Dr Josephine Chikwana
Lecturer in Business Management
- Phone
- +44 (0)1473338684
- j.chikwana@uos.ac.uk
- School/Directorate
- Marketing, Communications and International
- Josephine Chikwana ORCID
Dr. Josephine Chikwana is an academic and social entrepreneur whose career bridges research, teaching, and community impact. Passionate about sustainability and social value, she combines her expertise in leadership and management with her commitment to empowering young people in her home country of Malawi.
With over 13 years of teaching experience, Josephine has taught at every stage of the educational journey — from primary, secondary, A-levels, and college, to the past three years in UK higher education institutions. Before joining the ºüÀêÊÓƵ, she taught at ESCP Business School, the ºüÀêÊÓƵ of Buckingham, and Cranfield ºüÀêÊÓƵ, where she designed and delivered undergraduate, postgraduate, and MBA teaching. Across these roles, she developed a reputation for engaging, research-informed teaching that inspires students to think critically and apply knowledge in practice.
At the ºüÀêÊÓƵ, Josephine is Lecturer in Business Management and Deputy Programme Lead for the MSc International Business Management. She works alongside the talented academic team on the MSc IBM programme to deliver a transformative learning experience for students. Outside academia, Josephine runs Move to Improve, a social enterprise supporting rural youth in Malawi. She draws on her wide-ranging experiences to bring contemporary debates and real-world insights into the classroom, ensuring students are well-prepared to engage with global business challenges.
Josephine has the following qualifications:
PhD in Leadership and Management (Cranfield ºüÀêÊÓƵ, 2025)
MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ºüÀêÊÓƵ of Edinburgh, 2021)
B.Ed in Business Studies (Malawi ºüÀêÊÓƵ of Business and Applied Sciences, 2017)
Programme and Module Lead
Josephine is currently:
Deputy Course Leader for the MSc International Business Management Programme
Module Lead for International Business (MSc)
Module Lead for Future of Work (SEMBA)
Teaching Expertise
Josephine has taught across postgraduate and undergraduate programmes at the ºüÀêÊÓƵ, Cranfield ºüÀêÊÓƵ, ESCP Business School, the ºüÀêÊÓƵ of Buckingham, and UCL Global Business School for Health. Her teaching experience includes:
Leadership and Management (MSc)
Managing People Effectively (MSc)
Change Management (MSc)
Organisational Behaviour (MSc)
Supply Chain Management (MSc)
Research Methods (BA)
Academic Writing Skills (BA)
International Business Management (BA)
Marketing Fundamentals (BA)
Supervision
Josephine currently supervises a PhD student exploring Political Corporate Social Responsibility in Nigeria.
Josephine also supervised postgraduate dissertations across topics in management, leadership, sustainability and global issues.
Previously, Josephine has supervised several undergraduate and postgraduate (MBA) dissertations at ºüÀêÊÓƵ of Buckingham and Cranfield ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
Josephine welcomes enquiries from prospective doctoral students interested in responsible purchasing and supply chain management, interorganisational relationships for social and environmental impact, and leadership, identity, and behavioural change in advancing sustainability. She is also open to projects exploring pedagogy, student learning, and international student experience.
Josephine’s research sits at the intersection of sustainability, behavioural operations, and institutional change, with a particular focus on how procurement functions embed responsible practices and create social value through supply chains. Her contributions have been recognised internationally, including winning the Harry Boer Best Student Paper Award (EurOMA, 2024) for her work on social procurement and institutional work. She has published and presented at leading conferences such as EurOMA, BAM, IPSERA and EURAM.
Josephine has collaborated with Social Enterprise UK on the Buy Social Corporate Challenge, working alongside major corporates to investigate how businesses can partner with social enterprises to drive social impact. She also co-researched the Identities in Transition project with the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme, ºüÀêÊÓƵ of Edinburgh, and ºüÀêÊÓƵ of British Columbia, producing a a photovoice booklet (https://global.ed.ac.uk/transitions-and-mentoring-toolkit/about-the-site/our-photovoice-book) and mentorship toolkit (https://global.ed.ac.uk/transitions-and-mentoring-toolkit/mentoring-toolkit) to support international student belonging and academic transitions.
Through these projects, Josephine actively bridges theory and practice, engaging with academics, industry partners, and social enterprises to generate insights that advance both scholarship and real-world change.
Research Interests
Responsible purchasing and supply chain management
Social procurement
Social enterpreneurship
Interorganisational relationships for societal impact
Leadership identity and behaviour
Organisational change
Pedagogy and student experience
Methodological Expertise
Qualitative research methods
Systematic literature reviews
Collaborative and participatory research approaches
Josephine is an active member of
European Operations Management Association (EurOMA)
British Academy of Management (BAM)
International Purchasing and Supply Education and Research Association (IPSERA)
European Academy of Management (EurAM)