Centre for Social and Sustainable Enterprise (CSSE) addresses the connections between entrepreneurial activity, innovation and the transition towards more environmentally and socially sustainable ways of doing business.

Scholarship Centre for innovation in online Legal and Business Education (SCiLAB), working closely with both the Business and Law Schools to drive teaching and learning excellence within the organisation and external to the University. 

Citizenship and Governance focuses on global issues like migration, and on the private sphere where people’s intimate lives are increasingly scrutinized and open to public policy and corporate intervention.


Research focus

Much of our research concerns innovative forms of organisation and financing – such as social enterprises, mutual and social investment, and commissioning – which offer new ways of tackling social, economic and environmental problems (and in turn, trigger the need for new sorts of knowledge and skills in public, private and third sector organisations). We carry out rigorous and relevant research designed to understand and address these emerging challenges.


Academic Publications

Full details of our research publications can be found on Open Research Online and via our staff pages.


Teaching

The department contributes to curriculum design and teaching across the Open University Business School’s undergraduate, postgraduate and executive education programmes, to joint programmes with other Open University faculties, and to collaborative projects with other higher education providers in the UK and internationally.

The Business School’s main qualifications, to which the Department contributes, include:

The Department’s interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral perspective on leading, managing and organising is also reflected the work of our postgraduate research students. The Business School has a strong community of research students on its full-time MRes and PhD programmes. We welcome applications from suitably-qualified students wishing to pursue research on PuLSE related topics.

Contact the Department for Public Leadership and Social Enterprise

For all department-related enquiries, please email us.

For all other enquiries, including student and alumni, please visit our contact us page.

It’s GOZERO for Richard and the research team

OUBS academic Professor Richard Blundel and other members of a multi-disciplinary research team have secured funding for a 20-month study of the governance of decarbonisation in small businesses titled GOZERO.

31st August 2022

A Digital Competence Framework for the Third Sector

In the post-COVID context there is a need to embrace and adopt the digital tools and practices we have become accustomed to for the longer term.

With this in mind, the EU3Digital consortium is proud to launch A Digital Competence Framework for the Third Sector.

26th July 2022

Resetting the workplace: what's the role for location-based workspaces now?

In the early 20th century the office has for many employees been the place where ‘work is done’. But with organisations across the world committing to more flexible working, what role should the office, plant or other work location now play? 

22nd October 2021
An innovative hydrogen-powered vehicle from Riversimple.

Eco-innovation and green start-ups – an evidence review

Richard Blundel, Professor of Enterprise and Organisation, and Dr Sam Hampton, a colleague from the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, are the co-authors of a new report, ‘Eco-innovation and Green Start-ups: An Evidence Review’.

12th October 2021
Enterprise Research Centre logo

SMEs and Net Zero – a state-of-the-art (SOTA) review

OUBS’ Richard Blundel, Professor of Enterprise and Organisation, and Dr Sam Hampton, a colleague from the University of Oxford, have just co-authored ‘SMEs and Net Zero’.

6th July 2021
OU in Wales blue logo

OUBS academics share the stage in Wales: Collective Leadership in a Digital World

How has collective leadership has changed in the digital world, and how has hybrid working has affected management/employee relationships?

2nd July 2021
Photo of Dr Alessandro Sancino next to the Poets and Quants logo

Alessandro deserves his place in the top 40

An OUBS academic has been named as one of the best 40 under-40 business school professors by the prestigious Poets&Quants. Now in its ninth year, this identifies the most talented young professors currently teaching in MBA programmes around the world.

11th May 2021
Professor Richard Blundel

OUBS Professor joins the Government’s SME Net Zero Working Group

Professor Richard Blundel has recently joined the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) ‘SME Net Zero Working Group’.

8th April 2021
Group of people talking

Reading in lockdown: The future of charity?

Carol Jacklin-Jarvis, Director of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership, has taken inspiration from lockdown reading to consider the notion and role of charity in the 21st century.

3rd November 2020
VSSN blue logo

CVSL at the Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference

The Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership (CVSL) was again represented at the annual Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research (VSVR) Conference which took place entirely online this year.

20th October 2020
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