Professor Nic Beech
Nic Beech is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Salford and a professor of business and management.
Career
Beech was appointed as a lecturer in Strathclyde University Graduate Business School in 1995. He held various roles including Director of Research and Head of School and was made a professor in 2004. In 2006 he moved to the University of St Andrews where he became Dean of the Faculty of Arts and subsequently Vice-Principal for Governance, Planning and Performance. He chaired the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and led on social inclusion and international exchange. In 2014 he moved to the University of Dundee where he became Provost and in 2020 he became the Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University. In 2023 he became the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Salford.
Leadership and Service
Having been Lead fellow of the ESRC Advanced Institute of Management, Beech spent over a decade in leadership roles in the British Academy of Management and was its longest serving chair and president. He is Treasurer and on the Board of Universities UK and the Academy of Social Sciences, Chair of the UK Standing committee on Quality Assessment, a board member of the QAA and has previously been Chair of Access HE. He was also previously Treasurer of University Alliance, Chair of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research, co-Chair of the Dundee Academic Health Science Partnership and Chair of St Andrews Voices.
Research
Beech’s research has focused on identity, diversity, change leadership and education. He has championed equality, equity, diversity and inclusion through practice and applied research, conducting the first study of race in leadership in the FTSE 100 and working on inclusivity in education. With over 100 publications, his books include:
MacIntosh, R., Mason, K., Beech. N. & Bartunek, J. (2021) Impact in Business and Management Research. London: Routledge.
Beech, N., MacIntosh, R., Krust, P., Kannan, S. & Dadich, A. (2017) Managing Change: Enquiry and Action (2nd edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Beech, N. & Gilmore, C. (eds) (2015) Organising Music: Theory, Practice and Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McKenna, E. & Beech, N. (2014) Human Resource Management: A Concise Analysis (3rd edition). Harlow: Pearson.
Townley, B. & Beech, N. (eds) (2010) Managing Creativity: Exploring the Paradox. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pullen, A., Beech, N. & Sims, D. (eds) (2007) Exploring Identity: Concepts and Methods. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Brockbank, A. McGill, I. & Beech, N. (2002) Reflective Learning in Practice. London: Gower.
Recent Reports and other publications include:
Beech, D. & Beech, N. (2023) Empowering tomorrow’s leaders: The case for including international students in university governance. Higher Education Policy Institute. https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2023/09/06/empowering-tomorrows-leaders-the-case-for-including-international-students-in-university-governance/.
Beech, N. (2023) We need to rethink how we encourage and measure international student entrepreneurship. Higher Education Policy Institute. https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2023/02/21/we-need-to-rethink-how-we-encourage-and-measure-international-student-entrepreneurship%EF%BF%BC/
Beech, N. (2023) Transformative education to empower people to change. Business Matters, January-February.
Beech, N., Mason, K.J., MacIntosh, R. & Beech, D. (2022) A paradox box could improve academic engagement with policy. Research Professional News, 16th October. https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-views-of-the-uk-2022-10-thought-boxes-and-bubbles/
Beech, N. (2022) If we’re serious about skills and levelling up, we need a policy landscape that supports aspirations of lifelong learning and practice-oriented, complex skills. Right2Learn. https://right2learn.co.uk/content-hub/if-were-serious-about-skills-and-levelling-up-we-need-a-policy-landscape-that-supports-aspirations-of-lifelong-learning-and-practice-oriented-complex-skills/
Sliwa, M., Beech, N., Mason, K., Gordon, L. & Lenihan, A. (2021) Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Respect in UK Business and Management Schools. BAM-EDIR-Project-Final-Report-with-appendix-August-2022.pdf
Beech, N. (2021) Can Universities Maintain their Cultural Identity in a Blended World? Times Higher Education. Can universities maintain their cultural identity in a blended world? | THE Campus Learn, Share, Connect (timeshighereducation.com)
Beech, N., Cornelius, N., Archibong, U., Gordon, L., Healy, G., Ogbonna, E., Sanghera, G., Umeh, C. & Wallace, J. (2017) Delivering Diversity: Race and ethnicity in the management pipeline. https://www.managers.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/CMI_BAM_Delivering_Diversity_2017_Full_Report_Website_Copy.pdf
Awards
2023 British Academy of Management Awards
The Richard Whipp Lifetime Achievement Award for Research
The Cooper Medal for Leadership of the Field
The BAM Medal for Leadership of EDI
2022 International Federation of Scholarly Associations of Management
Outstanding Service Award
2018 Academy of Management of Australia and New Zealand
Distinguished Fellow
2017 Companion of the Chartered Management Institute
2013 Fellow of the British Academy of Management
2012 Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences
2009 Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
2009 Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts