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Staff Profile

Dr Irene Chu

Senior Lecturer in International Management

Background

Irene Chu is a Senior Lecturer in International Management at Newcastle University Business School. She is also the Degree Programme Director for BSc (Hons) International Business Management.

She gained her MBA and PhD from Durham University Business School and previously worked in the international public and private sectors in Taiwan. She joins NUBS from the University of Bradford School of Management, where she was Associate Professor in Business Ethics and Cross-cultural Studies, Programme Leader for MSc International Business and Management and UN PRME Lead for the School.

She was awarded the Best Paper Awards and Best Symposium at the Academy of Management conference’s Management, Spirituality and Religion stream in Boston, 2019. She was also awarded the Founders’ Award for Emerging Scholars at the Society for Business Ethics conference in Atlanta, USA 2017 for her PhD thesis.

She is on the editorial boards of the journals Business and Professional Ethics and Frontiers in Sociology.She is also an international subject matter expert in International Business Management for the Irish National Agency's National Framework of Qualifications.

Research

My main research interests are centred around the theme of how the environment influences individuals and organisations, especially regarding well-being and human flourishing. I take a philosophical approach based on concepts from the moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre of how practices generate different types of goods with differing contributions to human flourishing. Not only do these practices take place in differing organisational forms influenced by differing institutional logics, the individuals involved also differ depending on environmental influences. Consequently, my interdisciplinary research covers a wide range of areas including virtue ethics, the moral psychology of the self, institutional logics and sustainability. On-going projects include the following:


  • Corporate social innovation (CSI) and UN SDGs in emerging markets.


  • Moral psychology – focusing on virtue ethics, the moral self, Confucianism and Alasdair MacIntyre’s work. 


  • Entrepreneurship in Africa – focusing on entrepreneurs’ behaviour, decolonisation and embracing the pluralism of entrepreneurship activity. 


I am also taking on PhD students' supervision. I have supervised 2 PhD students to complete their PhD theses so far.

Teaching

With over 12 years' teaching experience in HE, Irene has designed and delivered courses across different levels for UG, PG and MBA executive learners in business ethics, sustainable business, corporate social responsibility, cross-cultural management and strategic management.

Irene delivers lectures for the following modules:

BUS3078 Advanced Global Strategy

BUS3017 CSR & Ethics

NBS8128 Transition in the Global Economy

NBS8432 Sustainability Management and the Natural Environment


Publications