Research award highlights diversity and inclusiveness
The Corporate Partners' Research Award was established in 2003 with the objective of further promoting research at the Stockholm School of Economics. The prize amounts to SEK 100,000 and is given to a promising researcher whose work has contributed to the development of their discipline and can be applied in practical and educational settings.
For this year's winner, Laurence Romani, who does research in collaboration with corporations, the award is a particularly important acknowledgement.
"It means something to receive this prestigious award from the corporate partners at SSE," says Laurence Romani. "It really highlights the fact that I'm not doing ivory tower research. It's an acknowledgement that the research I do together with practitioners has actual applications for practitioners."
Diversity as a positive force
Laurence Romani explains that while many companies today know the benefits of diversity and want to foster and acknowledge it, they don't always know how to. And her research provides a helping hand. She also hopes to create a space where diversity is seen as the positive societal force it is.
"I think we're living in a society that's cruel, and some people resist diversity because they feel threatened by it. They can also gain from it, but yet they don't know it. My hope is to facilitate the implementation of diversity and gain more acceptance of differences for a well-functioning society."
Henrik Björck, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Corporate Relations, shares her view of the importance of diversity:
"In an increasingly globalized world, cross-cultural studies are an important tool in forging successful businesses and organizations. We're happy to present this award to Laurence Romani and look forward to seeing what her future research can bring to the table."
The jury's motivation
"The Corporate Partner's Researcher Prize 2019 is awarded to Laurence Romani for her distinguished research in management where she focuses on cross-cultural management, diversity and inclusive leadership. Laurence defended her thesis at the Institute of International Business at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) in 2008. After a period as researcher in the sustainability research group and the Center for Advanced Studies of Leadership at SSE, she joined the Department of Management and Organization in 2014 where she was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2019.
Laurence's research has contributed substantially to the development of an interpretive and critical approach to cross-cultural management and diversity management and she has applied these theoretical lenses to current topics such as migration, the integration of migrant workers and the realization of the potential of diversity in organizations. Laurence has published her work in leading peer reviewed journals such as the Journal of Business Ethics, Academy of Management Learning and Education and Organizational Research Methods and her contributions to the scientific community have been repeatedly awarded. Laurence is also a highly appreciated teacher and supervisor at the Stockholm School of Economics."
