Academy Fellow

Impact profile

Jörgen Sandberg is Emeritus Professor at the University of Queensland Business School, Research Professor at Lund University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University and Warwick Business School. He is co-founder of the international Philosophy and Organization Studies (PHILOS) conference and serves on the editorial boards of Academy of Management Review, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Organization Studies. Over several decades, he has made sustained, internationally recognized contributions to management and organization studies and the broader social sciences, particularly in research methodology, competence and learning, theory and theory development, philosophy and organization studies, and bridging theory and business practice.

Research methodology 

Sandberg’s methodological work has had a lasting international influence on management and organization studies and beyond. He introduced phenomenography as a qualitative methodology in management and developed new criteria for assessing validity and reliability in qualitative research. Most notably, with Mats Alvesson, he developed the Problematization Methodology for generating more interesting and impactful research. The methodology has been widely cited and adopted by researchers and editors of leading management journals.

Competence and learning in organizations 

One of Sandberg’s most significant contributions is an original theory of competence that has transformed how scholars and practitioners understand and study competence in organizations. His work has generated a distinct “school of thought,” been published in prominent journals, and attracted interest from major international companies, including AstraZeneca, Ericsson, Hay Group, MinterEllison, and Volvo Car Corporation.

Theory and theory development 

Sandberg’s work on theory and theory development has made a lasting international contribution. With Tsoukas, he reconfigured sensemaking theory in an article awarded the 2020 James G. March Prize. Marketing Theory subsequently devoted a special commentary issue to his work on meanings of theory. He has also helped establish Practice Theory within management through Warwick Business School’s international summer school and by co-founding UQ’s 80-member Practice and Process Studies research hub. 

Philosophy and organization studies 

Sandberg has played a significant role in advancing the use of philosophy in organization studies to generate more impactful research. Most notably, with Tsoukas, he initiated and developed the international Philosophy and Organization Studies (PHILOS) conference. He also served as Guest Editor of a 2024 Organization Studies special issue on Philosophy and Organization Studies.

Society and business practice 

Cutting across these four areas is Sandberg’s longstanding research on bridging theory and business practice. This work seeks to move management research beyond scholarly impact by developing knowledge that also informs organizational practice and contributes to business and society more broadly. 

Sandberg is regularly invited worldwide to deliver keynotes, research seminars, workshops, and panel presentations on generating more relevant and impactful research through problematization, phenomena construction, theory development, and research methodology. These include major international conferences such as ANZAM and the Academy of Management, international summer schools at Warwick and KIN, and seminars at leading universities, including Cambridge, Melbourne, Sydney, Warwick, and Lund.

• Emeritus Professor, UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Australia (2024–present).
• Research Professor in Business Administration, Lund University, Sweden (2024–present).
• Professor of Management and Organisation, UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Australia (2011–2024).
• Distinguished Research Environment Professor of Organizational Behavior, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK (2017–2021).
• Reader in Management and Organisation, UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Australia (2003–2010).
• Senior Lecturer, School of Management, The University of Queensland, Australia (2000–2003).
• Associate Professor, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden (1999–2000).
• Research Fellow, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden (1994–1999).

Honours and Distinguished Appointments

• Honorary Professor, College of Business and Economics, Australian National University, Australia.
• Honorary Professor, Macquarie University, Australia.
• Honorary Professor, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK.
• Distinguished Research Environment Professor of Organizational Behavior, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK.
• Visiting Research Professor in Business Administration, Lund University, Sweden.

Awards 

• Academy of Management Review Outstanding Reviewer Award
• 2024 AMA–EBSCO–RRBM Award for Responsible Research in Marketing, for the co-authored article “How Do I Carry All This Now? Understanding Consumer Resistance to Sustainability Interventions,” Journal of Marketing.
• Wiley Top-Cited Article Award (2023), with Mats Alvesson for “Meanings of Theory: Clarifying Theory through Typification,” Journal of Management Studies.
• James G. March Prize (2020), with Haridimos Tsoukas, for the best article published in Organization Theory: “Sensemaking Reconsidered: Towards a Broader Understanding through Phenomenology.”
• Emerald Citation of Excellence Award (2016), for “Has Management Studies Lost Its Way? Ideas for More Imaginative and Innovative Research,” Journal of Management Studies.
• UQ Business School Research Excellence Award.

1. Sandberg, J., Dall’Alba, G., & Stephens. (2026). Things at work: how things contribute to performing work. Journal of Management Studies, 63: 1155-1191. 

2. Alvesson, M., & Sandberg, J. (2024). The Art of Phenomena Construction: A Framework for Coming Up with Research Phenomena beyond ‘the Usual Suspects’. Journal of Management Studies, 61: 1737-1765.  

3. Alvesson, M. & Sandberg, J. (2024). Generating research questions. Doing interesting research, 2nd Edition. London: Sage. 

4. Sandberg, J., & Alvesson, J. (2021). Meanings of theory: clarifying theory through typification. Journal of Management Studies, 58: 487-516.  

5. Sandberg, J., & Tsoukas, H. (2020). Sensemaking reconsidered: Towards a broader understanding through phenomenology. Organization Theory, 1: 1–34.