Holly Patrick-Thomson
holly patrick thomson

Dr Holly Patrick-Thomson

Lecturer

Biography

Dr Holly Patrick is a Lecturer in the Human Resource Management Group of Edinburgh Napier University’s Business School. Awarded her PhD in 2013 from the University of St Andrews, Holly’s research focusses on the changing nature and future of work in the creative and craft sectors.

Her research on creative work predominantly focusses on the tensions and precarity experienced by creative workers, particularly freelancers, and the forms of peer support and solidarity this produces. She has published articles on these topics in international journals such as Work Employment and Society, Management Learning, and the Asia Pacific Journal of Arts and Cultural Management. She collaborates with creative businesses, campaign groups and industry bodies in the UK and is Chair of the British Academy of Management Special Interest Group for Creative and Cultural Industries. She is currently working on an interdisciplinary research project with collaborators form the School of Computing, scoping the development of an Artificial Intelligence advisor for creative freelancers, more details on which can be found at https://www.crisiscreatives.online/.

Her work on the changing nature of the craft beer sector and work therein involves collaborations with academics and brewers from across the UK and further afield. Her research on work in craft beer has been published by Routledge and Palgrave. Along with her academic collaborators, she published an edited collection with Emerald: 'Researching Craft Beer', based on the outcomes of an international symposium she co-hosted in Edinburgh in 2019. She is currently working on a paper conceptualising the effects of institutional complexity on the work and identity of craft brewers.

Before joining ENU, Holly was a Visiting Scholar for 2 years at the University of Technology, Sydney. During her time there, Holly’s work was presented at UTS, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and the University of Melbourne, as well as prestigious conferences such as the Australia and New Zealand Academy of Management.

In addition to her personal research agenda, Holly has been involved in several large-scale, externally funded research projects. While at St Andrews, she was part of a 5 person team assigned to deliver a report analysing the future of the European automotive industry for the governing body of the European Economic Community. At UTS, Holly was project manager of a 7 person team awarded the contract to develop the Australian Leadership Capabilities Standard.

Research Areas

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Invited to speak to Scottish Government Roundtable on Cultural Resilience

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Organiser of Virtual Writing Retreat for the British Academy of Management CCI SIG
  • Creative and Cultural Industries Track Chair - British Academy of Management
  • Track Session Chair - BUIRA Conference
  • Organiser - Craft Beer in Theory and Practice Symposium

 

Editorial Activity

  • Special Issue Editor for the Journal of Political Power

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External Examiner - University of Dundee

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Awarded Best Developmental Paper in Cultural and Creative Industries Track at British Academy of Management Conference 2021
  • Nominated for Above and Beyond ENU Award for co-founding Research Clinics
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Authority
  • Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce
  • Best Full Paper Award for Identity Track at British Academy of Management Conference 2012

 

Invited Speaker

  • Expert Contributor to CIPD Podcast on Dogs in the Workplace
  • Invited to give guest symposia on worker precarity to Penn State University
  • Invited to sit on panel debating “The Future of Business Schools” at Edinburgh Napier University
  • Invited to sit on a panel discussing PhD publication strategies at UTS (Australia)
  • Invited to present research on cultural precarity at a research showcase at RMIT (Australia)

 

Media Activity

  • Featured in The Scotsman article: Scotland’s craft brewers can use pandemic lessons to manage cost-of-living crisis
  • Guest Columnist for The Courier
  • National Radio Interview
  • Author at The Conversation
  • Interviewed by The Times

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Elected Chair of Special Interest Group for Creative and Cultural Industries - British Academy of Management
  • President of EIS-ULA
  • Member of the British Academy of Management
  • Member of British Sociological Association
  • Elected Member of EIS-ULA National Committee

 

Non-executive Directorship

  • Member of University Court

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Invited to Advise on Freelance Survey Development by Creative Edinburgh
  • invited to advise on Excluded UK survey development
  • Lead Organiser of CBREW - Craft Beer Research and Enterprise Symposium
  • The Great Scottish Craft Beer Hunt

 

Reviewing

  • Reviewer for Personnel Review
  • Reviewer for British Academy of Management Conference
  • Reviewer for Bristol University Press
  • Reviewer for Management Learning (Journal)
  • Reviewer for Cultural Trends (Journal)
  • Reviewer for Australia and New Zealand Academy of Management Conference

 

Visiting Positions

  • Visiting Scholar at the University of Technology, Sydney
  • Affiliated Researcher at the Institute for Capitalising on Creativity, University of St Andrews

 

Date


28 results

Nested tensions and smoothing tactics: An ethnographic examination of ambidexterity in a theatre

Journal Article
Patrick, H. (2018)
Nested tensions and smoothing tactics: An ethnographic examination of ambidexterity in a theatre. Management Learning, 49(5), 559-577. doi:10.1177/1350507618800940
All organizations face contradictory demands, such as exploiting existing revenue sources whilst exploring new opportunities. The tensions of balancing these demands are large...

An Individual-Level Analysis of Ambidexterity: Exploring the Performing/Belonging Paradox

Presentation / Conference
Patrick, H. (2017, July)
An Individual-Level Analysis of Ambidexterity: Exploring the Performing/Belonging Paradox. Paper presented at Post-Doctoral Colloquium at European Group for Organisation Studies Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark

The Importance of Being Earnest: Managing Organisational Identity and Legitimacy in the Complex institutional Environment of the Theatre

Presentation / Conference
Patrick, H., & Townley, B. (2017, July)
The Importance of Being Earnest: Managing Organisational Identity and Legitimacy in the Complex institutional Environment of the Theatre. Paper presented at European Group for Organisation Studies conference, Copenhagen, Denmark

Ambidexterity within the Professional Ballet World: Scottish Ballet’s Dancers’ Education Group

Presentation / Conference
Whiteside, B., Patrick, H., & Cassidy, C. (2017, April)
Ambidexterity within the Professional Ballet World: Scottish Ballet’s Dancers’ Education Group. Paper presented at Dance Fields 2017, Roehampton
Scottish Ballet’s Dancers’ Education Group (DEG) gives company dancers the opportunity to train to become dance educators. First established as a pilot programme in 2013, and ...

From Battery Hens to Chicken Feed: The Perceived Precarity and Identity of Australian Journalists

Journal Article
Patrick, H., & Elks, K. (2015)
From Battery Hens to Chicken Feed: The Perceived Precarity and Identity of Australian Journalists. Asia Pacific Journal of Arts and Cultural Management, 48(12), 48-66
There is an industrial revolution taking place in the media sphere, and it is a result of digitalisation. Between mass layoffs and falling word rates, Australian journalists a...

Developing professional equality: an analysis of a social movement in the Scottish dance industry

Journal Article
Patrick, H., & Bowditch, C. (2013)
Developing professional equality: an analysis of a social movement in the Scottish dance industry. Scottish Journal of Performance, 1(1), 75-97. https://doi.org/10.14439/sjop.2013.0101.05
This article analyses the growth of professional equality in the Scottish dance industry. It defines the growth of professional equality as a social movement driven by a group...

Arresting moments in engaged management research

Journal Article
Greig, G., Gilmore, C., Patrick, H., & Beech, N. (2013)
Arresting moments in engaged management research. Management Learning, 44(3), 267-285. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507612443209
We contribute to the literature on the production of knowledge through engaged management and organisational research. We explore how relational practices in management and or...

Managing Improvisational Practice: The Tension Between Structure and Creative Difference

Book
Patrick, H., Grieg, G. & Beech, N. (2012)
Managing Improvisational Practice: The Tension Between Structure and Creative Difference. In Handbook of Institutional Approaches to International Business14, 344-362. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84980-768-5
This chapter adopts cultural historical activity theory in an empirical analysis of theoretical improvisation in order to explore its relational nature as an example of bounde...

Pre-Napier Funded Projects

  • UTS Business Research Grants - $20,000
  • Contract Research funded by Australian Government - $149,600

Current Post Grad projects

Previous Post Grad projects