Portrait of Professor Laura Empson

Professor Laura Empson

Professor of the Management of Professional Service Firms

Bayes Business School , Faculty of Management

Contact

About

Overview

For regular updates on my research activities please see my personal website www.lauraempson.com.

Current roles:

Professor in the Management of Professional Service Firms, Bayes Business School

Professor of Leadership and Organization, Copenhagen Business School

Research Fellow, Harvard Law School

Research Fellow, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge

I have dedicated more than 30 years to researching professionals, professional work, and professional service firms. Funded through a series of research council awards from the ESRC and the EU, my research encompasses themes as varied as: leadership and governance; culture and identity; professionalisation of management; mergers and acquisitions; knowledge management and innovation; professional careers and diversity. I have also developed a series of autoethnographic publications about doing impactful research and the challenges of crossing the research-practice divide. I have published three books with Oxford University Press and dozens of articles in leading international academic journals, some of which have been reprinted as “classics”.

I have received numerous awards and marks of recognition for my academic work. In 2020 I was invited to become a founder member of the Strategic Advisory Board of the Journal of Management Studies and also to give the keynote address at the British Academy of Management Conference. I have raised over £1,000,000 in external funding, approximately 50% from research councils to fund my research, and 50% from corporate donors to support my research centres at Bayes and Oxford. I am an Editorial Board Member of Organization Studies, the Journal of Management Studies, and the Journal of Professional Organizations, as well as a Member of the ESRC's Peer Review College.

I am committed to doing research that has practitioner impact. I am co-presenter on the highly successful podcast series “Leading Professional People”. I have been shortlisted for the Thinkers 50 Leadership Award for my work in the area of collective leadership. I have advised the Financial Reporting Council as well as UK’s Competition and Markets Authority on their Review of the Audit Sector. I have made a documentary for BBC Radio Four about my research on "insecure overachievers". From 2013 to 2016 I served on the Board of KPMG LLP as an Independent Non-Executive and Chair of the Public Interest Committee. In addition to my series of articles in Harvard Business Review, I regularly contribute to the Financial Times and other leading business publications.

At Bayes Business School I have had multiple teaching and leadership responsibilities. I teach the MBA modules on “Organizational Behaviour” and “Succeeding in Professional and Financial Services”. I supervise several PhD students. I established the Centre for Professional Service Firms and was its Director 2008-2024. I was previously a member of the business school’s Executive Committee and Group Head for Organizational Behaviour/ HRM.

Before joining Bayes (then Cass) I was Associate Professor (Reader) at the University of Oxford’s Said Business School and Fellow of St Anne’s College. At Oxford I directed the Clifford Chance Centre for Professional Service Firms and established and organised the annual Professional Service Firms conference. I joined Oxford from London Business School, where I completed my PhD and MBA. Before becoming an academic, I worked as an investment banker and strategy consultant. My first degree was in Economics from University College, London.

Qualifications

  • PhD, London Business School, UK
  • MBA, London Business School, UK
  • BSc Econ, University College London, UK

Expertise

Primary topics

  • Change Management
  • Knowledge Management
  • Leadership
  • Management
  • Management Consulting
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Organization Theory
  • Organizational Behaviour
  • Organizational Culture

Industries

  • accountancy firms
  • investment banking
  • legal services
  • management consulting
  • professional services

Publications

Books (4)

  1. Empson, L. (2017). Leading Professionals Power, Politics, and Prima Donnas. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198744788.
  2. Empson, L., Muzio, D., Broschak, J. and Hinings, B. (Eds.), (2017). Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms (Paperback edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  3. Empson, L., Hinings, R., Muzio, D. and Broschak, J. (2015). The Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 9780199682393.
  4. Empson, L. (Ed.), (2007). Managing the modern law firm: New challenges, new perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199296743.

Chapters (19)

  1. Empson, L. (2025). A Relational Approach to Impact: Reflections from a Lifetime 'In the Field'. Women In, and Beyond, Business Schools (pp. 130-137). Routledge.
  2. Empson, L. (2017). My liminal life: Perpetual journeys across the research-practice divide. In Bartunek, J. and McKenzie, J. (Eds.), Academic–Practitioner Relationships: Developments, Complexities and Opportunities (pp. 200-216). UK: Routledge. ISBN 9781138100695.
  3. Ashley, L. and Empson, L. (2016). Explaining social exclusion and the ‘war for talent’ in the UK’s elite professional service firms. Diversity in Practice (pp. 114-138). Cambridge University Press.
  4. Empson, L. (2015). Leadership, Power, and Politics in Law Firms. In Normand-Hochman, R. and Gardner, H. (Eds.), Leadership for Lawyers (pp. 89-102). Globe Law and Business in association with the International Bar Association. ISBN 9781909416789.
  5. Empson, L. and Langley, A. (2015). Leadership and Professionals: Multiple Manifestations of Influence in Professional Service Firms. In Empson, L., Muzio, D., Broschak, J. and Hinings, B. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms (pp. 163-188). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199682393.
  6. Empson, L., Muzio, D., Broschak, J. and Hinings, B. (2015). Researching Professional Service Firms: An Introduction and Overview. In Empson, L., Muzio, D., Broschak, J. and Hinings, B. (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  7. Empson, L. (2014). My Affair with the “Other”: Identity Journeys across the Research-Practice Divide. In Bell, E. and Willmott, H. (Eds.), Qualitative Research in Business and Management (4 volumes) Sage. ISBN 9781446287446.
  8. Empson, L. (2012). Beyond dichotomies: A multi-stage model of governance in professional service firms. In Reihlen, M. and Werr, A. (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship in Professional Services Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 9781848446267.
  9. Empson, L. (2012). Fear of Exploitation and Fear of Contamination: Impediments to Knowledge Transfer in Mergers Between Professional Service Firms (2001 Reprint). In Avakian, S. and Clark, T. (Eds.), Management Consulting Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 9781847209108.
  10. Empson, L. (2008). Professions. In Clegg, S. and Bailey, J.R. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Organization Studies Sage. ISBN 9781412915151.
  11. Empson, L. (2008). Professional Service Firms. In Clegg, S. and Bailey, J.R. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Organization Studies (pp. 1311-1315). Sage. ISBN 9781412915151.
  12. Empson, L. (2007). Your partnership - Surviving and thriving in a changing world: the special nature of partnership. In Empson, L. (Ed.), Managing the Modern Law Firm (pp. 10-36). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199296743.
  13. Empson, L. (2007). Wrestling with the intangible: Creating value in knowledge-based mergers. In Angwin, D. (Ed.), Images of mergers and acquisitions: A multidisciplinary perspective Blackwell.
  14. Empson, L. (2006). Professionals in Partnership. Production values: Futures of Professionalism Demos.
  15. Empson, L. (2006). Professionals in partnership. In Craig, J. (Ed.), Production Values: Futures of Professionalism Demos.
  16. Empson, L. and Chapman, C. (2006). Partnership versus corporation: implications of alternative forms of governance in professional service firms. In Greenwood, R. and Suddaby, R. (Eds.), Professional Service Firms (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Volume 24) (pp. 139-170). Emerald Group. ISBN 9780762313020.
  17. Empson, L. (2000). Lessons from professional service firms. In Dickson, T. (Ed.), Mastering Strategy Financial Times/Pitman Publishing.
  18. Empson, L. (2000). The challenge of managing knowledge. In Dickson, T. (Ed.), Mastering Strategy Financial Times/Pitman Publishing.
  19. Empson, L. (2000). Mergers between professional service firms: Exploring an undirected process of integration. Advances in Mergers and Acquisitions (Volume 1) (pp. 205-237). Emerald. ISBN 9780762306831.

Conference papers and proceedings (36)

  1. Gustafsson, S. and Empson, L. Stuck in illusion: Boundary Work and Career Immobility of Paraprofessionals. .doi:10.5465/amproc.2025.283bp
  2. Gustafsson, S. and Empson, L. Climbing invisible walls: The construction of career (im)mobility in liminal professional roles. .doi:10.5465/ambpp.2018.190
  3. Empson, L. (2012). Complexity leadership and professional service firms: When everyone and no one is a leader. European Group for Organization Studies Aalto University & Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland.
  4. Ashley, L. and Empson, L. (2012). Convenient Fiction or Inconvenient Truth? Making sense of the �Business Case� for gender diversity in the UK�s leading accountancy firms. European Group for Organization Studies Aalto University & Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland.
  5. Empson, L., Cleaver, I. and Allen, J. (2011). Management professionals and managing partners: Institutional entrepreneurship in professional partnerships. European Group for Organization Studies Gothenburg University, Sweden.
  6. Empson, L. (2011). Navigating ambiguity: Collective leadership processes in professional service firms. Academy of Management San Antonio, Texas.
  7. Ashley, L.E. and Empson, L. (2011). Differentiation and discrimination: Understanding social class and social exclusion in the UK's leading law firms. EGOS - Reassembling Organizations Gothenburg, Sweden.
  8. Empson, L. (2010). Evolution and revolution in the governance of law firms. Law firm evolution: Brave new world or business as usual University of Georgetown: Washington.
  9. Empson, L. (2010). Navigating ambiguity: Collective leadership processes in professional service firms. Academy of Management Montreal.
  10. Empson, L. (2010). Navigating ambiguity: Collective leadership processes in professional service firms. European Group for Organization Studies Conference Lisbon.
  11. Empson, L. (2009). Beyond dichotomies: A multi-stage model of governance in professional service firms. European Group for Organization Studies Conference Barcelona.
  12. Empson, L. (2009). Changing power dynamics in professional service firms. Academy of Management Chicago.
  13. Empson, L. (2009). Partnership: Meaning and metaphor. Future of large law firms Harvard Law School.
  14. Empson, L., Broschack, J. and Leblebici, H. (2008). Beyond received wisdom: An integrative perspective on organising professionals. European Group for Organization Studies Conference Amsterdam.
  15. Empson, L. (2008). Partnership matters. Symposium on the legal profession Georgetown University.
  16. Empson, L., Broschak, J. and Leblebici, H. (2007). Beyond received wisdom: Professionals and professional service firms. Academy of Management (OMT and BPS Divisions) Philadelphia.
  17. Empson, L. (2007). My affair with the �other�: The interpenetration of research and practice. Organization Studies Summer Workshop Crete.
  18. Empson, L. (2006). Professionals in partnership: Continuity and change. Professions and the knowledge-based economy conference Lancaster University.
  19. Empson, L. (2006). Surviving and thriving in a changing world: The special nature of partnership. European Group for Organization Studies Conference Bergen.
  20. Alvesson, M. and Empson, L. (2006). The construction of organizational identity: Comparative case studies of consulting firms. Academy of Management Conference (OMT Division) Atlanta.
  21. Empson, L. and Chapman, C. (2005). Partnership versus corporation: Implications of alternative forms of governance for managerial authority and organizational priorities in professional service firms. Academy of Management Conference (OMT Division) Honolulu.
  22. Chapman, C. and Empson, L. (2005). Performance measures, pay, and accountability: A comparison of two professional service firms. European Accounting Association Conference Gothenberg.
  23. EMPSON, L. ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY CHANGE: MANAGERIAL REGULATION AND MEMBER IDENTIFICATION IN AN ACCOUNTING FIRM ACQUISITION. .doi:10.5465/ambpp.2004.13857677
  24. Greenwood, R. and Empson, L. The professional partnership: Relic or exemplary form of governance? .doi:10.1177/0170840603024006005
  25. Empson, L. (2003). Changing organizational identity: Identity regulation and re-identification in an accounting firm acquisition. European Group for Organization Studies Conference Copenhagen.
  26. Empson, L. and Chapman, C. (2003). Consequences of changing forms of governance for the management of professional service firms: Emerging themes. Cllifford Chance Conference on Professional Service Firms University of Oxford.
  27. Empson, L. and Chapman, C. (2002). Implications of alternative forms of governance in Professional Service Firms. Professional Service Firms Conference University of Alberta.
  28. Empson, L. (2002). Organizational identity in accounting firms: Continuity and change post acquisition. EURAM Conference Stockholm.
  29. Empson, L. (2000). The triumph of commercialism: Mergers between accounting firms and the transformation of the professional archetype. Academy of Management Conference (OMT Division) Toronto.
  30. Empson, L. (1999). Fear of association and fear of contamination: Exploring impediments to knowledge transfer in mergers between professional service firms. Professional Service Firms Conference University of Alberta.
  31. Empson, L. (1999). Phoney wars and high school dances: The evolving process of integration in mergers between professional service firms. Academy of Management Conference (OMT Division) Chicago.
  32. Empson, L. (1999). The twin fears: Knowledge transfer in mergers between professional service firms. Professional Service Firms in Transition Conference London School of Economics.
  33. Empson, L. (1997). Impediments to knowledge transfer in mergers between knowledge-based organizations. Academy of Management Conference (BPS Division) Boston.
  34. Empson, L. and Morris, T. (1997). When knowledge is power: Knowledge transfer and mergers between professional service firms. Modes of Organizing Conference University of Warwick.
  35. Empson, L. (1996). Managing successful knowledge-based mergers and acquisitions: Overcoming impediments to integration. British Academy of Management Conference Birmingham.
  36. Empson, L. (1996). Merging professional service firms: How the distinctive organizational characteristics influence the process of value creation. Strategic Management Society Conference Arizona.

Journal articles (30)

  1. Empson, L. and Howard-Grenville, J. (2024). How to Lead When the Future Feels Unpredictable. Harvard Business Review

    [publisher’s website]

  2. Howard-Grenville, J. and Empson, L. (2023). Three Ways to Prepare for the Future of Work. Harvard Business Review

    [publisher’s website]

  3. Empson, L., Langley, A. and Sergi, V. (2023). When Everyone and No One is a Leader: Constructing individual leadership identities while sustaining an organizational narrative of collective leadership. Organization Studies, 44(2), pp. 201-227. doi:10.1177/01708406221135225

    [publisher’s website]

  4. Empson, L. and Howard-Grenville, J. (2021). How Has the Past Year Changed You and Your Organization? Harvard Business Review, HBR on-line(https://hbr.org/2021/03/how-has-the-past-year-changed-you-and-your-organization)
  5. Empson, L. (2021). Researching the post‐pandemic professional service firm: Challenging our assumptions. Journal of Management Studies. doi:10.1111/joms.12697

    [publisher’s website]

  6. Empson, L. and Alvehus, J. (2020). Collective Leadership Dynamics among Professional Peers: Co-constructing an unstable equilibrium. Organization Studies, 41(9), pp. 1234-1256. doi:10.1177/0170840619844291

    [publisher’s website]

  7. Empson, L. (2020). The Emperor’s New Clothes: How Our Fear of Seeming Stupid Became a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 19(2), pp. 227-229. doi:10.5465/amle.2020.0121

    [publisher’s website]

  8. Mosonyi, S., Empson, L. and Gond, J. (2020). Management Consulting: Towards an Integrative Framework of Knowledge, Identity, and Power. International Journal of Management Reviews, 22(2), pp. 120-149. doi:10.1111/ijmr.12218

    [publisher’s website]

  9. Empson, L. (2019). Ambiguous authority and hidden hierarchy: Collective leadership in a professional service firm. Leadership. doi:10.1177/1742715019886769

    [publisher’s website]

  10. Empson, L. (2019). How to lead your fellow rainmakers: Collectively, dynamically- and very carefully. Harvard Business Review, March-April, pp. 114-123

    [publisher’s website]

  11. Empson, L. (2019). How to Lead Your Fellow Rain makers. HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW, 97(2), pp. 114-+
  12. Costas, J., Ekman, S., Empson, L., Kärreman, D. and Muhr, S.L. (2018). Working time regimes: A panel discussion on continuing problems. German Journal of Human Resource Management: Zeitschrift für Personalforschung, 32(3-4), pp. 271-282. doi:10.1177/2397002218791389

    [publisher’s website]

  13. Lupu, I., Spence, C. and Empson, L. (2018). When the past comes back to haunt you: The enduring influence of upbringing on the work–family decisions of professional parents. Human Relations, 71(2), pp. 155-181. doi:10.1177/0018726717708247

    [publisher’s website]

  14. Empson, L. (2018). If you're so successful why are you still working 70 hours a week? Harvard Business Review, (February)
  15. Empson, L. (2017). Elite interviewing in professional organizations. Journal of Professions and Organization. doi:10.1093/jpo/jox010

    [publisher’s website]

  16. Ashley, L. and Empson, L. (2016). Convenient fictions and inconvenient truths: Dilemmas of diversity at three leading accountancy firms. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 35, pp. 76-87. doi:10.1016/j.cpa.2015.05.002

    [publisher’s website]

  17. Ashley, L. and Empson, L. (2016). Understanding social exclusion in elite professional service firms: Field level dynamics and the 'professional project'. Work, Employment & Society, 31(2), pp. 211-229. doi:10.1177/0950017015621480

    [publisher’s website]

  18. Lupu, I. and Empson, L. (2015). Illusio and overwork: playing the game in the accounting field. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 28(8), pp. 1310-1340. doi:10.1108/aaaj-02-2015-1984

    [publisher’s website]

  19. Empson, L., Cleaver, I. and Allen, J. (2013). Managing partners and management professionals: Institutional work dyads in professional partnerships. Journal of Management Studies, 50(5), pp. 808-844. doi:10.1111/joms.12025

    [publisher’s website]

  20. Empson, L. (2013). My Affair With the "Other": Identity Journeys Across the Research-Practice Divide. Journal of Management Inquiry, 22(2), pp. 229-248. doi:10.1177/1056492612446068

    [publisher’s website]

  21. Ashley, L. and Empson, L. (2013). Differentiation and discrimination: Understanding social class and social exclusion in leading law firms. Human Relations, 66(2), pp. 219-244. doi:10.1177/0018726712455833
  22. Alvesson, M. and Empson, L. (2008). The construction of organizational identity: Comparative case studies of consulting firms. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 24(1), pp. 1-16. doi:10.1016/j.scaman.2007.10.001

    [publisher’s website]

  23. Empson, L. (2004). Organizational identity change: managerial regulation and member identification in an accounting firm acquisition. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 29(8), pp. 759-781. doi:10.1016/j.aos.2004.04.002

    [publisher’s website]

  24. Greenwood, R. and Empson, L. (2003). The professional partnership: Relic or exemplary form of governance? Organization Studies, 24(6), pp. 909-933

    [publisher’s website]

  25. Empson, L. (2001). Introduction: Knowledge Management in Professional Service Firms. Human Relations, 54(7), pp. 811-817. doi:10.1177/0018726701547001

    [publisher’s website]

  26. Empson, L. (2001). Fear of exploitation and fear of contamination: Impediments to knowledge transfer in mergers between professional service firms. Human Relations: Knowledge management in professional service firms (Special Issue), 54(7), pp. 839-862
  27. Empson, L. (2001). Knowledge management in professional service firms. Human Relations: Knowledge management in professional service firms (Special Issue), 54(7), pp. 811-818
  28. Empson, L. (2000). Merging Professional Service Firms. Business Strategy Review, 11(2), pp. 39-46. doi:10.1111/1467-8616.00136

    [publisher’s website]

  29. Morris, T. and Empson, L. (1998). Organization and expertise: An exploration of knowledge bases and the management of accounting and consulting firms. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 23(5-6), pp. 609-624

    [publisher’s website]

  30. Empson, L. (1994). Extended review: human resource management implications of mergers and acquisitions. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 5(3), pp. 779-783. doi:10.1080/09585199400000057

    [publisher’s website]