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Benjamin Laker

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Professor
Benjamin Laker
Born
Benjamin Laker
NationalityBritish
Known forScholar
Government Advisor
Scientific career
InstitutionsHenley Business School
Birkbeck, University of London

Benjamin Laker is a former government advisor[1] turned scholar[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] currently serving as Professor of Leadership and Director of Impact and Global Engagement[11] at Henley Business School, University of Reading and Visiting Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London.[12][13][14][15] His work on Economic Inequality and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance informs public policy, law and government inquiry.[16]

Career

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Laker joined Henley Business School in 2018 as a Professor of Leadership. Soon thereafter he began writing for The Washington Post. In 2019, after reporting on the United Kingdom general election, Laker left the Post for Forbes.[17] Once at Forbes, he established a column on economics and politics.[18] One year later Laker was asked to advise the British HM Treasury and attend the United States House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth in order to provide legislative recommendations to the United States Congress and the Biden-Harris administration.[19][20] Following these appointments Benjamin joined Birkbeck, University of London as a Visiting Fellow. Soon thereafter, he became Henley Business School's Postgraduate Research Director and Director of Impact and Global Engagement.[11]

Seminal work and reception

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In 2016, having spent six years[21] studying hundreds of academy schools[22] located in the United Kingdom placed into special measures by Ofsted, Laker published How To Turn Around a Failing School.[23] Laker’s paper concluded that Britain's education system was systematically failing and required urgent reform, specifically, the way that academy schools measured performance, implemented governance, and were held accountable by the Department for Education and Ofsted. The Times,[24] The Daily Telegraph,[25] The Independent,[26] The Guardian[27] and The Atlantic[28] positively reviewed Laker’s paper and soon thereafter, Britain’s Conservative government dispatched Neil Carmichael, Chair of the Education Select Committee, to lead a public inquiry into the performance, accountability and governance of academy schools.[29] Laker then published a sequel paper titled The One Type of Leader Who Can Turn Around a Failing School.[30] Laker’s paper concluded that unethical school leaders were frequently rewarded with orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom because Britain's education system encouraged Machiavellianism. Laker's paper received positive reviews from The Times[31][32] and BBC News,[33] and was consequently debated on Newsnight[34] by Laker, Kirsty Wark and Michael Wilshaw, Chief Inspector of Schools and Head of Ofsted. Britain's Conservative government responded by publishing a white paper[35][36] and creating new standards of ethics for school leaders to adhere to.[37] One year later, Laker published a threequel paper titled Research: How The Best School Leaders Create Enduring Change,[38] which proposed reforming the way that school leaders were trained. Laker's method to do so, which received endorsement from Columbia University,[39] was positively reviewed by Tim Leunig, Chief Scientific Advisor and Chief Analyst at the Department for Education.[40] Laker was subsequently invited to present his method to the Conservative Party Conference alongside Britain's Minister of State for School Standards, Nick Gibb.[41] Soon thereafter, Gibb created a national qualification for school leaders to obtain.[42] Laker was subsequently honored by Thinkers50, the global ranking of management thinkers, for his seminal contribution to the education sector.[22][43]

In 2019 Laker published Europe's first empirical study of the four-day workweek.[44] Laker’s paper, co-authored with Thomas Roulet, and titled Will the 4-Day workweek take hold in Europe? garnered critical acclaim from CNBC,[45] The Times,[46] The New York Times,[47] and The New Yorker for accurately foretelling the continent's widespread adoption of shorter working weeks.[48] In 2021, Laker published Too Proud To Lead, a Bloomsbury Publishing[49] title on corporate and political collapses and scandals which received critical receptions from the Daily Telegraph[50] the Financial Times[51] and Sky News.[50]

One year later, Laker established the concept of ‘meeting-free days’ by publishing MIT Sloan Management Review’s most widely-read paper of 2022[52] titled The Surprising Impact of Meeting-Free Days. Soon thereafter, Laker published a sequel paper in Harvard Business Review which explained how adopting two meeting-free days per week significantly increases organisational productivity and employee engagement.[53] Laker’s papers garnered critical acclaim from Inc,[54] The Wall Street Journal,[55] Time, the Newstatesman,[56] The Atlantic,[57] Fortune,[58] the Financial Times,[59]  and Psychology Today.[60] Microsoft subsequently included Laker’s 'meeting-free days' within their annual Future of Work Report.[61] Soon thereafter, SAP implemented meeting-free Fridays[62] while Salesforce adopted a meeting-free week, explaining, [Laker’s] “recent article in Harvard Business Review noted the need to change how we work.”[63]

Selected publications

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Key academic work

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  • Bolade-Ogunfodun, Y. , Soga, L. R. and Laker, B. (2022) Entwined positionality and interpretive frames of reference: an autoethnographic account. Organizational Research Methods. ISSN 1552-7425 doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/10944281221111401
  • Malik, A., Budhwar, P., Patel, C. and Laker, B. (2021) Holistic indigenous and atomistic modernity: analysing performance management in two Indian emerging market MNCs. Human Resource Management. ISSN 1099-050X doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22057
  • Hill, A., Cuthbertson, R., Brown, S. and Laker, B. (2017) Service fitness ladders: improving business performance in low cost or differentiated markets. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 37 (10). pp. 1266-1303. ISSN 0144-3577 doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-03-2016-0142
  • Mohri, S., Asgari, N., Farahini, R. Z., Bourlakis, M. and Laker, B. (2020) Fairness in hazmat routing-scheduling: a bi-objective Stackelberg game. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 140. 102006. ISSN 1366-5545 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2020.102006
  • Huang, X., Wang, X., Han, L. and Laker, B. (2022) Does sound lending infrastructure foster better financial reporting quality of SMEs? European Journal of Finance. ISSN 1466-4364 doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/1351847X.2022.2075281

Key practitioner work

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  • Laker, B., Pereira, V., Malik, A. and Soga, L. (2022) Dear Manager, you’re holding too many meetings. Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012
  • Laker, B., Pereira, V., Budhwar, P. and Malik, A. (2022) The surprising impact of meeting-free days. MIT Sloan Management Review. ISSN 1532-9194
  • Laker, B. (2022) What does the four-day workweek mean for the future of work? MIT Sloan Management Review. ISSN 1532-9194
  • Laker, B. (2021) Why companies should adopt a hub-and-spoke work model post-pandemic. MIT Sloan Management Review. ISSN 1532-9194[64]
  • Laker, B. and Roulet, T. (2019) How companies can adapt during times of political uncertainty. Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012[65]
  • Laker, B. and Roulet, T. (2019) Will the 4-Day workweek take hold in Europe? Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012[66]
  • Hill, A., Mellon, L., Laker, B. and Goddard, J. (2017) Research: how the best school leaders create enduring change. Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012[38]
  • Hill, A., Mellon, L., Laker, B. and Goddard, J. (2016) The one type of leader who can turn around a failing school. Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012[30]
  • Hill, A., Mellon, L., Goddard, J. and Laker, B. (2016) How to turn around a failing school. Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012[23]
  • Ben Laker; The benefits and risks of rehiring a boomerang employee, MIT Sloan Management Review. ISSN 1532-9194.[67]

References

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  1. ^ "Brexit Britain: The rise and fall of Britain?". TRT World.
  2. ^ Kettley, Sebastian (2018-11-28). "Bitcoin price BOMBSHELL: Experts say SELL NOW as Bitcoin to bring 'pain' for investors". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  3. ^ "School system does not reward the best head teachers". BBC News. 2016-10-20. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  4. ^ "The rise of machines sits squarely upon human shoulders". Henley. 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  5. ^ Bloomsbury.Domain.Store.Site. "Ben Laker: Bloomsbury Publishing (IN)". www.bloomsbury.com. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  6. ^ Hunt, Darren (2019-02-12). "Brexit SECURED: Professor outlines why May's deal WILL get through with NO changes". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  7. ^ "Kijana milionea aliyeamua kufanya siri utajiri wake". BBC News Swahili (in Swahili). Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  8. ^ Hill, Andrew; Chan, Wai Kwen; Jack, Andrew; Cremonezi, Leo; Stephens, Sam (2021-11-09). "Business School: Metaverse benefits, MBA event, EMBA salaries". Financial Times. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  9. ^ Tank, Aytekin (23 November 2021). "Stop Trying to Influence Your Team. Focus on This Leadership Skill Instead". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  10. ^ Clark, Dorie (2022-05-06). "How to Avoid Getting Dragged Into Meetings". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  11. ^ a b "Professor Benjamin Laker". Henley Business School. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  12. ^ PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Watching workers: Is it ethical?". PwC. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  13. ^ McRobbie, Linda Rodriguez. "Is it right or productive to watch workers?". strategy+business. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  14. ^ Kinni, Theodore. "Past performance is no guarantee of future results". strategy+business. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  15. ^ "How to succeed in global, sustainable innovation: academic and practitioner perspectives". Birkbeck, University of London. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  16. ^ "Professor Benjamin Laker". Henley Business School. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  17. ^ "Benjamin Laker". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
  18. ^ "Benjamin Laker". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  19. ^ "'I was embarrassed to tell friends about my business'". BBC News. 2020-11-20. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  20. ^ "How to create research impact by publishing managerial insights in Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review". Birkbeck, University of London. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  21. ^ "Centre for High Performance - behind the media storm". schoolsweek.co.uk. 2016-05-31. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  22. ^ a b "Ben Laker - Thinkers50". thinkers50.com. 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  23. ^ a b "How to Turn Around a Failing School". Harvard Business Review. 2016-08-05. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  24. ^ Woolcock, Nicola. "Failing academies 'pay to offload difficult children'". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  25. ^ "Unruly pupils 'excluded by failing academies to boost standards'". www.telegraph.co.uk. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  26. ^ "Academies are socially cleansing their student population". The Independent. 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  27. ^ O’Brien, Jarlath (2016-10-27). "Why are so many SEN pupils excluded from school? Because we are failing them". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  28. ^ Asmar, Melanie (2016-02-05). "In Denver, a Joyful Philosophy Led to Classroom Achievement". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  29. ^ "Multi-academy trusts inquiry launched".
  30. ^ a b Hill, Alex; Mellon, Liz; Laker, Ben; Goddard, Jules (2016-10-20). "The One Type of Leader Who Can Turn Around a Failing School". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
  31. ^ "Quick fixes for schools do more harm than good". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  32. ^ Correspondent, Nicola Woolcock, Education. "'Overpaid superheads harming schools'". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2022-07-23. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ "School system does not reward the best head teachers". BBC News. 2016-10-20. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  34. ^ Best head teachers get paid least - BBC Newsnight, 21 October 2016, retrieved 2022-07-23
  35. ^ "6 ways to turn around a failing school". schoolsweek.co.uk. 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  36. ^ "School-Home Support | 'Educational Excellence Everywhere': Government releases first education white paper since 2010". School-Home Support. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  37. ^ "Headteachers' standards 2020". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  38. ^ a b Hill, Alex; Mellon, Liz; Laker, Ben; Goddard, Jules (2017-09-14). "Research: How the Best School Leaders Create Enduring Change". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
  39. ^ "Klingbrief Article - In Praise of Architects from Vol 65, November 2016". www.klingensteincenter.org. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  40. ^ Part 1: Motivation and method - Alex Hill (CfHP) & Tim Leunig (DfE) discuss HBR research, 22 March 2017, retrieved 2022-07-23
  41. ^ "Teaching the Teachers: Putting talent management into the schools system". Policy Exchange. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  42. ^ "National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership (NPQSL)". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  43. ^ "Leadership Professor in Thinkers50 Radar". Henley Business School. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  44. ^ Laker, Ben; Roulet, Thomas (2019-08-05). "Will the 4-Day Workweek Take Hold in Europe?". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  45. ^ Taylor, Chloe (2019-06-03). "Brits back a four-day working week claiming they could do the same job, study shows". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  46. ^ Correspondent, Arthi Nachiappan, Economics. "Companies switching to four-day week save £18,000 a year". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2022-07-23. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  47. ^ Delaney, Kevin J. (2021-11-23). "Is the Four-Day Workweek Finally Within Our Grasp?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  48. ^ Joly, Josephine (2022-06-06). "Which countries have embraced a 4-day workweek and how's it going?". euronews. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  49. ^ bloomsbury.com. "Too Proud to Lead". Bloomsbury. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  50. ^ a b bloomsbury.com. "Too Proud to Lead". Bloomsbury. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  51. ^ "FT business books: June edition". Financial Times. 2021-06-08. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  52. ^ MacDonald, Ally (5 July 2022). "The 10 Most Popular Articles in 2022 (So Far)". MIT Sloan Management Review. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  53. ^ Laker, Ben; Pereira, Vijay; Malik, Ashish; Soga, Lebene (2022-03-09). "Dear Manager, You're Holding Too Many Meetings". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  54. ^ Stillman, Jessica (2022-01-24). "How to Boost Productivity at Work by 73 Percent: Ban Meetings 3 Days a Week". Inc.com. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  55. ^ Clark, Dorie (2022-05-06). "How to Avoid Getting Dragged Into Meetings". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  56. ^ "It's confirmed: meetings are a waste of time". New Statesman. 2022-03-25. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  57. ^ Thompson, Derek (2022-04-04). "This Is What Happens When There Are Too Many Meetings". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  58. ^ "A CEO's key to success: Ban as many meetings as possible". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  59. ^ "Cut the meetings, make more friends". Financial Times. 2022-07-18. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  60. ^ "Scheduling Another Meeting May Backfire | Psychology Today United Kingdom". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  61. ^ "Microsoft New Future of Work Report 2022" (PDF). Microsoft.
  62. ^ "SAP Commences Trials For Meeting-free Fridays". Tech Newsday. 2022-05-09. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  63. ^ "Can You Work Without Meetings? Salesforce Is Trying for Another Week". The 360 Blog from Salesforce. 2022-06-21. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  64. ^ Laker, Ben (24 May 2021). "Why Companies Should Adopt a Hub-and-Spoke Work Model Post-Pandemic". MIT Sloan Management Review. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  65. ^ Laker, Benjamin; Roulet, Thomas (2019-02-22). "How Companies Can Adapt During Times of Political Uncertainty". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  66. ^ Laker, Benjamin; Roulet, Thomas (2019-08-05). "Will the 4-Day Workweek Take Hold in Europe?". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  67. ^ Laker, Ben (2022-02-21). "The benefits and risks of rehiring a boomerang employee". MIT Sloan Management Review. ISSN 1532-9194.
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