Research on modern working life wins talent award

In brief, PhD and Assistant Professor Susanne Ekman’s research area is the interaction between management and employees in knowledge-intensive companies and all its associated tensions.

On the faculty at the Department of Organization, she is being given Nykredit Foundation’s Talent Award and 100,000 kroner for her research. Recipients of the award are promising young researchers who study human resources and corporate social responsibility. She is receiving the prize for “continually putting focus on, with needed renewal, modern, boundaryless working life – both in Denmark and abroad".

- It means a great deal to me that the business community is giving me the award. During my entire research career, I’ve been preoccupied with creating a dialogue with practice, which means I see the award not only as a recognition of the relevance of my work, but as a springboard for further dialogue in the future, says Susanne Ekman.

Intuitive researcher

According to the Nykredit Foundation, her research on the organisation and management of knowledge workers has raised debate for many years in companies, organisations and the public media on what conditions create challenges for knowledge workers and the managers who try to supervise, motivate and accommodate them. Choosing this topic came naturally for Susanne Ekman.

- I’m probably a fairly intuitive researcher and for many years I’ve sensed a great deal of intensity building in society in this area, including high hopes and dreams, but also larger problems in the form of breakdowns, stress and crises. The workplace is a microcosm of some of the main societal challenges we face, explains Susanne Ekman.

As a result, she is interested, for example in how prominent philosophies in society on growth affect employees. She is eager to explore what the notion of limitless resources means for our ability to relate to each other and to agree on common goals.

An anthropologist, Susanne Ekman completed her PhD in management at CBS in 2010 and has worked at the Department of Organization since 2011.

In the past five years, three researchers from CBS have received a Research Prize and four others have received the Talent Award. The Minister of Higher Education and Science, Sofie Carsten Nielsen, will present the awards at Nykredit on 6 November 2014.

Read more about Nykredit’s Research Prizes here (Link is in Danish)

Read more about Susanne Ekman here