Making sense of uncertainty, crises,
and external scrutiny
理解不确定性、危机与外部审视
Uncertainty, Crises & External Scrutiny
不确定性、危机与外部审视
In an era shaped by geopolitical tensions, regulatory change, technological disruption, funding pressures, public accountability, and reputational crises, organisations are increasingly operating under external scrutiny. Crisis is no longer only an occasional disruption. It is part of the environment in which organisations are evaluated, challenged, and expected to act.
My research explores how organisations navigate uncertainty, crises, and external scrutiny, and how these pressures shape legitimacy, identity, stakeholder relationships, and strategic action. Across my work, I am interested in how organisations are not only judged by what they do, but also by how external actors interpret, contest, and attach meaning to their actions.
A central theme in my research is how external pressures constrain and enable organisational action. These pressures may come from the state, regulators, funders, commissioners, media, communities, or host societies. In international business, I examine how geopolitics, national security concerns, state intervention, and political narratives affect multinational enterprises, from foreign investment and global strategy to organisational identity construction, legitimacy building, and talent attraction. In public and third-sector settings, I examine how commissioning, funding dependence, partnership expectations, and public accountability shape what organisations can say, do, challenge, and innovate.
Through this work, I seek to understand how organisations make sense of external pressure, maintain legitimacy and trust, and protect strategic agency — that is, their ability to make meaningful choices, maintain voice, and act effectively under constraint.
这是一个充满危机和不确定性的时代。地缘政治紧张、监管变化、技术颠覆、公共问责和声誉危机，都在不断改变组织所处的环境。危机不再只是偶发的干扰，而是日常处境：企业和组织不断地被评价、被质疑、并被要求作出回应。
我的研究关注组织如何应对不确定性、危机与外部审视，以及这些压力如何影响组织的合法性、身份认同、大众关系、战略行动。贯穿我研究的一个核心思想是：组织并不只是因为“做了什么”而被质疑和评价；大众如何主观理解组织行为，并赋予其不同含义，也会深刻影响组织被如何评价。
我的研究重点之一，是理解外部压力如何限制或赋予组织行动空间。这些压力可能来自政府、监管者、资助方、媒体、社区或东道国社会。在国际商业领域，我研究地缘政治、国家安全质疑、国家干预和政治叙事如何影响跨国企业业务，包括投资决定、全球战略和人才吸引。在公共部门与第三部门语境中，我研究公共服务采购、资金依赖、合作关系期待和公共问责如何影响组织的话语权和运营。
About Me
I am a researcher, lecturer, and consultant based at the University of Edinburgh. My research explores how organisations navigate uncertainty, crises, and external scrutiny, and how these pressures shape legitimacy, identity, stakeholder relationships, and strategic action.
My work is particularly relevant to multinational enterprises navigating geopolitical tensions and third-sector organisations working within complex commissioning and partnership systems.
我是一名研究员、大学讲师和咨询顾问，目前就职于爱丁堡大学。我的研究关注组织如何应对不确定性、危机与外部审视，以及这些压力如何影响组织的合法性、身份认同、大众关系与战略行动。
我的研究尤其适用于两类组织情境：一是面对地缘政治紧张与外部审视的跨国企业，二是第三部门组织（如慈善机构）。
My Research
我的研究
My research examines how organisations respond when their activities, identities, or relationships become exposed to uncertainty, crisis, public judgement, political pressure, or institutional constraint. Across different settings, the central concern is similar: organisations are not only evaluated by what they do, but by how external actors interpret, contest, and attach meaning to their actions.
My research has appeared in leading academic journals, such as Journal of Management Studies, Organization Studies, Public Management Review, Journal of International Business Policy, and Strategic Organization.
My research develops across four connected areas.
First, I study geopolitics, foreign direct investment, and national security. This work examines how foreign investment can become politicised or securitised through ambiguous rules, stakeholder narratives, and geopolitical tensions.
Second, I study organisational identity under scrutiny. This work explores how identity can be a strategic resource, but also a liability when external audiences interpret organisational values, history, or internal culture through political, national, or ideological lenses.
Third, I study human resource management, recruitment, and crises. This work examines how crises and negative third-party signals affect organisational attractiveness, employer reputation, and the way candidates and employees interpret organisations.
Fourth, I study third-sector commissioning and partnerships. This work examines how commissioning, funding dependence, partnership expectations, and public accountability shape what third-sector organisations can say, do, challenge, and innovate.
In 2021, I was invited by the UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee to contribute to the inquiry into the role of the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office) in screening foreign investments in UK companies for possible national security concerns (in the context of the new 2021 UK National Security and Investment Bill).
当企业组织面临不确定性、危机、公众评价、政治压力或制度约束，它们应该如何理解和回应这些处境呢？这是我试图回答的一个问题。我的研究揭示：组织并不只是因为“做了什么”而被质疑和评价；大众对组织的评价很大程度上更取决于大众是如何主观理解组织行为，并赋予其不同的含义。
我的研究成果已发表于多个知名学术期刊，包括 Journal of Management Studies 《管理研究期刊》、Organization Studies 《组织研究》、Public Management Review 《公共管理评论》、Journal of International Business Policy《国际商业政策期刊》、Strategic Organization《战略组织》 。
我的研究主要包括四个相互关联的方向。
第一，地缘政治、外国投资与国家安全。这一方向关注外国投资如何在模糊规则、大众叙事、地缘政治中被政治化或安全化。
第二，外部审视下的组织身份。这一方向关注组织身份如何成为战略资源，同时也可能在政治意识形态视角下变成一种风险。
第三，人力资源管理、招聘与危机。这一方向关注危机和负面信号如何影响组织吸引力、雇主声誉，以及求职者和员工对组织的看法。
第四，第三部门公共服务采购与合作关系。这一方向关注公共服务采购、资金依赖、合作关系期待与公共问责如何影响第三部门组织的话语权和运营。
2021年，《英国国家安全与投资法案》出台，英国下议院外交事务委员会展开调查，探讨英国外交、联邦及发展事务部（FCDO）在审查外国投资过程中所发挥的作用。我受邀向委员会提供证词，为调查贡献了专业见解。
Advisory, Workshops &
Executive Education
咨询、工作坊与高管培训
I provide research-based advisory, workshops, and executive education for organisations operating under uncertainty, crises, or external scrutiny. My work helps leaders and managers understand how their organisations are interpreted by stakeholders, where legitimacy challenges emerge, how relationships are affected, and what forms of strategic engagement are possible.
My work is particularly relevant to multinational enterprises facing geopolitical scrutiny, HR and communications teams managing crisis-related reputation challenges, and third-sector organisations navigating commissioning, partnership, and accountability pressures.
At the centre of this work is the SENSE framework I developed: Signals, Evaluators, Narratives, Stakeholder Relationships, and Engagement. The framework helps organisations make sense of external pressure by identifying how they are interpreted, who is judging them, what narratives shape their legitimacy, how relationships are affected, and how they can engage constructively while protecting strategic agency.
S — Signals
What makes the organisation appear trustworthy, appropriate, risky, valuable, or problematic?
E — Evaluators
Who is watching, judging, regulating, funding, commissioning, or evaluating the organisation?
N — Narratives
What meanings are attached to the organisation through media, public policy, social discourses, or stakeholder storytelling?
S — Stakeholder Relationships
How do external pressures shape relationships with commissioners, regulators, employees, candidates, partners, communities, or host country societies?
E — Engagement
What can the organisation realistically say, change, negotiate, resist, or prioritise while maintaining trust, legitimacy, and effectiveness?
基于我的研究，我提供相关咨询、工作坊和高管教育服务，帮助企业和组织更好了解和应对外部审视所带来的挑战。我的服务旨在帮助领导者和管理者理解：在不确定性、危机或外部审视中，组织是如何被社会各方解读的，合法性挑战从何而来，外部压力如何影响组织社会关系，以及组织可以采取哪些战略性回应。
我的咨询服务尤其适用于：面临地缘政治困局的跨国企业、管理企业声誉的人力资源和传播团队，以及面临资金短缺和公共问责压力的第三部门组织（比如：慈善机构）。
我的咨询核心基于我个人建立的 SENSE框架。这一框架帮助组织理解外部压力：组织释放了什么信号，谁在评价组织，哪些叙事塑造了组织的合法性，利益相关者关系如何受到影响，以及组织应该如何回应。
S — Signals｜信号
是什么让组织看起来值得信任、适当、有风险、有价值或存在问题？
E — Evaluators｜评价者
谁在观察、评价、监管、质疑这个组织？
N — Narratives｜叙事
通过媒体、公共政策、社会言论和叙事，社会各方赋予了组织什么样的含义？
S — Stakeholder Relationships｜利益相关者关系
外部压力如何影响组织与社会各方的关系，包括与监管者、员工、求职者、合作伙伴、社区或东道国社会之间的关系？
E — Engagement｜行动
组织可以说什么、改变什么、协商什么、抵抗什么或优先处理什么？
Example Workshops
and Briefings
工作坊与
专题培训示例
Identity Under Scrutiny
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For leadership teams, communications teams, values-led organisations, and international organisations.
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This session helps organisations understand how identity, values, history, and narratives are interpreted differently across audiences and contexts.
Geopolitics and Legitimacy for MNEs
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For MNE leaders, public affairs teams, trade bodies, investors, and professional service firms.
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This session helps participants understand how national security narratives, foreignness, ownership, and identity shape stakeholder trust and strategic options.
Recruitment in Times of Crisis
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For HR leaders, employer branding teams, recruiters, and communications teams.
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This session helps organisations understand how negative signals affect candidate perceptions and how to respond with credible, targeted communication.
Navigating Commissioning Pressures
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For charity managers, service managers, local authority partners, commissioners, and funders.
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This session helps participants understand how commissioning, funding, accountability, and partnership dynamics affect service quality, organisational voice, innovation, and strategic choices.
外部审视下的组织身份
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适用于领导团队、传播团队、价值驱动型组织和国际组织。
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本工作坊帮助组织理解自身的身份、价值观、历史和叙事在不同受众和情境中是如何被差异化解读的。
地缘政治与跨国企业的合法性
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适用于跨国企业管理者、公共事务团队、行业协会、投资者和专业服务机构。
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本工作坊帮助理解国家安全叙事、外国公司身份、公司所有权（如国企）如何影响利益相关者的信任，以及组织可能拥有的战略选择。
危机中的招聘与雇主声誉
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适用于HR负责人、雇主品牌团队、招聘团队和传播团队。
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本工作坊帮助组织理解负面信号如何影响求职者对组织的评价，以及组织应该如何做出回应。
应对公共服务采购压力
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适用于慈善机构管理者、服务提供者、地方政府合作方、服务采购方和资助方。
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本工作坊帮助理解公共服务采购、资金、问责和合作关系如何影响服务质量、组织话语权、创新和战略选择。