Biography

Derin Kent is an Associate Professor of Organisation Studies at Warwick Business School, United Kingdom. He specialises in ethnographic research with people who work in extreme contexts, that is, those that are physically or psychologically dangerous. Over the years, this has meant embedding with participants ranging from storm chasers to seafarers to disaster relief teams to draw lessons about how people and organisations thrive in highly adverse conditions. Derin's research appears in top academic journals (e.g., Academy of Management Journal, Organization Studies) and outlets like Harvard Business Review and The Conversation. At Warwick Business School, Derin co-founded and co-directs the Extreme Contexts Unit, a hub for the study, theoretical development, and dissemination of research in organisational contexts marked by risk, emergencies, and disruption.

Prior to joining Warwick, Derin was a postdoc at Aalto University (Finland) and earned his PhD at Queen’s University (Canada). He has experience as a university instructor in Europe and North America (including MBA and executive programmes), teaching subjects like change management, career management, organisational behaviour, and research methods.

Outside of academia, Derin is an outdoor enthusiast and an Operational Team Leader at the British Red Cross, where he responds to incidents ranging from fires to floods and provide emergency management training to organisations.

Research Interests

extreme contexts; isolated and confined settings; organisational ethnography; personal growth in organisations; resilience; sensemaking; terrorism