Associate Professor Paul Spee

Strategy & Entrp Disc. Leader

School of Business

Associate Professor

School of Business

+61 7 334 68150

p.spee@business.uq.edu.au

Room 641, Sir Llew Edwards Building (14), St. Lucia Campus

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Researcher biography

Paul is a leading scholar in strategy and qualitative research. His research reflects his passion to identify the relevance of theory in practice, and how practice can inform theory. He has been part of and leading several research teams, in the context of entrepreneurship, health, reinsurance, telecommunication and the petrochemical industry.

His research is at the forefront of theory development, in particular strategy-as-practice and advances qualitative research methodology. His work appeared in a number of top-tier journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science and Organisation Studies amongst others.

Paul’s work has made an impact to practice and academe. Based on a global ethnography of reinsurance trading, his book ‘Making a market for acts of God’ has been highly influential leading to contributions in the Financial Times, The Economist, ABC News - The Business and Actuaries Digital amongst others. He has been invited to contribute to webinars and several professional development workshops for instance on process research methods and on career advice for doctoral students and early career researchers. Recently, one of his published manuscripts received the Emerald Citation Award recognising the impact of his work. His work has also received several prestigious distinctions including best paper awards from the leading professional associations in business and management, the Academy of Management and the European Group of Organisation Studies.

His experience and drive to explore the relation of theory and practice is reflected in his approach to teaching. Currently, Paul delivers and oversees the strategy course in the Master of Business. Paul also delivers a popular strategy capstone course into the Medical Leadership Program.

Paul actively supervises Master thesis and doctoral students, whose work has received several awards, including the prestigious Carolyn Dexter award (awarded by the Academy of Management).

Paul has been very engaged shaping the academic profession of strategy scholarship. Currently, serves as Chair of the Strategizing, Activities and Practices (SAP) interest group in the term 2017-2018. SAP is a rapidly growing interest group within the Academy of Management, a global association. To foster debates in the academic community, Paul has organised numerous workshops and convened streams at several national and international conferences.

Paul serves as Senior Editor at Organization Studies, a leading journal included in the Financial Times 45 list. He is also an invited member of the editorial board serving Long Range Planning, a leading strategy journal, and Organizational Research Methods, the leading journal advancing innovation in research methods.

Publications

Book (1)

Book Chapters (7)

Journal Articles (22)

Conference Papers (14)

Creative Work (1)

Newspaper Articles (2)

Research Reports (3)

Book

Jarzabkowski, Paula, Bednarek, Rebecca and Spee, Paul (2015). Making a market for acts of God: the practice of risk trading in the global reinsurance industry. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Book Chapters

Spee, A. Paul (2022). Strategic management and CCO: a generative nexus. The Routledge Handbook of the Communicative Constitution of Organization. (pp. 339-353) edited by Joëlle Basque, Nicolas Bencherki and Timothy Kuhn. New York, NY, United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003224914-25

Kho, Joanna and Spee, Paul (2021). Occupations, Professions and Routine Dynamics. Cambridge Handbook of Routine Dynamics. (pp. 380-396) edited by Martha S. Feldman, Brian T. Pentland, Luciana D'Adderio, Katharina Dittrich, Claus Rerup and David Seidl. New York, NY, United States: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108993340.032

Jarzabkowski, Paula, Le, Jane and Spee, Paul (2017). Taking a strong process approach to analyzing qualitative process data. The SAGE Handbook of Process Organization Studies. (pp. 237-253) edited by Ann Langley and Haridimos Tsoukas. London, United Kingdom: SAGE.

Jarzabkowski, Paula, Bednarek, Rebecca and Spee, Paul (2016). The role of artifacts in establishing connectivity within professional routines: a question of entanglement. Organizational routines: how they are created, maintained and changed. (pp. 117-139) edited by Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Glaus Rerup, Ann Langley and Haridimos Tsoukas. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Spee, Paul (2015). Creating a vision and mission statement for Unico. Exploring strategic change. (pp. 140-140) edited by Julia Balogun, Veronica Hope Hailey and Stefanie Gustafsson. London, United Kingdom: Pearson.

Le, Jane and Spee, Paul (2015). The role of materiality in the practice of strategy. Cambridge handbook of strategy as practice. (pp. 582-597) edited by Damon Golsorkhi, Linda Rouleau, David Seidl and Eero Vaara. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CCO9781139681032.034

Jarzabkowski, Paula, Smets Michael and Spee, Paul (2012). Leveraging relationships to get ready for change. Ready for change? : transition through turbulence to reformation and transformation. (pp. 165-184) edited by Cora Lynn Heimer Rathbone. Basomgstple: Palgrave MacMillan. doi: 10.1057/9781137008404

Journal Articles

Spee, Paul, Kho, Joanna, Jenkins, Anna and Jarzabkowski, Paula (2024). Routine formation as a layered process. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 88, 203-220. doi: 10.1108/s0733-558x20240000088010

Mahringer, Christian A., Pentland, Brian T., Renzl, Birgit, Sele, Kathrin and Spee, Paul (2024). Routine dynamics: organizing in a world in flux. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 88, 1-15. doi: 10.1108/S0733-558X20240000088001

Mishra, Archana, Newey, Lance and Spee, Paul (2024). Greatest good for the greatest number – the role of managers’ ethical meaning-making and subjective wellbeing complexity. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-23. doi: 10.1007/s10551-024-05748-2

Harvey, William S. and Spee, Andreas Paul (2023). Walking the tightrope of academic and practitioner expectations in field research. Management Learning, 55 (5), 769-789. doi: 10.1177/13505076231213176

Fourie, Jaco, Höllerer, Markus A., Dwyer, Graham and Spee, Paul (2023). Insights for Organizational Scholarship from Documentaries on the Australian ‘Black Summer’ Bushfires. Organization Studies, 45 (3), 479-482. doi: 10.1177/01708406231182766

Anesa, Mattia, Spee, Andreas Paul, Gillespie, Nicole and Petani, Fabio James (2022). Reassessing moral legitimacy in times of instability. Journal of Management Studies, 61 (3), 857-887. doi: 10.1111/joms.12889

Lounsbury, Michael, Anderson, Deborah A. and Spee, Paul (2021). On practice and institution. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 70, 1-28. doi: 10.1108/s0733-558x20200000070011

Jarzabkowski, Paula, Bednarek, Rebecca, Kilminster, Wendy and Spee, Paul (2021). An integrative approach to investigating longstanding organisational phenomena; opportunities for practice theorists and historians. Business History, 65 (3), 1-9. doi: 10.1080/00076791.2021.1906227

Wenzel, Matthias, Danner-Schröder, Anja and Spee, A. Paul (2020). Dynamic capabilities?: unleashing their dynamics through a practice perspective on organizational routines. Journal of Management Inquiry, 30 (4), 105649262091654-406. doi: 10.1177/1056492620916549

Kho, Joanna, Spee, Andreas Paul and Gillespie, Nicole (2019). Enacting relational expertise to change professional routines in technology-mediated service settings. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 61, 191-213. doi: 10.1108/s0733-558x20190000061010

Anesa, Mattia, Gillespie, Nicole, Spee, A. Paul and Sadiq, Kerrie (2019). The legitimation of corporate tax minimization. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 75, 17-39. doi: 10.1016/j.aos.2018.10.004

Anesa, Mattia, Chalkias, Konstantinos, Jarzabkowski, Paula and Spee, Andreas Paul (2019). Practicing capitals across fields: extending Bourdieu to study inter-field dynamics. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 65B, 129-142. doi: 10.1108/s0733-558x2019000065b010

Spee, Paul and Jarzabkowski, Paula (2017). Agreeing on what? Creating joint accounts of strategic change. Organization Science, 28 (1), 152-176. doi: 10.1287/orsc.2016.1105

Spee, Paul, Jarzabkowski, Paula and Smets, Michael (2016). The influence of routine interdependence and skillful accomplishment on the coordination of standardizing and customizing. Organization Science, 27 (3), 759-781. doi: 10.1287/orsc.2016.1050

Smets, Michael, Jarzabkowski, Paula, Burke, Gary T. and Spee, Paul (2015). Reinsurance Trading in Lloyd's of London: balancing conflicting-yet-complementary logics in practice. Academy of Management Journal, 58 (3), 932-970. doi: 10.5465/amj.2012.0638

Jarzabkowski, Paula, Burke, Gary and Spee, Paul (2015). Constructing spaces for strategic work: a multimodal perspective. British Journal of Management, 26 (Supplement S1), S26-S47. doi: 10.1111/1467-8551.12082

Smets, Michael, Burke, Gary, Jarzabkowski, Paula and Spee, Paul (2014). Charting new territory for organizational ethnography: insights from a team-based video ethnography. Journal of Organizational Ethnography, 3 (1), 10-26. doi: 10.1108/JOE-12-2012-0056

Jarzabkowski, Paula, Spee, Andreas Paul and Smets, Michael (2013). Material artifacts: practices for doing strategy with 'stuff'. European Management Journal, 31 (1), 41-54. doi: 10.1016/j.emj.2012.09.001

Jarzabkowski, Paula, Smets, Michael, Bednarek, Rebecca, Burke, Gary and Spee, Paul (2013). Institutional ambidexterity: leveraging institutional complexity in practice. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 39 B, 37-61. doi: 10.1108/S0733-558X(2013)0039AB015

Spee, A. Paul and Jarzabkowski, Paula (2011). Strategic planning as communicative process. Organization Studies, 32 (9), 1217-1245. doi: 10.1177/0170840611411387

Spee, Andreas Paul and Jarzabkowski, Paula (2009). Strategy tools as boundary objects. Strategic Organization, 7 (2), 223-232. doi: 10.1177/1476127009102674

Jarzabkowski, Paula and Spee, Andreas Paul (2009). Strategy-as-practice: a review and future directions for the field. International Journal of Management Reviews, 11 (1), 69-95. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2370.2008.00250.x

Conference Papers

Kho, Joanna, Jenkins, Anna and Spee, Paul (2021). Routine emergence, selection and persistence: How entrepreneurs manage their business models in dynamic environments. 37th European Group for Organizational Studies Colloquium, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 8-10 July 2021.

Spee, Paul, Kho, Joanna and Jenkins, Anna (2021). Forming new routines. 37th European Group for Organizational Studies, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 8-10 July 2021.

Kho, Joanna, Spee, A. Paul and Gillespie, Nicole (2019). Replicating Routines through ICTs: Enacting Complementary Patterns of Augmentation and Adjustment. 79th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Boston, MA United States, 9-13 August 2019. Briarcliff Manor, NY United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/AMBPP.2019.12779abstract

Kho, Joanna, Spee, A. Paul and Gillespie, Nicole (2019). Routine Disruption and Integration: Enacting Complementary Patterns of Augmentation and Adjustment through Coordination. 35th European Group for Organizational Studies Colloquium, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 4-6 July 2019.

Eden, Rebekah, Akhlaghpour, Saeed, Spee, Paul, Staib, Andrew, Sullivan, Clair and Burton-Jones, Andrew (2018). Unpacking the Complexity of Consistency: Insights from a Grounded Theory Study of the Effective Use of Electronic Medical Records. 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Hawaii, United States, 3-6 January 2018. Hawaii, United States: Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. doi: 10.24251/hicss.2018.381

Kho, Joanna, Gillespie, Nicole and Spee, A. Paul (2018). Enacting professional competence at a distance: A case of reconfiguration and transformation to deliver telegeriatric services. 34th European Group for Organizational Studies Colloquium, Tallinn, Estonia, 5-7 July 2018.

Kho, Joanna, Spee, A. Paul and Gillespie, Nicole (2017). Recreating routines in virtual settings: A study of contextual change and adaptation. 33rd European Group for Organizational Studies Colloquium, Copenhagen, Denmark, 6-8 July 2017.

Kho, Joanna Maria, Spee, A. Paul and Gray, Leonard Charles (2016). Enacting professional competence at a distance: a case of telemedicine. 76th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Anaheim, California, 5-9 August 2016. Briarcliff Manor, NY, United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/ambpp.2016.10250abstract

Anesa, Mattia, Gillespie, Nicole, Spee, Paul and Sadiq, Kerrie (2016). Field-level legitimization of corporate tax minimization. 76th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Anaheim, CA USA, August, 2016. Briarcliff Manor, NY USA: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/AMBPP.2016.195

Kho, Joanna, Gillespie, Nicole and Spee, A. Paul (2015). The practice of medicine at a distance: Telemedicine adoption in Australian residential aged care facilities. 31st European Group for Organizational Studies Colloquium, Athens, Greece, 2-4 July 2015.

Anesa, Mattia, Sadiq, Kerrie, Gillespie, Nicole and Spee, Paul (2015). Is ‘corporate tax maximisation’ an unthinkable?. 27th Australasian Tax Teachers’ Association Conference, Adelaide, SA Australia, 19-21 January 2015.

Spee, Andreas Paul, Jarzabkowski, Paula and Smets, Michael (2012). Material artifacts: Practices for doing strategy with 'Stuff'. Academy of Management 2012 Annual Meeting, AOM 2012, Boston, MA United States, 3-7 August 2012. Briarcliff Manor, NY, United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/AMBPP.2012.250

Smets, Michael, Jarzabkowski, Paula, Burke, Gary T. and Spee, Paul (2012). Reinsurance trading in Lloyd's of London: Balancing conflicting-yet-complementary logics in practice. 72nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2012, Boston, MA, 7-10 August 2012. Briarcliff Manor, NY, United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/AMBPP.2012.246

Creative Work

Jenkins, Anna and Spee, Paul (2022). Reaching crunch time: fight or fold. London, ON, Canada: Ivey Publishing.

Newspaper Articles

Anesa, Mattia, Spee, Paul and Petani, Fabio James (2023, 07 03). PwC scandal exposes flaw in expertise shaping Australia's tax system The Canberra Times

Höllerer, Markus A., Dwyer, Graham, Fourie, Jaco and Spee, Paul (2022, 05 22). In a year of endless floods, why isn’t disaster governance front and centre in the election campaign? The Conversation

Research Reports

O'Quinn, Richard, Sandberg, Jorgen and Spee, Paul (2021). Strategic decision-making at MML. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: University Of Queensland.

Hine, Damian and Spee, Paul (2017). The evolution of Bahrain's telecommunications industry. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: UQ Business School.

Jarzabkowski, Paula, Smets, Michael and Spee, Paul (2010). Trading risk: The value of relationships, models and face-to-face interaction in the global reinsurance market. Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom: Aston Business School.