Our research projects are organised to disseminate classic and cutting-edge knowledge and generate new academic research to respond to key challenges our partners encounter.
Our research
We focus on sustainability transformations and challenges within organisations, across value chains, markets, and institutional fields.
Some of the core questions we are focussed on include:
- How can people operationalise a shift from shareholder to stakeholder governance, and what new business and community models, governance arrangements and market mechanisms can enable the transition to purpose-driven economies?
- How can organisations achieve commitments to sustainable development goals, net zero and climate positive? How can they address their negative direct and indirect impacts on society and the planet and instead create positive impacts?
- How can workplace policies, strategies and cultures be redesigned to enable people to thrive in meaningful work that positively contributes to sustainable development? What conditions will enable regenerative workplaces to flourish?
- How might we co-create new forms of entrepreneurial activities and enterprises to enable technology to be a force for regenerative and just economies?
We invite you to co-create questions like these that help us reset how we optimise the workplaces of today's future.
Connect with us
Featured Collaborative Research
Our research prospers in co-funded partnerships. Typical partnerships include:
early stage and discovery projects to frame and define complex problems and define strategic opportunities that progress prosperity without comprising planetary or human health
independent evaluation and impact assessments to optimise social, ecological, and economic outcomes
strategic assessments applying design and technology led approaches to transform mindsets and develop capabilities
If you have a complex challenge, we welcome a conversation, and our team can develop proposals for co-funded research.
New Collaborations
CBSD provides seed-funding for emerging research partnerships to convene stakeholders to better understand complex problems, develop solutions and share findings.
These are highlights of some current projects. If you’d like to join and help scale these collaborations, please contact the project leaders to find out how you can get involved.
Sustainable Finance and Investment: Green bonds
We are investigating the green bond market and the impacts of the ‘green label’ on default probabilities and credit rating.
This research builds on the development, transparency, and increased confidence in the functioning of the green bond market as a core capital provider for transitioning the economy to achieve the SDGs. With a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of the green bond market, investors will have access to a more robust set of green investing tools.
Academic lead and contact: Christina Nikitopoulos
Team: Deborah Cotton, Kylie-Anne Richards
Digital transformation and workforce ecosystems
The research investigates how digital technologies are shaping workforce ecosystems. Our emphasis is on understanding the shifts in management practices, digital technology enablers and leadership approaches necessary to orchestrate sustainable workforce ecosystems. We aim to develop collaborative solutions to shape, rather than merely await, the future of work. The real-world industry and policy implications partnership will contribute directly to SDGs, especially #8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), #9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure) and #17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
Academic lead and contact: Sumati Ahuja
Positive Pursuits and Corporate Transformation
This research projects forms a collaborative with the UTS Business School strategic roundtables for engagement on climate action. Through those roundtables we focus on the ‘Grand Challenge’ of Climate action (SDG 13) and the closely related crises of biodiversity loss. The project adopts an action research agenda to: (i) analyse current manifestations of sustainability and ESG metrics in comparison with ‘positive pursuits’ that explicitly aim to regenerate or restore social-ecological systems; (i) further develop partnerships in existing bilateral relationships to identify key barriers and enablers in the adoption of positive pursuits; (ii) develop a cross-sectoral forum with Companies that have stated sustainability leadership positions and intermediaries that are seeking positive pursuits to advance a collective impact model.
Academic lead and contact: Melissa Edwards
Team: Alison Atherton, Jarrod Ormiston, Chris Reidy, Tim Williams
Stakeholder Governance: Resetting Corporate Purpose through B Corps
This research partnership, between UTS academics and B Lab Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, explores the implementation of corporate purpose and stakeholder governance in B Corps. B Corps are businesses that choose to pursue a voluntary certification to verify their social and environmental performance, public transparency, and accountability to balance profit and purpose. In late 2020, B Lab Australia and New Zealand introduced a new legal requirement for Australian companies who are seeking to become, or currently are, certified B Corps. B Corps are required to amend their corporate constitutions to include clauses relating to corporate purpose and stakeholder governance. The theory behind this is that it will encourage B Corp directors to consider their wider stakeholders (e.g. employees, suppliers, customers and local communities) when making decisions, leading to better social and environmental outcomes. Our research explores how stakeholder governance functions in both theory and practice. How do directors govern a corporation while keeping all stakeholders in mind? How do they avoid or resolve potential conflicts between the interests of different stakeholder groups? If not the shareholders, who do they prioritise and what is the role of corporate purpose in stakeholder governance?
Academic lead and contact: Alice Klettner
Team: Rosemary Sainty
Refugee entrepreneurship and empowerment
Empowering community members: A framework for refugee-led community organisations
This project partners with the Somali Welfare and Cultural Association to develop a capability framework for community organisations to support their capacity building and social impact evaluation. Community organisations play a crucial role in providing services to ethnic populations, including migrants and refugees, in host countries. However, their efforts are often hindered by limited resources, including over-reliance on volunteers and lack of funding.
Our partner is the Somali Welfare and Cultural Association which provides various services to culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities across Western Sydney, including youth programs and women aid groups. We will partner to map and document the processes of a community organisation in supporting their clients and develop a best practice framework to assist community organisations with their operation and long-term sustainability. Preliminary research findings will be shared via roundtables with other community organisations to present the framework and receive feedback. This partnership contributes directly to SDG 17 on stakeholder partnerships and indirectly to SGD 11 on sustainable (cities and) human settlements.
Academic lead and contact: Najmeh Hassanli
Resources and Capability Development
We think research, knowledge and capability development go hand in hand.
We want to further the capability of professionals to advance progress on sustainability goals and transformations. Our people regularly translate the outcomes of our research projects into short courses and micro credentials. We can also work on bespoke capability development programs through our emerging research collaboratives.
We also translate research outcomes into guidebooks on new areas of capability development to help scale transformation.
Sustainable Finance Micro
UTS Business School finance academics will introduce you to sustainable financial instruments, systems and investment decisions that can create long-term value for your organisation. Explore environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and gain insights on how sustainable finance can contribute to meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Leading Strategic Action on Climate and Sustainability
PLUS UTS Business Futures new short course launched in partnership with the Abundium multinational leadership community. It’s designed to help senior executives at multinational companies in Australia leapfrog their strategic capability in the area of sustainability.
Managing Hybrids guidebook
This is a guidebook drawing on research insights about hybrid organisations. It is for practitioners in the non-profit sector considering how to diversify their funding base or for those wanting to start up a social enterprise.
This booklet takes you through basic explainers and highlights key questions to enrich your understanding about hybrids and how to create and manage one.
