Diageo Professor in Organisation Studies
BSc (Queen’s University), MA (University of Oxford), PhD (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
My research interests include business transformation for sustainability, organisational change, organisational culture, identity and routines, and future of work. I’ve conducted in-depth qualitative studies in a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, apparel, and energy, have published more than 40 academic journal articles and several books, and am active in advisory work.
I’m Head of the Organisational Theory and Information Systems subject group at Cambridge Judge Business School, which is engaged with cross-disciplinary themes including leadership.
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Professor Howard-Grenville’s research is focused on how people and organisations generate and navigate change. She has conducted in-depth qualitative studies in a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, apparel and energy.
Professor Howard-Grenville has published more than 40 academic journal articles, several books, and contributes to publications like Harvard Business Review and the Financial Times. She teaches on change management and sustainability topics at all levels (undergraduate through PhD), including executive education, and is active in advisory work.
She has served as both Deputy Editor and Associate Editor at one of the management field’s flagship academic journals, Academy of Management Journal, and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and a Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. She received her PhD at MIT, her MA at Oxford, and her BSc (Eng) at Queen’s University, Canada.
News and insights
Business school students should quiz prospective employers on how their policies advance sustainability goals, Professor Jennifer Howard-Grenville of Cambridge Judge writes in the Financial Times.
Programme news
Sustainability boost from Global PhD Course and alumni
Business Schools for Climate Leadership, a consortium that includes Cambridge Judge Business School, offers a new online Global PhD course open to doctoral students at business schools.
Faculty news
Future of work: finding your new sense of normal
How you can find a new sense of normal in tumultuous times and why collective leadership is key. Professor Jennifer Howard-Grenville of Cambridge Judge co-authors an article in Harvard Business Review.
Media coverage
Financial Times | 16 January 2023
Academic research award – tipping point for action
Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Diageo Professor in Organisation studies at Cambridge Judge Business School, speaks about Responsible Business Education award-winning paper.
“It was one of most exciting and impactful research papers I handled in six years at the Academy of Management Journal,” Jennifer said.
FT Specialist’s Agenda by the Financial Times | 27 March 2022
The future of hybrid working – directors must focus on culture
Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Diageo professor of organisation studies at Cambridge Judge Business School, comments on the future of hybrid working.
It is important for boards to remember that the world is still emerging from a transformational period, she says. Companies should be slow and mindful of the diverse experiences of their staff during the pandemic.
“Culture is about how a collective of individuals works towards common goals, despite having diverse experiences and expertise,” Jennifer says.
Poets & Quants | 21 March 2022
B-schools – leading or struggling on gender & race diversity?
New research from Cambridge Judge Business School looks at gender and racial diversity at 22 top US and UK business schools and finds that while B-schools are “strategically positioned to bring lasting change to the global corporate environment,” they still face considerable hurdles in trying to increase diversity.
“Top-ranking UK and US business schools have considerable international diversity, but this cannot be used as proxy for racial diversity,” reads the new report co-authored for the Cambridge Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre by Dr Bola Grace, an executive MBA graduate of Cambridge Judge, and Judge School faculty members Lionel Paolella and Jennifer Howard-Grenville.