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Staff Profile

Dr Kristina Humonen

Lecturer in Business Management

  • Email: kristina.humonen@ncl.ac.uk
  • Address: Newcastle University Business School
    5 Barrack Road, Room 8.08, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4SE
Background

I am a Lecturer in Business Management (equivalent to Assistant Professor) at Newcastle University Business School.

I joined NUBS in 2020 as an ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Before this, I finished my PhD degree (with no corrections) at the University of Warwick, where I was also teaching on a variety of modules as well as mentoring postgraduate students. During my PhD studies, I spent time in 2018 at Victoria University of Wellington's School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, and also Victoria Business School's Centre for Labour, Employment and Work as part of an ESRC funded institutional visit. 


Embracing multidisciplinarity, my work draws on a broad range of theories and approaches as I seek to deepen my understanding of how language shapes organisational life. 

Research

Research interests

My multidisciplinary research focuses on the role of language and discourse in various professional settings. I employ qualitative methods and draw on multiple datasets including: ethnographic observations, interviews, recorded workplace interactions, as well as secondary data sources such as corporate documents. Broadly put, my research interests lie in:

  • Critical enquiry  
  • Sociolinguistics 
  • Language and power
  • Professional identity construction
  • Intercultural communication
  • In/exclusive workplace culture
  • (Linguistic) Diversity management

In addition to the above, I have recently developed an interest in understanding the relationship between material objects, multimodality and social interaction in the workplace. 


Ongoing project

In January 2023 I started a new project, "Talking strategy: Taking an interactional lens to business meetings". The study explores the connections between team dynamics, decision-making and strategy from an interactional perspective at a growing start-up in the medical supplies sector.


Past research projects 

I was awarded an ESRC Research Grant (ES/V011413/1) in 2020-2021 for a project “Managing for Inclusion in the Multilingual Workplace”. The multi-sited research drew on ethnographically collected data from a Nordic multinational corporation, and critically examined language policy-practice misalignment.

My doctoral project, 2015-2019, was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK), the Foundation for Economic Education (Liikesivistysrahasto, Finland) and the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia). My work examined different forms of linguistic penalties that migrant employees may or may not face in their working environments.

I am passionate about applying research in various organisational contexts and have collaborated with many international businesses over the years, ranging from engineering and information technology companies to businesses operating in the hospitality industry.



Teaching

I have been an Associate Teaching Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2017 and have been involved in teaching activities at three different Russell Group Universities. 


In 2022-2023 I am contributing to the following modules: 

  •  BUS1015 Introduction to Management and Organisations 
  •  BUS1002 Global Business Environment 
  •  BUS3035 Contemporary Issues in International and Comparative Business 
  •  BUS3052 IB Management Dissertations  
  •  NBS8061 Managing Across Cultures 
Publications