Are you looking for research funding for your historical project in business and management? Do you dream of getting a big grant to do that ambitious project you have been thinking about for a long time? Join us for our next Management & Business History SIG webinar with Dr Marie Huber, University of Marburg, Germany, who has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Starter Grant in African Business History.
ERC grants are some of the largest, most prestigious research grants offered by the European Commission and successful applicants can put together research teams to pursue a five-year research project of their own design. Extremely competitive and highly sought after, few economic and business historians have successfully bid for an ERC.
Marie's interdisciplinary project, MAGIC, investigates the long-term history of factories built by the multinational company Bata in Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe in the late colonial period and which are still operating today. This research addresses the under-studied area of industrialisation and manufacturing in Africa, particularly the lack of comprehensive understanding of the local impact of these factories, and the mechanisms behind their influence. The project’s innovative approach combines historical anthropology, geography, global history, and quantitative economic analysis to bridge the gap between micro-level factory studies, meso-level political and business histories, and macro-level development scholarship.
By focusing on these Bata factories, MAGIC aims to explain how manufacturing facilities have both shaped and been shaped by colonial and postcolonial contexts, adapted to and transformed local communities and environments, while giving rise to competing visions of modernization and economic development, and show what measurable impacts these factories have had on local economic indicators.
Join us for Marie's talk about how her strategies and advice around gaining grant funding from international funders, and how to start thinking about those really big grant applications.
Provider Information
BAM Management and Business History Special Interest GroupWho Should Attend?
The event speaks to Sections A1 and A2, as detailed in the BAM Framework.
Speakers
Dr Marie Huber
Dr Marie Huber is a historian by training, specializing in global economic history and the history of development, as well as postcolonial business history. The role of Africa and Asia in the context of post-colonial development policy is particularly important to her, and she has in-depth regional knowledge of Ethiopia and West Africa. She writes, researches, manages and teaches, and is a mother of three.
Currently, Marie is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Economic and Social History at Philipps-Universität in Marburg. She is a passionate advocate of structural reforms that will make academia a better working environment for everyone. Marie is dedicated to promoting the visibility of women experts across diverse backgrounds and engaging in research communication through various platforms, including social media. She loves thinking about the way we work and exploring innovative approaches to research management and practice.
Facilitator
Professor Stephanie Decker
Stephanie Decker, FAcSS, is Professor of Strategy and Deputy Dean at Birmingham Business School. She has contributed substantially to interdisciplinary research that draws on historical knowledge to expand and problematise management knowledge.
This research stream was recognised in the REF 2022 panel report for its contribution to the theoretical sophistication of business history. Her work spans methodological and theoretical issues, as well as empirical research on the role of international business in global contexts that are often underrepresented in business research, such as Africa. She has been joint editor-in-chief of Business History since 2020.
As co-Vice Chair for Research & Publications at the British Academy of Management, she has developed BAM’s Open Access strategy to support the continued excellence of our journals, British Journal of Management and International Journal of Management Reviews, as well as supporting the further development of the BAM research grants scheme.
She co-authored the BAM Guide to Decolonizing the Business School Curriculum with the BAM Vice Chair for Equality, Diversity, Inclusivity & Respect and continues to champion interdisciplinary research in business, management and beyond
Dr Nicholas Wong
Dr Nicholas Wong is currently Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University and Deputy Convenor of the Responsible Business Research Group.
Nick is Associate Editor of Business History, Editorial Board Member at Academy of Management Perspectives and Editor of SAGE Business Cases in Business History. He is also Co-Chair of the Management and Business History Division at the British Academy of Management and Treasurer of the Association of Business Historians.
Nick's research is focused on Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Business History and Historical Organisation Studies with numerous studies published on topics including: social entrepreneurship, ethical business practices, modern slavery and family business studies. He has published in, amongst others, Academy of Management Perspectives, Business History, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Journal of Management Inquiry, and International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Benefits of attending
- Get inspired to think about how your research ideas may get funded;
- Understand how to prepare for European Research Council funding applications;
- Plan for a bigger grant application.
Contact
Please contact the BAM Office at [email protected] with any queries.
Event Fee
BAM Members and Student Members: Free
Non-Members: £60
If you are booking multiple paid events as a Non-Member, it may be cheaper for you to purchase a BAM Membership as nearly all BAM Events are free or at a discounted rate for Members.
For more information about Becoming a BAM Member, please visit BAM Membership
Registration closes on 10th December 2025 at 23:59 GMT