Fair, constructive, and always motivating.
Professor Eric Knight serves as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (People and Operations) and Professor of Strategic Management at Macquarie University, overseeing strategic resource planning, workforce development, student recruitment, digital transformation, and shared services. A distinguished academic leader in Business & Economics, he previously led Macquarie Business School as Executive Dean from 2020 to 2024, achieving doubled research income, enhanced global rankings including 19th worldwide in Business Administration (Shanghai Ranking 2024), renewed curricula, top QILT student satisfaction scores in the Sydney basin, and new programs like Bachelor of Business and Master of Business Analytics. Earlier, at the University of Sydney, he was Professor of Strategic Management and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research – Enterprise & Engagement), following industry experience at Boston Consulting Group. Knight holds a BA and LLB (Hons I) from the University of Sydney and a DPhil from the University of Oxford, earned as an Australian Rhodes Scholar. He is a Fulbright Senior Scholar with visiting appointments at Stanford and Oxford Universities.
An internationally recognized authority in organisational theory and strategic management, Knight's research explores how organisational culture, shared values, and leadership shape collective sensemaking, decision-making, and innovation through technologies and knowledge assets. His scholarship appears in FT50 journals including Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, and Academy of Management Review. Select publications are 'Sensing the room: the role of atmosphere in collective sensemaking' (Academy of Management Journal, 2025, with Lok, Jarzabkowski, Wenzel), 'The limits of pivoting: a culturally informed model of resource commitments during repeated organizational transformation' (Academy of Management Journal, 2025, with Grimes, Gehman), 'Managing ecosystem emergence and evolution: Strategies for ecosystem architects' (Strategic Management Journal, 2023, with Daymond, Rumyantseva, Maguire), 'The ontology of organizational paradox: A quantum approach' (Academy of Management Review, 2021, with Hahn), and 'The power of PowerPoint: A visual perspective on meaning making in strategy' (Strategic Management Journal, 2018, with Paroutis, Heracleous). Honors include Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, top 20 most-read paper in Strategic Management Journal (2019), best paper awards from Academy of Management, ANZAM, and Strategic Management Society, and AFR Higher Education Award finalist for Industry Engagement (2018). He chairs the Strategizing Activities and Practices interest group of the Academy of Management, formerly Global Chair of Strategy Practice at Strategic Management Society, and serves on boards of Macquarie University Health, Sydney Grammar School, and Universities Admissions Centre.
