DrLinda Dowling-Hetherington

My research agenda in the HRM field has sought to focus on projects that are collaborative and sometimes interdisciplinary, with an emphasis on evidence-based HR and management practices.  The largest, and most impactful, research project I have been involved in – the CAREWELL project – examines the intersection of work and family, with a particular focus on the experiences of working family carers.  This was a collaborative project with team members from UCD (School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems and College of Business), DCU (School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health) and Family Carers Ireland.  The overall aim of the research was to examine how family carers can be supported to balance work with care and explored how health and self-care could be promoted, through the development of an evidence-informed workplace programme.  The project adopted a sequential research design comprising three integrated work packages.  Phase 1 synthesised the extant national and international evidence on reconciling work with care, with a focus on the health and wellbeing of working family carers. Phase 2 adopted a qualitative research methodology and explored line managers’ and family carers’ experiences of reconciling work with care and examined working family carers’ psychological wellbeing and physical health, as well as the factors that enabled or prevented them from engaging in health and self-care behaviours. Phase 3 involved designing, developing and determining the feasibility of a wellbeing programme that promoted the health and wellbeing of working family carers.  While the funding from the Health Research Board has come to an end, the research team will continue to work together for some time to come.  

My most recent HR research project, which is in collaboration with Dr Maria Belizon (ICADE Universidad Pontificia Comillas), commenced in late 2023. In this qualitative research, we are examining the role of continuous improvement in global HR transformation.  HR transformation is challenging for most organisations but for multinationals it is even more so given the complexity of differences in jurisdictions, culture, practices, systems, time zones, etc. coupled with the need for scaling up and streamlining globally.  The research is exploring a very novel topic – i.e. how a HR Operations team has adopted a continuous improvement mindset and methodology to undergo a sustained global HR transformation over time.  We hope to address three research questions: how does continuous improvement shape global HR transformation in multinational companies?; how does a global HR transformation team adopt and legitimise a continuous improvement mindset and methodology to drive their strategic goals in their multinational organisation?; and how does analytics and metrics support continuous improvement in global HR transformation?  The research aims to bring to the forefront not only the elements that have enabled, accelerated and, perhaps, delayed much needed transformation, but also the work undertaken by the global HR Operations team members to bring these changes about.  

In addition to my research in the HRM field, I have regularly sought to engage with, and contribute to, the scholarship of teaching and learning, almost always through collaborative research with colleagues across business disciplines.  Some of these research projects have overlapped with aspects of talent development and highlight my interest in how business schools prepare graduates for the world of work.  Some of my recent research has focused on how business students are responding to, and driving, the use of AI in their education and how they are learning to negotiate in the age of AI (a collaboration with Dr Virginia Stewart, Management Subject Area, UCD); how mentoring can help graduate students develop relationship-building skills critical for success in today’s world of work (a collaboration with Dr Ilona Hunek, Kozminski University, Poland); and how a co-curricular programme is contributing to graduate students; leadership development (a collaboration with Dr Jacob Eisenberg, Management Subject Area, UCD). I also feel it is important to find ways to disseminate this teaching and learning scholarship with faculty across the University and College and I continue to do so through the various University and College Teaching and Learning fora (e.g. showcases, symposiums). 

Overall, my research profile to-date highlights my collaborative nature through my co-authored publications, conference papers and book chapters and reflects my commitment to interdisciplinary research, the development of solid research networks and engagement in the scholarship of teaching and learning.  I am committed to continuing to build on my research record and to exploring avenues for more public dissemination of my research.