Key details
Dr John Tull
Lecturer in Business Management
Dr. John Tull joined University of Greenwich 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 while providing module leadership, tutoring and teaching/dissertation support to students at final-year UG and PG level in the Business School.
John has conducted eight invited ‘impact’ events since mid-2024 where he has co-presented detailed findings from the military learning project in Portugal, Estonia, Germany and the UK, plus a briefing for the relevant unit of the US Army. These events have enabled military units and military academies to adopt recommendations from the study findings and invite further collaboration. These activities and the pipeline of publications have wider relevance for public management leadership communities in ‘high reliability’ organisational contexts as well, a promising opportunity for future research and knowledge exchange collaborations.
John comes to academia with extensive experience in international business management in high-tech across Asia, including 7 years in regional C-level executive roles such as Chief Marketing Officer, China & Asia Pacific, Alcatel-Lucent Inc. 2005-2007. From 2009, he transferred those experiences and skills to spend over a decade working/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).
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, International Entrepreneurship and Business Creation modules, and supervising Master’s dissertations, with PhD supervision from 2025.
He is also a co-convenor of the Special Interest Group for Research Methods and Methodologies, for the School of Business, Operations and Strategy.
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)
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 in 2024-25.
‘Creative U’ pilot project for designing an entrepreneurship development curriculum with young prison inmates, funded by the Networks and Urban Systems Centre Research Group, University of Greenwich (2025).
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
‘A Revolution in Military Learning? Uncovering the Potential of Lessons-Learned Processes’, invited ESRC NATO project study findings briefing, Ministry of Defence, Berlin, Germany, 20 May 2025
‘A Revolution in Military Learning? Uncovering the Potential of Lessons-Learned Processes’, invited ESRC NATO project study findings briefing, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, UK, 17 May 2025.
Estonia Case Study findings impact event: Estonian Military Academy/Baltic Defence College (Tartu) and Estonian Defence Forces HQ (Tallinn), Estonia, 15-16 April 2025
Portugal Case Study findings impact event: Portuguese Army HQ, Lisbon, Portugal, 15-16 April 2025
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 conferences 2021, 2023; 2024; 2025; PROS (Process Research for Organisation Studies) 2022; PHILOS (Philosophy of Organisation Studies) conferences 2022, 2023.