Contact Dr Mehdi Safavi
- Tel: +44 (0) 1234 758324
- Email: Mehdi.Safavi@cranfield.ac.uk
- ORCID
- Google Scholar
- ResearchGate
Background
Mehdi joined Cranfield in April 2021. Prior to that, he was a member of the Strategy group at the University of Edinburgh Business School as a lecturer in Strategy and Organisation (2016-2021) and as an Early Career Fellow in Strategy and International Business (2012-2016). He holds a PhD degree in Management from the University of Edinburgh (2014), a MSc in Information Technology Management from Shahid Beheshti University of Tehran, Iran (2009), and a BSc in Electrical Engineering, Electronics from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran (2005).
Mehdi has several years of teaching and supervision experience with numerous teaching award nominations, He has been invited to deliver guest lectures at Strathclyde Business School, UK, Chulalongkorn Business School and Thammasat Business School, Bangkok, Thailand, the University of Brasilia, Brazil, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, the University of Tehran, Iran, and the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal. He also has a recorded talk on Henry Stewart Talks Ltd, London (https://hstalks.com/t/3019/mergers-and-acquisitions-ma-a-process-perspective/?business).
Research opportunities
Mehdi is always looking for exceptional doctoral students wishing to pursue an academic career at the intersection of Strategy and Organisation Studies. Current doctoral opportunities revolve around the study of change and inertia in organisations.
Current activities
Mehdi's current research focus is on organizational change and inertia, studied through the lens of organizational routines (Routine Dynamics) during various internal and external change initiatives. The context of his current research projects varies from the Credit Rating Agencies and Financial Crisis of 2007-8, to the training routines at the Royal Air Force, to Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) in the UK higher Education, to the fire safety check routines and Grenfell Tower disaster, and to the resource mobilisation processes in the legalisation of marijuana in Uruguay. He is also interested in knowledge and capability combination and (re)creation through Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A).
Clients
As an Organisational Change Management consultant, Mehdi helps managers and executives think through critical issues that underlie the management of change and organisational inertia in their organisations. He has worked with a wide range of public and private sector organizations, including British firms, European universities, and SMEs and incubators from Latin America and the MENA region.
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Glaser VL, Omidvar O & Safavi M (2023) Predictive models can lose the plot. Here's how to keep them on track., MIT Sloan Management Review, 64 (4).
- Omidvar O, Safavi M & Glaser VL (2023) Algorithmic routines and dynamic inertia: How organizations avoid adapting to changes in the environment, Journal of Management Studies, 60 (2) 313-345.
- Safavi M (2021) Advancing post-merger integration studies: A study of a persistent organizational routine and embeddedness in broader societal context, Long Range Planning, 54 (6) Article No. 102071 1-20.
- Safavi M, Omidvar O & Glaser V (2020) Dynamic inertia: How organizations avoid adapting to changes in the environment, Academy of Management Proceedings, 2020 (1).
- Safavi M & Håkanson L (2018) Advancing theory on knowledge governance in universities: The case study of a higher education merger, Studies in Higher Education, 43 (3) 500-523.
- Safavi M & Omidvar O (2016) Resist or comply: The power dynamics of organisational routines during merger, British Journal of Management, 27 (3) 550-566.
Conference Papers
- Carlson E & Safavi M (2022) Unlocking value through strategic corporate venturing: Proposing a new model for earlier entry through collaboration and partnerships. In: British Academy of Management (BAM) 36th Annual Conference 2022, University of Manchester, 31 August - 2 September 2022.
- Alvarenga A & Safavi M (2022) Expanding organizational routines while preserving professional identity: introducing female officers into combat roles in the Royal Air Force. In: British Academy of Management (BAM) 36th Annual Conference 2022, University of Manchester, 31 August - 2 September 2022.
- Alvarenga A & Safavi M (2021) Responding to unexpected events: flexing established routines in the Royal Air Force. In: EGOS 37th Colloquium, 2021, Virtual Event: Host: Vrije University Amsterdam, 8-10 July 2021.