The #thinklist is back and we'll be celebrating with a launch event on 28th November. The #thinklist is a quarterly list of the most influential faculty thinkers on issues of responsible business in social media. Here we answer some key questions and reflect on what’s next for this new resource.
What is the #thinklist?
Our goal here at the Centre for Business, Organisations and Society (CBOS), is to rethink the role and responsibilities of business in creating a sustainable society. The #thinklist, which launched in April, is one key way that we are doing this, highlighting how academics in the broad field of responsible business are using social media to collaborate, ruminate and disseminate their key ideas. For many, social media is a pointless distraction. For others it is a vital part of their day to day activities. We were keen to reflect on the latter by highlighting individuals who are doing truly innovative things online. We were keen to spark off conversation and provide inspiration on the role of social media in responsible business research.
Social media allowed me to establish and cultivate relationships that eventually allowed me to gain access to unique datasets and other useful resources. I have also initiated a few research collaborations, got invited to attend fantastic conferences, and very simply, I got to meet so many people that were willing to share views and feedback on my research.
Why do we need a #thinklist?
There are a few reasons why we think that the #thinklist provides a useful resource for scholars in the responsible business field:
- Recognising impact: There are many different ways in which we identify key influencers in the field of responsible business scholarship, but what is often overlooked is the digital life of academics and the inspiring ways in which research is being taken out of the ivory towers to engage with broader audiences and topics;
- Critical reflection: The #thinklist provides some healthy reflection on the need for yet another academic ranking, the purpose of ranking individuals for their extra-curricular activities and if such lists perpetuate social inequalities. We have provided our responses on these issues, but we are keen to talk more (see below for invite to our upcoming event).
- Sharing success: Alongside the list, we are also aim to bring to life the stories behind the screens. In July we heard from Cathy Clark, Faculty Director at the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, who is the #thinklist’s highest ranked woman with over 17,000 followers. And in May, we provided some top tips from a range of ‘thinkers’.
I read what my feed collates as much as I share...The idea is really to share the phenomena, ideas, that inspire me (and be inspired by others' tweets)...it's a good way to take a break from work and return to it with more ideas!
What method do you use to generate the #thinklist?
We update and manage the #thinklist on a quarterly basis. First we developed a list of international academics who are researching in the broad area of responsible business and/or are active in responsible business research centres worldwide. We analysed this initial list using individual Klout scores, but Klout closed soon after we launched the #thinklist. We are now working with rise.global: a platform that tracks, calculates and displays relative scores for individual social media ‘power’ users into a dedicated scorecard, using Twitter data drawn from Kred to measure Influence and Outreach. If you want to know more about the science, there is detailed information on the Rise website. Visit our website to find out more about our approach and do feel free to send us your suggestions for new additions to the list.
What’s new in the new #thinklist?
In the Top 5 this November, we have:
Ioannis Ioannou (@iioannoulbs), Kred Influence 889 | Kred Outreach 9
Ioannis is Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School, with research interests in CSR and social performance, sustainability and sustainable reporting, social innovation and entrepreneurship
Christoper Wright (@ChristopherWr11), Kred Influence 825 | Kred Outreach 9
Christopher is Professor of Organisation Studies at the University of Sydney Business School, with research interests in management innovation, sustainability and critical understandings of capitalism and political economy.
Josep M. Lozano (@JosepMLozano), Kred Influence 874 | Kred Outreach 8
Josep is Professor in the Department of Social Sciences at ESADE Business School, with research interests in am interested in corporate social responsibility (CSR), ethics, leadership, values and spirituality.
Cathy Clark, (@cathyhc), Kred Influence 783 | Kred Outreach 8
Cathy is Faculty Director at the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, with research interests in impact investing and social entrepreneurship.
Thomas Roulet, (@thomroulet) Kred Influence 782 | Kred Outreach 8
Thomas is Associate Professor in Organisation Theory at Cambridge Judge Business School, with research interests in economic sociology, organisation theory, social evaluations, stigma, disapproval and scandals, institutional theory, stakeholder relationships, ethics.
How can I find out more?
As well as signing up to our blog, following us on Twitter, we would love to meet up for some real, in-person, face-to-face discussion. This is why we are inviting you to join us for The #thinklist: In Conversation - a unique and free to attend event which is taking place in London on November 28th. Here we will share a little more about the thinking behind the #thinklist, hear from Keynote speaker Mark Carrigan, University of Cambridge and author of Social Media for Academics as well as discuss and debate the #thinklist and social media for responsible business research with some of our key thinkers:
- Ioannis Ioannou, London Business School
- Tanusree Jain, Trinity College Dublin
- Lauren McCarthy, Royal Holloway University of London
- Thomas Roulet, University of Cambridge
- Andrew Crane, (Chair), University of Bath
We also have big plans for taking the #thinklist stateside…
Let’s keep the conversation going!
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