Key details
Dr John Tull
Lecturer in Business Management
Dr. John Tull joined the University of Greenwich (Business, Operations and Strategy - BOS) following a two-year fulltime postdoctoral fellowship at Royal Holloway, University of London where he conducted extensive research for the ESRC-funded study of NATO member organisational learning/adaptation. He continues to collaborate with that project to co-author its interdisciplinary publications and conduct impact events with practitioners (see ‘Presentations’). During this fellowship he also provided teaching/dissertation support to students at final-year UG and PG level.
John comes to academia with extensive experience in international business management in the high-tech sector across Asia, including 7 years in regional C-level executive roles such as Chief Marketing Officer, China & Asia Pacific, Alcatel-Lucent Inc. 2005-2007. In regional CEO roles his operations spanned 14 countries in Asia-Pacific, including Japan, China, Korea and India.
From 2009, he transferred those experiences and skills to spend over a decade working and researching in international development as global director, adviser, grant writer, researcher, and trainer-of-trainers in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America (spanning entrepreneurship development, PPP alliances, food and export commodity value chain sustainability, mobile business services). John led or co-led grant applications that secured US$4.68 million of entrepreneurship project funding during this period, and conducted two formal project evaluations of the US$9.32 million ‘MozaCaju’ project in Mozambique on behalf of the United States Department of Agriculture, with both the Midterm Evaluation and Endline Evaluation filed to the public record by that U.S. agency
Responsibilities within the university
John is a Lecturer in Business Management leading the Innovation in Competitive Environment module, teaching in other undergraduate and postgraduate Management, Sustainability and Business Creation modules, and supervising Master’s dissertations, with PhD supervision from 2025.
John is an active contributor to the Networks and Urban Systems Centre (NUSC) Research Group and coordinates a section of the monthly BOS Research and Knowledge Exchange newsletter.
He is also a co-convenor of the Special Interest Group for Research Methods and Methodologies, for the School of Business, Operations and Strategy, and a Mentor for the University of Greenwich Generator.
Awards
- Commander's Award for Excellence, NATO Explosive Ordnance Disposal Centre of Excellence, 5 Nov 2024
- Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- Awarded the Emerald Journal of Intellectual Capital 2007 annual ‘Highly Commended’ Certificate.
Recognition
Co-convenor of the Pragmatism in Organizational Studies international scholarly network (2022-present) of over 120 scholars, early career researchers and PhD candidates. John co-led four well-received webinars related to the themes of pragmatism in organisational research during 2024.
Co-convenor of EGOS sub-theme ‘Creatively Transforming Challenging Situations: Insights through Pragmatism’, Athens, July 2025
Member of EGOS (European Group for Organizational Studies) and PHILOS (Philosophy of Organization Studies).
Member of the British Academy of Management
Research / Scholarly interests
- John's current research focuses on organisational learning (and mis-learning), specifically military learning in NATO member countries (ESRC 2021-2024).
- His wider research interests, stemming from lengthy practitioner experience in the high-tech sector in Asia, and in SME development in emerging markets mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, lie in organisational knowledge strategy, practices and innovation policy.
Key funded projects
Continuing to collaborate with the ESRC-funded multi-year project on Lessons Learned in NATO member countries (ES/V004190/1) to complete the publications and impact events.
Co-developed the new ‘Creative U: Unlocking the potential to reintegrate through creative entrepreneurship’ pilot project, awarded £1995 by the NUSC Research Group in December 2024 to develop and prototype a proof of concept for an innovative, co-designed approach for reintegrating prison inmates through entrepreneurship training..
Media activity
University of Greenwich business research showcased at NATO event. (press release link)
Recent publications
Dyson, T., Pashchuk, Y. and Tull, J. 2024. 'Rapid-Cycle Learning for Effective Remedial Action and Dissemination: Ukraine Explosive Ordnance Disposal Case Study', in NATO's 'Future EOD Development in Light of the Modern Conflicts and Technological Progress Proceedings', ISBN: 978-80-974787-0-4)
Nguyen, D.C. and Tull, J.2022. ‘Context and Contextualization: The Extended Case Method in Qualitative International Business Research’, Journal of World Business 57(5) (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2022.101348
Tull, J. 2012. ‘Slow Knowledge’: the case for ‘savouring’ learning and innovation - in: Buckley, S. and Jakovljevic, M. (eds.) Knowledge Management Innovations for Interdisciplinary Education: Organizational Applications, pp. 132-156. IGI Global.
Tull, J. and Dumay, J. 2007. 'Does IC management ‘make a difference´? A critical case study application of structuration theory', Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, vol.5:4, 515-26.
Dumay, J. C., Cuganesan, S. and Tull, J. 2007. "Beyond reason: the utility of narrative in advancing the management of intellectual capital." Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research Proceedings (6th: 2007:319-338). University of Sydney.
Dumay, J. and Tull, J. 2007. 'Intellectual capital disclosure and price sensitive Australian stock exchange announcements', Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol.8:2, 236-55.
Presentations
Rapid Cycle Lessons Learning for NATO: Invited Lecture & Workshop at NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force HQ, Geilenkirchen, Germany, 22 November 2024
‘A Revolution in Military Learning: Uncovering the Potential of Lessons-Learned Processes’; invited lecture at NATO Explosive Ordnance Disposal Workshop, Šamorín, Slovakia, 5 November 2024
Conference presentation at the British International Studies Association annual conference, Birmingham (5-7 June 2024).
Invited Presentation at the NATO Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Conference, Lisbon (16-17 April, 2024).
Invited Seminars conducted at Estonian Business School, Tallinn (4 February 2023), and Royal Holloway Business School, London (15 October 2023).
Invited presentations at NATO Explosive Ordnance Disposal Centre of Excellence biennial conference, Slovakia, October 2023, and Netherlands Military Advanced Staff Course (7 September 2022)
Paper presentations at EGOS 2021, 2023; 2024; PROS (Process Research for Organisation Studies) 2022; PHILOS (Philosophy of Organisation Studies) conferences 2022, 2023.