I am a Lecturer in the UQ Business School at the University of Queensland. My expertise is in office spaces, hybrid work, collaboration, learning and professional work. I believe that workspaces like open-plan offices, hybrid work environments and healthcare buildings can have a positive impact on the experiences of professional workers, employees, customers and patients. At the same time, physical and virtual surroundings often influence outcomes in ways that are not anticipated. My research helps designers and managers to respond to the unintended consequences of workspace design in ways that improve the lives of space users.
My current research focuses on how managers and employees experience hybrid work. After experiencing enforced homeworking during the pandemic, many office-workers now expect the flexibility to choose how and when they work. However, evidence suggests that serendipitous encounters, collaboration, and informal learning are more effective when employees are co-located. I am interested in how managers respond to the tensions between flexibility and collaboration in a hybrid world. I also hope to learn about emerging technologies and practices that improve serendipity in online environments.
I am a founding member of the Next Generation Workspace Research Network, which brings together partners from industry and academia to provide evidence-based solutions to workspace problems.
I teach a large introductory management course with enrolments of up to 1000 students per semester. I help students relate management evidence to their own experiences through the Harvard Business School Everest Team and Leadership Simulation and engagement with events like the 2020 Bushfire Crisis. My teaching has been recognised with a UQ Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning and a UQ Business School Award for enhancing the first-year student experience. I was included on the UQ Above and Beyond in 2020 Honour Roll for helping students to transition into university during the pandemic.
Praise for my workshops
“Huge thanks to Gemma Irving and Geoff Greenfield at UQ Business School for facilitating a fun and insightful team building session. We had a blast!” Tim Carroll, Executive Manager, Group Procurement, Suncorp Group.
“I received lots of positive feedback from staff…. I think your presentation really helped people to understand that they have a role to play in making the [workspace] move a good experience” Cordelia Jackson, Deputy Director of Operations, Institute for Social Science Research.
Journal Article: An Instructional Innovation That Embeds Group Learning in Case Teaching: The Table Case Method
Wright, April L., Irving, Gemma L., Pereira, Sandra and Staggs, Jonathan (2023). An Instructional Innovation That Embeds Group Learning in Case Teaching: The Table Case Method. Journal of Management Education. doi: 10.1177/10525629231216642
Journal Article: The role of space and place in organisational and institutional change: a systematic review of the literature
Wright, April L., Irving, Gemma, Zafar, Asma and Reay, Trish (2023). The role of space and place in organisational and institutional change: a systematic review of the literature. Journal of Management Studies, 60 (4), 991-1026. doi: 10.1111/joms.12868
Journal Article: Managing job‐related diversity processes in high‐reliability teams in the emergency department
Williams, Grace, Irving, Gemma, Wright, April L. and Middleton, Stuart (2020). Managing job‐related diversity processes in high‐reliability teams in the emergency department. British Journal of Management, 2020 (1) 1467-8551.12450, 20366-518. doi: 10.1111/1467-8551.12450
(2021–2023) Advance Queensland Women's Research Assistance Program
Middleton, Stuart, Irving, Gemma L. and Wright, April L. (2020). Institutional power and organizational space: How space constrains micro-level action in the emergency department. Macrofoundations: Exploring the Institutionally Situated Nature of Activity. (pp. 49-65) edited by Christopher W. J. Steele, Timothy R. Hanigan, Vern L. Glaser, Madeline Toubiana and Joel Gehman. Bingley, United Kingdom: Emerald Publishing. doi: 10.1108/S0733-558X20200000068003
A qualitative study of employees’ emotions and identities during change
Kromah, Momo D., Ayoko, Oluremi B., Ashkanasy, Neal M. and Irving, Gemma L. (2019). A qualitative study of employees’ emotions and identities during change. Organizational behaviour and the physical environment. (pp. 287-305) edited by Oluremi B. Ayoko and Neal M. Ashkanasy. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315167237-16
An Instructional Innovation That Embeds Group Learning in Case Teaching: The Table Case Method
Wright, April L., Irving, Gemma L., Pereira, Sandra and Staggs, Jonathan (2023). An Instructional Innovation That Embeds Group Learning in Case Teaching: The Table Case Method. Journal of Management Education. doi: 10.1177/10525629231216642
Wright, April L., Irving, Gemma, Zafar, Asma and Reay, Trish (2023). The role of space and place in organisational and institutional change: a systematic review of the literature. Journal of Management Studies, 60 (4), 991-1026. doi: 10.1111/joms.12868
Managing job‐related diversity processes in high‐reliability teams in the emergency department
Williams, Grace, Irving, Gemma, Wright, April L. and Middleton, Stuart (2020). Managing job‐related diversity processes in high‐reliability teams in the emergency department. British Journal of Management, 2020 (1) 1467-8551.12450, 20366-518. doi: 10.1111/1467-8551.12450
Professional values and managerialist practices: values work by nurses in the emergency department
Wright, April, Irving, Gemma Louise and Selvan Thevatas, Kalai (2020). Professional values and managerialist practices: values work by nurses in the emergency department. Organization Studies, 42 (9) 017084062095007, 017084062095007-1456. doi: 10.1177/0170840620950079
Threshold concept learning: emotions and liminal space transitions
Irving, Gemma, Wright, April and Hibbert, Paul (2019). Threshold concept learning: emotions and liminal space transitions. Management Learning, 50 (3), 355-373. doi: 10.1177/1350507619836062
Irving, Gemma Louise, Ayoko, Oluremi B. and Ashkanasy, Neal M. (2019). Collaboration, physical proximity and serendipitous encounters: avoiding collaboration in a collaborative building. Organization Studies, 41 (8), 017084061985691-1146. doi: 10.1177/0170840619856913
Student understandings of evidence-based management: Ways of doing and being
Wright, April , Irving, Gemma , Hibbert, Paul and Greenfield, Geoff (2018). Student understandings of evidence-based management: Ways of doing and being. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 17 (4) amle.2016.0249, 453-473. doi: 10.5465/amle.2016.0249
Commentary on "Organizing refugee camps: Respected space and listening posts"
Wright, April and Irving, Gemma (2018). Commentary on "Organizing refugee camps: Respected space and listening posts". Academy of Management Discoveries, 4 (2), 207-208. doi: 10.5465/amd.2018.0017
Institutional work and professional values: values work by nurses in the emergency department
Wright, April L. and Irving, Gemma (2019). Institutional work and professional values: values work by nurses in the emergency department. Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Boston, Massachusetts, 9-13 August 2019. Briarcliff Manor, NY, United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/ambpp.2019.15918abstract
Liminal space in the Emergency Department
Irving, Gemma and Wright, April (2017). Liminal space in the Emergency Department. Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 5-8 December 2017.
Cognition in context: How open-plan offices can help or harm cognition
Irving, Gemma L., Ashkanasy, Neal M. and Ayoko, Oluremi (Remi) (2016). Cognition in context: How open-plan offices can help or harm cognition. Israel Organizational Behavior Conference, Tel Aviv Israel, 6-8 Januray 2016.
The open-plan office as a collaborative scaffold for teams
Irving, Gemma Louise (2016). The open-plan office as a collaborative scaffold for teams. Academy of Management, Anaheim, California USA, 5-9 August 2016. Briarcliff Manor, NY United States: Academy of Management.
Organizational change and unintended consequences: the role of place attachment
Irving, Gemma L., Kromah, Momo D., Ayoko, Oluremi (Remi) and Ashkanasy, Neal M. (2015). Organizational change and unintended consequences: the role of place attachment. Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 23-25 April 2015.
Irving, Gemma L., Ayoko, Oluremi (Remi) and Ashkanasy, Neal M. (2015). Serendipity as the link between physical space and collaboration: A case study of a Collaborative Science Building. Asia-Pacific Researchers in Organisation Studies, Sydney, Australia, 9-11 December 2015.
An exploratory study of the connection between office environments and group cognition
Irving, Gemma L. and Ayoko, Oluremi (Remi) (2014). An exploratory study of the connection between office environments and group cognition. Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, Sydney, Australia, 3-5 December 2014.
Territoriality and sensemaking in organisations
Irving, Gemma, Ayoko, Oluremi B. and Ashkanasy, Neal M. (2012). Territoriality and sensemaking in organisations. ANZAM 2012 Conference, Perth, Australia, 5-7 December 2012. Australia: ANZAM.
Open plan offices CAN actually work, under certain conditions
Irving, Gemma (2018, 01 09). Open plan offices CAN actually work, under certain conditions The Conversation
Collaboration in open-plan offices
Irving, Gemma (2016). Collaboration in open-plan offices. PhD Thesis, UQ Business School, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2016.668
Irving, Gemma (2009). Competing economies, contrasting moralities : Aboriginal employment in the Australian mining industry. Honours Thesis, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2020.427
(2021–2023) Advance Queensland Women's Research Assistance Program