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Business & Economics

Prof Kate Kenny

MBS, PhD.

Contact Details

Professor Of Business And Society
J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics
University of Galway
University Road
Galway
E: kate.kenny@universityofgalway.ie
 
researcher
 

Biography


Kate Kenny is Professor of Business and Society. She has held research fellowships at Cambridge University's Judge Business School, and the Edmond J. Safra Lab at Harvard University. Professor Kenny's work has been published in Organization Studies, Gender Work and Organizations, ephemera and Human Relations among other journals. She serves on the editorial boards of two FT50 journals. 

Books: 
  • Regulators of Last Resort: Whistleblowers, the Limits of the Law and the Power of Partnerships (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2025)
  • Perspectives on Whistleblowing: Cases and Theories (Bristol University Press, forthcoming 2025, with I. Munro and M. Fotaki)
  • Whistleblowing: Toward a New Theory (Harvard University Press, 2019)
  • The Whistleblowing Guide: Speak¿up Arrangements, Challenges, and Best¿Practices (Wiley Business, 2019, with W. Vandekerckhove and M. Fotaki) 
  • Understanding Identity and Organizations (Sage 2011, with A. Whittle and H. Willmott)
  • Affect at Work: The Psychosocial and Organization Studies (Palgrave 2014, with M. Fotaki). 
Professor Kenny's work has been cited in the UK House of Commons, and in EU policy documents. She has written and contributed to articles in the Financial Times, the Irish Times, the Guardian and contributed to programmes on Ireland¿s RTÉ (radio and television) and TG4. 

See whistleblowingimpact.org for articles, research updates, videos and blog.

Current PhD students:
Mr Bashir Alao: Corruption, Intimidation and Organization Wrong-doings: The Cross Country Comparison of Whistleblowing Policy as Potent Antidotes (Hardiman Scholar)
Dr Maria Batishcheva: Theorizing Whistleblowing: Addressing the Research Agenda
Mr John Devitt: Leading with Integrity? An Autoethnography of Anti-Corruption Practice

Postdoctoral Researchers:
Dr Taymi Milan (funded by EU Commission CERV BRIGHT project)
Dr Johanna Wiisak (funded by MCSA LERO Symeco)


Research Interests

My research centres on the contribution of social and political theory to the understanding of organisations. I am particularly interested in critical theory, psychoanalysis, feminism and poststructuralism, and how these perspectives can shed light on organisational ethics, identity and culture. My research currently focuses on whistleblowing in organizations. I welcome working with PhD students in any of these areas, and on related ideas.

See here for latest books, journal articles, newspaper contributions and video:  www.whistleblowingimpact.org 

Research Projects

  Project Start Date End Date
MILLENNIUM FUND 2010 EXPLORING ORG ORGANISATIONAL IDENTITY KATE KENNY 01-JAN-11 30-JUN-13
Postdisclosure survival strategies: Transforming Whistleblowers' experiences 01-JAN-17 07-SEP-18
Effective Speak-up arrangements for whistleblowers: a multi-case study on the role of responsiveness, trust, and culture 30-NOV-15 30-NOV-16
Whistleblowing in Banking Organizations 26-JUN-13 01-JAN-15

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2023) 'Troubling organizational violence with Judith Butler: Surviving whistleblower reprisals'
Kenny, K; Fanchini, M (2023) 'Troubling organizational violence with Judith Butler: Surviving whistleblower reprisals'. Gender Work And Organization, [DOI] [Details]
(2024) 'Whistleblower as activist and exile: The case of Edward Snowden'
Munro, I; Kenny, K (2024) 'Whistleblower as activist and exile: The case of Edward Snowden'. Organization, [DOI] [Details]
(2023) 'Feminist social movements and whistleblowing disclosures: Ireland's Women of Honour'
Kenny, Kate (2023) 'Feminist social movements and whistleblowing disclosures: Ireland's Women of Honour'. Gender, Work And Organization, [DOI] [Details]
(2024) 'Women Whistleblowers: Examining parrhesia, power and gender with Sophocles' Antigone'
Kenny, Kate; Fanchini, Mahaut (2024) 'Women Whistleblowers: Examining parrhesia, power and gender with Sophocles' Antigone'. Organization Studies, [DOI] [Details]
(2023) 'Networked Whistleblowing, Counter-Hegemony and the Challenge to Systemic Corruption'
Munro, I; Kenny, K (2023) 'Networked Whistleblowing, Counter-Hegemony and the Challenge to Systemic Corruption'. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, [DOI] [Details]
(2023) 'Constructing unknowers, destroying whistleblowers'
Kenny, K. (2023) 'Constructing unknowers, destroying whistleblowers'. Ephemera: Theory and Politics in organization, 23 (1) [Details]
(2022) 'Whistleblowing advocacy: Solidarity and fascinance'
Van Portfliet, M. & Kenny, K. (2022) 'Whistleblowing advocacy: Solidarity and fascinance'. Organization, 29 (2):345-366 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2021) 'Power and politics in public inquiries: bloody sunday 1972'
Kenny, K. & O'Dochartaigh, N. (2021) 'Power and politics in public inquiries: bloody sunday 1972'. Journal Of Political Power, 14 (3):383-408 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2021) 'Academic Activism'
Kenny, K (2021) 'Academic Activism'. Ephemera: Theory and Politics in organization, 21 (4) [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2023) 'The Costs and Labour of Whistleblowing: Bodily Vulnerability and Post-disclosure Survival'
Kenny, K & Fotaki, M. (2023) 'The Costs and Labour of Whistleblowing: Bodily Vulnerability and Post-disclosure Survival'. Journal of Business Ethics, 182 :341-364 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2020) 'Whistleblower Subjectivities: Organization and Passionate Attachment'
Kenny, K,Fotaki, M,Vandekerckhove, W (2020) 'Whistleblower Subjectivities: Organization and Passionate Attachment'. Organization Studies, 41 :323-343 [DOI] [Details]
(2020) 'How to Whistle-Blow: Dissensus and Demand'
Kenny, K. and Bushnell, A. (2020) 'How to Whistle-Blow: Dissensus and Demand'. Journal Of Business Ethics, [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2020) 'Organizational form and pro-social fantasy in social enterprise creation'
Kenny, K;Haugh, H;Fotaki, M (2020) 'Organizational form and pro-social fantasy in social enterprise creation'. Human Relations, 73 :94-123 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2019) 'Mental Heath as a Weapon: Whistleblower Retaliation and Normative Violence'
Kenny, K,Fotaki, M,Scriver, S (2019) 'Mental Heath as a Weapon: Whistleblower Retaliation and Normative Violence'. Journal Of Business Ethics, 160 :801-815 [DOI] [Details]
(2019) 'The battle for the whistleblower: An interview with John Kiriakou'
Bushnell, A., Kenny, K. Fotaki, M. (2019) 'The battle for the whistleblower: An interview with John Kiriakou'. Ephemera: Theory and Politics in organization, 19 (4) [Details]
(2018) 'Censored: Whistleblowers and impossible speech'
Kate Kenny (2018) 'Censored: Whistleblowers and impossible speech'. Human Relations, [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2017) 'Thinking critically about affect in organization studies: Why it matters [Editorial]'
Marianna Fotaki and Kate Kenny and Sheena Vachhani (2017) 'Thinking critically about affect in organization studies: Why it matters [Editorial]'. Organization, 24 (1):3-17 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2016) 'Organizations and Violence: The Child as Abject-Boundary in Ireland's Industrial Schools'
Kate Kenny (2016) 'Organizations and Violence: The Child as Abject-Boundary in Ireland's Industrial Schools'. Organization Studies, 37 (7):939-961 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2015) 'Work-worlds colliding: Self-reflexivity, power and emotion in organizational ethnography'
Sarah Gilmore and Kate Kenny (2015) 'Work-worlds colliding: Self-reflexivity, power and emotion in organizational ethnography'. Human Relations, 68 (1):55-87 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2015) 'From gendered organizations to compassionate borderspaces: Reading corporeal ethics with Bracha Ettinger'
Kate Kenny and Marianna Fotaki (2015) 'From gendered organizations to compassionate borderspaces: Reading corporeal ethics with Bracha Ettinger'. Organization, 22 (2):183-199 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2014) 'Irony as discipline: Self-help and gender in the knowledge economy: Self-help and gender in the knowledge economy'
Kate Kenny and Emma Bell (2014) 'Irony as discipline: Self-help and gender in the knowledge economy: Self-help and gender in the knowledge economy'. Social Politics, 21 (4):562-584 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2014) 'Power and the Construction of Independence in ICTD Organizations'
Kenny, Kate M. (2014) 'Power and the Construction of Independence in ICTD Organizations'. Information Technology for Development, 20 (1):6-22 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2014) 'Banking compliance and dependence corruption: towards an attachment perspective'
Kate Kenny (2014) 'Banking compliance and dependence corruption: towards an attachment perspective'. Law and Financial Markets Review, 8 (2):165-177 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2013) 'Affective disruption: Walter Benjamin and the 'history' of Ireland's industrial schools'
K. Kenny (2013) 'Affective disruption: Walter Benjamin and the 'history' of Ireland's industrial schools'. Management and Organizational History, 8 (1):10-22 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2012) ''Someone big and important’: Recognition and affect in an international development workplace'
Kenny, K. (2012) ''Someone big and important’: Recognition and affect in an international development workplace'. Organization Studies, [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2012) 'Some Good Clean Fun': Humour, Control and Subversion in an Advertising Agency'
Kenny, K,Euchler, G (2012) 'Some Good Clean Fun': Humour, Control and Subversion in an Advertising Agency'. Gender Work And Organization, 19 :306-323 [DOI] [Details]
(2012) 'Dangerously empty? Hegemony and the construction of the Irish entrepreneur'
Kenny, K,Scriver, S (2012) 'Dangerously empty? Hegemony and the construction of the Irish entrepreneur'. Organization, 19 :615-633 [DOI] [Details]
(2011) 'The effect of affect: Desire and politics in modern organizations (Editorial)'
Kenny, K., Muhr, SL, & Olaison, L (2011) 'The effect of affect: Desire and politics in modern organizations (Editorial)'. Ephemera: Theory and Politics in organization, 11 (3):235-242 [Details]
(2011) 'When care is left to roam: Carers' experiences of grassroots nonprofit services in Ireland'
Power, A,Kenny, K (2011) 'When care is left to roam: Carers' experiences of grassroots nonprofit services in Ireland'. Health & Place, 17 :422-429 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2010) 'Beyond ourselves: Passion and the dark side of identification in an ethical organization'
Kenny, KM (2010) 'Beyond ourselves: Passion and the dark side of identification in an ethical organization'. Human Relations, 63 :857-873 [DOI] [Details]
(2010) 'Frames of war: when is life grievable? (invited review essay)'
Kenny, K. (2010) 'Frames of war: when is life grievable? (invited review essay)'. Journal Of Power, 3 (3):459-466 [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2009) 'Heeding the Stains: Lacan and Organizational Change'
Kenny, K. (2009) 'Heeding the Stains: Lacan and Organizational Change'. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 22 (2) [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2009) 'The performative surprise: parody, documentary and critique'
Kenny, K. (2009) 'The performative surprise: parody, documentary and critique'. Culture and Organization, 15 (2) [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2008) 'Aesthetics and emotion in an organisational ethnography'
Kenny, K. (2008) 'Aesthetics and emotion in an organisational ethnography'. International Journal of Work, Organization and Emotion, [ARAN Link] [Details]

Books

  Year Publication
(2025) Regulators of Last Resort Whistleblowers, the Limits of the Law and the Power of Partnerships.
Kenny, K (2025) Regulators of Last Resort Whistleblowers, the Limits of the Law and the Power of Partnerships. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. [DOI] [Details]
(2025) Perspectives on Whistleblowing.
Munro, I., Kenny, K., Fotaki, M. (2025) Perspectives on Whistleblowing. Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press. [Details]
(2019) Whistleblowing: Towards a new theory.
Kate Kenny (2019) Whistleblowing: Towards a new theory. : Harvard University Press. [Details]
(2019) The Whistleblowing Guide: Speak-up Arrangements, Challenges and Best Practices.
Kate Kenny, Wim Vandekerckhove, Marianna Fotaki (2019) The Whistleblowing Guide: Speak-up Arrangements, Challenges and Best Practices. London: Wiley. [Details]
(2014) The Psychosocial and Organization Studies: Affect at Work.
Kate Kenny and Marianna Fotaki (2014) The Psychosocial and Organization Studies: Affect at Work. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. [Details]
(2011) Understanding Identity and Organizations.
Kate Kenny and Andrea Whittle and Hugh Willmott (2011) Understanding Identity and Organizations. : SAGE. [Details]

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
(2018) 'Lauren Berlant: Cruel organizations'
Kate Kenny (2018) 'Lauren Berlant: Cruel organizations' In: Morality, Ethics & Responsibility in Organization and Management, Routledge Focus on Women Writers in Organization Studies (Book 5). Routledge. [Details]
(2016) 'Organizational Identity: The Significance of Power and Politics'
Kate Kenny and Andrea Whittle and Hugh Willmott (2016) 'Organizational Identity: The Significance of Power and Politics' In: The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Identity. :140-159 Oxford University Press. [Details]
(2016) 'Identity and Philosophy in Organizations: A femini[st]ne blind spot'
Kate Kenny and Nancy Harding (2016) 'Identity and Philosophy in Organizations: A femini[st]ne blind spot' In: The Routledge Companion to Philosophy in Organization Studies. :430-438 Taylor and Francis. [Details]
(2015) 'Constructing Selves: Whistleblowing And The Role Of Time'
Kate Kenny (2015) 'Constructing Selves: Whistleblowing And The Role Of Time' In: Developments in Whistleblowing Research. :70-84 International Whistleblowing Research Network. [Details]
(2015) 'Whistleblowing and Mental Health: A new weapon for retaliation?'
Fotaki, M., Kenny, K., and Scriver, S. (2015) 'Whistleblowing and Mental Health: A new weapon for retaliation?' In: Developments in whistleblowing research. London: International Whistleblowing Research Network. [Details]
(2012) ''The performative surprise’: parody, documentary and critique'
Kenny, K. (2012) ''The performative surprise’: parody, documentary and critique' In: Organizations and Popular Culture: Information, Representation and Transformation. London: Routledge. [Details]
(2011) 'Representing the Successful Managerial Body'
Kenny, K., Bell, E. (2011) 'Representing the Successful Managerial Body' In: Jeanes, E. Knights, D. and Yancey Martin, P. (eds.) Handbook of Gender, Work and Organization. Blackwell/Wiley. [Details]
(2010) 'Project Tyne: Using an Extranet for Construction'
Kenny, K. (2010) 'Project Tyne: Using an Extranet for Construction' In: Case for analysis in Daft, R, Murphy, J. and Willmott, H. (Eds), Organization Theory and Design, Cengage Learning: London. [Details]
(2008) 'Arrive Bearing Gifts’: Postcolonial Insights for Development Management'
Kenny, K. (2008) 'Arrive Bearing Gifts’: Postcolonial Insights for Development Management' In: S. Dar and B. Cooke (Eds), The New Development Management: Critiquing the Dual Modernization. Zed Books: London. [ARAN Link] [Details]

Published Reports

  Year Publication
(2019) Post-disclosure survival strategies: Transforming whistleblower experiences.
Kenny, K. and Fotaki, M. (2019) Post-disclosure survival strategies: Transforming whistleblower experiences. NUI Galway, Galway. [Details]
(2016) Effective speak-up arrangements for whistle-blowers.
Vandekerckhove, W, Kenny, K, Fotaki, M and Ozdemir Kaya, D (2016) Effective speak-up arrangements for whistle-blowers. ACCA, London. [DOI] [Details]

Other Journals

  Year Publication
(2021) 'Pandemic exposes income inequalities in Irish society'
Curran, D., Buckley, L.A., Kenny, K., Goggins, G., and Ní Léime, Á. (2021) 'Pandemic exposes income inequalities in Irish society' Cois Coiribe, (Spring edn, Equality) :12-16. [Details]

ANET/COS

  Year Publication
(2015) Healthcare and compassion: Towards an awareness of intersubjective vulnerability: Comment on “why and how is compassion necessary to provide good quality healthcare?”.
Kate Kenny (2015) Healthcare and compassion: Towards an awareness of intersubjective vulnerability: Comment on “why and how is compassion necessary to provide good quality healthcare?”. ANET/COS [DOI] [Details]

Book Review

  Year Publication
(2020) Is whistleblowing a duty?.
Kenny, K (2020) Is whistleblowing a duty?. ABINGDON: ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD Book Review [DOI] [Details]
(2019) Gender and the Organization: Women at Work in the 21st Century.
Kenny, K (2019) Gender and the Organization: Women at Work in the 21st Century. LONDON: SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD Book Review [Details]
(2012) Review of Vallas et al., 'The Sociology of Work: Structures and Inequalities'. Gender, Work and Organization.
Kenny, K. (2012) Review of Vallas et al., 'The Sociology of Work: Structures and Inequalities'. Gender, Work and Organization. Book Review [Details]
(2011) The Oxford Handbook of Critical Management Studies.
Kenny, K (2011) The Oxford Handbook of Critical Management Studies. LONDON: SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD Book Review [Details]
(2011) The Oxford Handbook of Critical Management Studies.
Kenny, K (2011) The Oxford Handbook of Critical Management Studies. Book Review [Details]
(2011) Review of Alvesson et al., 'The Oxford Handbook of Critical Management Studies', Critical Social Policy 31(3).
Kenny, K. (2011) Review of Alvesson et al., 'The Oxford Handbook of Critical Management Studies', Critical Social Policy 31(3). Book Review [Details]

Professional Associations

  Association Function From / To
Academy of Management member /
European Group for Organization Studies (EGOS) member /

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
2007 University of Cambridge, Judge Business School PhD Management Studies
2002 UCD Master of Business Studies Business Studies
1998 NUI Galway BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING Civil Engineering

Employment

  Employer Position From / To
Queen's University Belfast Professor 01-AUG-17 / 30-NOV-18
Queen's University Belfast Reader 01-MAY-13 / 31-JUL-17
NUI Galway Lecturer 01-JUN-09 /
University of Cambridge University Lecturer, Judge Business School 01-JUN-07 / 01-JUN-09

Reviews

  Journal Role
Organization Studies Editoral Board
Human Relations Editoral Board
Organization Editoral Board
Human Resource Management Reviewer
Culture And Organization Reviewer
Journal Of Management Studies Reviewer
Gender Work And Organisation Reviewer

Teaching Interests

Business ethics, Organizational Behaviour, Critical Management