Professor Eric Knight is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research – Enterprise & Engagement) at the University of Sydney and a Professor in innovation and strategic management at the University of Sydney Business School. He is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Oxford.
Eric is a leading researcher in the fields of strategic management and economic geography. His work focuses on how organisations formulate and implement strategies, with a specific focus on the communication challenges associated with enabling strategic change, regional innovation, and social inclusion. His research has appeared in top-tier international journals including Strategic Management Journal, Organisation Studies, Journal of Economic Geography, Economic Geography, and Regional Studies. He is a Rhodes Scholar and has held research grants with the Australian Research Council and industry. His work has received Best Paper awards from the Academy of Management in North America, and the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management. His academic research underpins two books engaging a wider audience on the topic of socio-technical decision making under complexity: Reframe (2012), and Why we argue about climate change (2013).
Eric teaches strategy from a design thinking perspective in the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum, and leads the capstone course of the University of Sydney Business School MBA program. His novel approach to research and teaching, known as Design Strategy, have resulted in commercially funded partnerships with Swiss Re, Optus-Singtel, and uBank. He has been awarded the Dean’s Citation for Outstanding Teaching several times and is currently supervising several PhD students. Eric’s service includes membership of Academic Board and the UE Research Committee at the University of Sydney. He is a Rep-at-Large in the Strategy Practice interest group of the Strategic Management Society. As well as contributing to several industry-embedded research networks, he serves as a company director on two technology-led ventures. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Prior to academia, he worked for several years with the Boston Consulting Group for industry and government clients in Australia and Asia.
