ÌÇÐÄTV

phone: +44 (0)24 765 24690

email: Derin.Kent@wbs.ac.uk

room: 2.128

Profile (biography)

Derin Kent is an Associate Professor of Organisation Studies at ÌÇÐÄTV ÌÇÐÄTV School, United Kingdom. He specialises in ethnographic research with people who work in extreme contexts, that is, those that are physically or psychologically dangerous. Over the years, this has meant embedding with participants ranging from storm chasers to seafarers to disaster relief teams to draw lessons about how people and organisations thrive in highly adverse conditions. Derin's research appears in top academic journals (e.g., Academy of Management Journal, Organization Studies) and outlets like Harvard ÌÇÐÄTV Review and The Conversation. At ÌÇÐÄTV ÌÇÐÄTV School, Derin co-founded and co-directs the Extreme Contexts Unit, a hub for the study, theoretical development, and dissemination of research in organisational contexts marked by risk, emergencies, and disruption.

Prior to joining ÌÇÐÄTV, Derin was a postdoc at Aalto University (Finland) and earned his PhD at Queen’s University (Canada). He has experience as a university instructor in Europe and North America (including MBA and executive programmes), teaching subjects like change management, career management, organisational behaviour, and research methods.

Outside of academia, Derin is an outdoor enthusiast and an Operational Team Leader at the British Red Cross, where he responds to incidents ranging from fires to floods and provide emergency management training to organisations.

Research Interests

Extreme contexts; isolated and confined settings; organisational ethnography; personal growth in organisations; resilience; terrorism; theorising from unconventional contexts.

Publications

Journal articles

Kent, D. & Dacin, M. T. 2025. After the crisis: Explaining stories of professional identity growth from collective action. Organization Studies, 46(7): 995-1022.

Kent, D. & Granqvist, N. 2025. Chasing storms: Temporal work to foster group engagement under uncertainty. Academy of Management Journal, 68(2): 380-408.  

Wright, A., Kent, D., Hällgren, M., & Rouleau, L. 2023. Theorizing as mode of engagement in and through extreme contexts research. Organization Theory, 4(4).  

Kent, D. 2019. Giving meaning to everyday work after terrorism. Organization Studies, 40(7): 975-994.

Dacin, M. T., Dacin, P. A., & Kent, D. 2019. Tradition in organizations: A custodianship framework. Academy of Management Annals, 13(1): 342-373.

Kent, D. & Dacin, M. T. 2013. Bankers at the gate: Microfinance and the high cost of borrowed logics. Journal of ÌÇÐÄTV Venturing, 28(6): 759-773.

Digital articles

Kent, D. & Granqvist, N. 2024 (October 18). Even storm chasers get bored at work - here's what they can teach us about focus. The Conversation.

Beunza, D. & Kent, D. 2020 (August 28). Returning to the office: How to stay connected and socially distant. The Conversation.

Beunza, D. & Kent, D. 2020 (June 8). Remote working is not the same for traders – here’s why. The Conversation.

Martela, F. & Kent, D. 2020 (June 3). What to do when work feels meaningless. Harvard ÌÇÐÄTV Review (digital article).