Professor Justin O'Brien National Teaching Fellow
Academic and research departments
Department of Management Education, Surrey Business School, Department of Marketing.About
Biography
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING | ENTREPRENEURSHIP | GOVERNANCE
Highly accomplished, industry experienced university professor. Sixteen years of international sales and marketing experience with British Airways. Transnational sales and commercial know-how from working in Germany, Russia, Japan and India. Fifteen years’ academic experience inspiring large and diverse audiences in UK, France, Eire, Sweden and Singapore. Specialist in international marketing (services, B2B & digital), innovation and entrepreneurship. National teaching fellow and widely recognised business school conference presenter, expert in case study writing and innovative experiential pedagogies. Formerly director of UK’s second largest distance MBA programme in partnership with University of London Worldwide. Extensive track record of influence through serving on wide ranging governance boards.
Areas of specialism
Teaching
TEACHING BUSINESS CASE STUDIES
With Wainwright, T. (2024) “Where should PengAir open its next European base?” SAGE Data Challenge.
With Karangi, S. (2024) “Sentiment Analysis” SAGE Data Challenge
With Wainwright, T. (2024) “Post-Covid pivot: attracting international tourists to a domestic hotel” SAGE Data Challenge
With Karangi, S. (2024) “Honeypot Loyalty Scheme” SAGE Data Challenge
With Amade, C. (2022) “TSAKA Happiness: Leveraging Granny’s Botanical Recipes to Create an Organic, Vegan Beauty Brand”. SAGE Business Cases. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781529796254 3 January.
With Megnauth, Gavin and Xiao, Ling (2022) "Assessing the potential for Banana Guards". SAGE Business Cases. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781529781106 3 January.
With Hosany, Shaheen (2021) "Welcome to Ryan's World" SAGE Business Cases. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781529759082
With Upton, Alexandra E. (2021) “Glossier: From Beauty Blog to Billion-Dollar Brand Community”, SAGE Business Cases. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781529740691
With Paniagua Martin, Irene. (2020) "How Sarah Kauss turned her drinking bottle start-up S’well into a $100m enterprise: Teaching business case study" DOI: https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2020.3.2.3
"The Korean Restaurant: a services marketing failure ?"(4 Apr 2019), SAGE Business Cases. Sage publications. Online ISBN 9781526496904. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526496904
“Marketing a New Route: Norwegian Flies London–Singapore” (1 Jan 2019) SAGE Case Collection. SAGE Publication: SAGE Business Case Originals Collection. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526469359
With Waehning, N. “Mikkeller: A gypsy brewer born global” (9 April 2018) SAGE Case Collection. SAGE Publication: SAGE Business Case Originals Collection. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526459879 Online ISBN: 9781526459879
“Disruptive shave technology: Considering the Dollar Shave Club model for a UK launch” (2018) SAGE Publication: SAGE Business Case Originals Collection. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526441638 Online ISBN: 9781526441638
"Marketing children’s party services: Rugged Earth Adventures case study" (2016) SAGE Case Collection. Publisher: SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473944367 Online ISBN: 9781473944367
"Tracker Sense entrepreneurial marketing start-up Case Study" (2016) SAGE Case Collection. Publisher:SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473977471 Online ISBN: 9781473977471
"Story telling: Brewing up a community at Windsor and Eton" (2016) SAGE Case collection. 3,886 words. Publisher: SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473971486 Online ISBN: 9781473971486
MEDIA MENTIONS
Kiek, T. (2020) Death of car salesman looms as dealers go online. 22 July. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/07/02/death-car-salesman-looms-dealers-go-online/
Expert interviewee in Harvey, Lisa (2018) The Instagram Generation Are Taking On The Classic American Road Trip. Refinery29. January 28. http://refinery29.uk/2018/01/187049/american-road-trips-routes-instagram
Expert interviewee in Blayney Stuart, Mark (2017) How to learn smarter and faster. aatComment. 4 October. http://www.aatcomment.org.uk/how-to-learn-smarter-and-faster/.
BBC Radio Surrey expert interviewer for a news piece on a cinema’s shopping mall restrictions on the sale of popcorn. Sep 2018.
Expert interviewee in Blayney Stuart, Mark (2017) Making connections when learning. aatComment. 17 October. http://www.aatcomment.org.uk/making-connections-when-learning/
Mentioned in Paddick, R (2016) “Ricoh and Royal Holloway team up for distance learning MBA” http://edtechnology.co.uk/Article/ricoh-and-royal-holloway-team-up-for-distance-learning-mba
ShareRadio 30min Christmas advertising conversation on “Women and Money” (2014) with Victoria Hollingsworth, 13 Dec
“Distance learning programmes: Why there has never been a better time to study part-time” (2014) The City Magazine, Oct
Mentioned in “Business School Marketing Comms to Inspire” (2013) http://thefutureindex.com/2013/09/05/future-comms-best-of-business/ Sep
Mentioned in “MBA graduates turning backs on finance for voluntary sector” (2013) https://www.worldfinance.com/strategy/business-education/mba-graduates-…
Interviewed for “All the world of work’s a stage” Helena Pozniak, The Guardian, Dec 2013
Interviewed for “Royal Holloway: Low-tech design aims to broaden reach” Emmanuelle Smith, Financial Times, 12 Mar 2012
Interviewed for “One-year posting, three expats and an MBA” (2012) Charlotte Clarke, Financial Times, 17 Dec
“Embrace London's distance learning courses and reap the rewards” (2012) The Telegraph, 13 July
Daily Telegraph interactive contribution to “Is there any need for the high street travel agent ?” (2007) Telegraph.co.uk, 13 February
Aerlines Magazine “Bells and Whistles or Back to Basics ? Emerging Airport Competition” (2007) www.aerlines.nl 27 Nov
BOOK CHAPTERS AND BOOK REVIEWS
With Siampos, A. (2022) “Are you still watching: What happens when Netflix isn’t enough ?” in Whittle, A., Schweitzer, J., Pitelis, C. and Clegg, S.R., (2022) Strategy: Theory and Practice. Strategy, pp.1-100.
“So you want to study for your MBA in London ?” (n.d.) Association of MBA’s https://community.mbaworld.com/blog/b/weblog/posts/so-you-want-to-study-for-your-mba-in-london#RvuLUd5SaACfgGXr.99
Chapter “The branding of Surrey craft beers” in The Geography of Beer 2. (6 April 2020) Edited by:Patterson, M.W. and Pullen, N.H. Springer Science & Business Media.
“Relationship building in a leadership development residential experience” (2020, Accepted/In press) Supporting Intercultural Learner Relationships in Higher Education: Edited by: Monika Foster & David Killick.
with Rivers, C. “Developing Business Ready Graduates - Teaching Inside Out” (15 May 2019) Innovate Higher Education to Enhance Graduate Employability: Ed. Dr Hong T.M. Bui and Cole, D.
“Making case study teaching really sing” (29 Mar 2019), pedagogic case in ‘Developing your teaching’ Kahn, Peter and Anderson, Lorraine. 3rd Ed.
Video contributor “teaching with Case Studies” 2019, https://caseshub.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/#/library/bySubject/teachin… : Emerald
with Brodzinski, Emma; Turner, Alex "Case Studies in Performing Arts: Music, Theatre, Dance, Musical Theatre" Ch. 6 in J Joseph Hoey IV and Jill L. Ferguson (2015) Reframing Quality Assurance in Creative Disciplines: evidence from practice. Champaign, IL: Common Ground Publishing. Pp 117-129.
“Boden: Diversifying or Internationalising a British Fashion Brand" (2015), The Case Centre. 315-162-1
Book Review: How to reform a Business School – the Ivy League way: Book Author Ashish Jaiswal. (2015), MBA Director.
“Leisure travel distribution” in Jobber D. (2009) Principles and Practice of Marketing. 6th Ed. McGraw-Hill: Maidenhead, UK.
“Going international with McDonald’s” in Jobber, D. (2007) Principles and Practise of Marketing. 5th Ed. McGraw-Hill: Maidenhead, UK.
“Going international: the case of McDonald’s” in Jobber, D. (2004) Principles and Practice of Marketing. 4thEd. McGraw-Hill: Maidenhead, UK.
Book Review: How to reform a Business School – the Ivy League way: Book Author Ashish Jaiswal (2015) MBADirector.
JOURNAL PAPERS
With Lanham-New, W., Mahon, C. and White, E. (2022) “Experiential learning exercise: Designing a pirate community using the cultural web”. Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 5(2). **Q1 & Top 10% on Scopus
With Lanham-New, W. (2022) “Introducing the discovery case study: Brompton folding bikes”. Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 5(1), pp.183-187.
With Siampos, A. (2021) “Group role play case: Designing a multiple sting, digitally focussed, marketing communications campaign plan for Cirque du Soleil’s next London show”. Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 4(1), pp.141-143. https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2021.4.1.11
With Paniagua Martin, I. (2020) “How Sarah Kauss turned her drinking bottle start-up S’well into a $100m enterprise: Teaching business case study.” Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching. Vol. 3 No. 2. August 12. https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2020.3.2.3 ** Undergraduate student collaboration publication
With Moin, S. M. A., Hosany, S. (2020) “Storytelling in Destination Brands' Promotional Videos” Tourism Management Perspectives. Volume 34, ISSN 2211-9736, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2020.100639 **Academy of Management BEST PAPER AWARD
"Why do digital teaching innovations so often fail?" Journal of Education, Innovation and Communication (JEICOM) 11-29 Vol. 2. Issue 2, December 2020 DOI: 10.34097/jeicom-2-2-Dec2020-1 https://coming.gr/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/1_December2020_JEICOM_Justin-Peter-OBrien.pdf
with Gerard Clough, Norlene Conway, Silke Placzeck (2020) "The development and delivery of a short, multi-dimensional Study Abroad programme with a twin focus on intercultural skills and employability". Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching. 11 Aug. https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2020.3.2.2
(30 Dec 2019), “Giving and receiving feedback - role play exercise” Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching. 2, 2, p. 100-106, DOI: https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2019.2.2.15
With Anastasiadis, S. (20 Dec 2019), “An exploration of taught master’s student perceptions of UK dissertation supervision.” Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. 16, p. 1-38, 1. https://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/490/pdf
(28 Jun 2019), “Has your flip flopped? Discovery learning with extraordinary seminars”Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching. 2, 1, p. 45-53, DOI: https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2019.2.1.5
(5 Jun 2019), “Forming powerful MBA teams using Lego architecture” Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching. 2, 1, p. 79-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2019.2.1.12
(30 Nov 2018) “Applying the ‘Write Short’ concept in a university degree assessment strategy” Journal of Academic Writing. 8, 2, p. 229-232. http://dx.doi.org/10.18552/joaw.v8i2.445
(2018) “Establishing a retro-marketing rental company: VW Kamper case study” The International Journal for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Vol. 19, No. 2, 01.05.2018, p. 125-139. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1465750318761647
With Brown, D. (Nov 2017) “Engaging Business: Using practice-based experiential learning approaches to enrich MBA programmes” Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. Issue 12, Nov. pp 1-24. https://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/395
JOURNALISM
"Raising the learning and teaching bar post-Covid" (2021) WonkHE. 19 November https://wonkhe.com/blogs/raising-the-learning-and-teaching-bar-post-covid/
"Car dealerships are reopening but the pivot to online sales has begun". (2020) The Conversation. May 28.
with Hosany, Sameer “Companies wrestle with new era of negative online reviews and spiky consumers” (2016) theconversation.com republished by Yahoo News, Business Retail and in German by Netzpiloten.de.
“VW fails to rebalance Beetle’s gender appeal fuelling rumours that it’s the end of the road” (2016) theconversation.com
“What is so wrong with flexible pricing in football ?” (2016) theconversation.com
"Inside the massive market for loyalty cards and frequent flyer miles" (2015) theconversation.com Republished by: businessspectator
"How Dr Dre picked up the ball and ran with it despite Rugby World Cup's tight marketing scrum" (2015) theconversation.com Republished by: SportsBusinessDaily.com
with Wagner, Sigrun M. And Anastasiadis, Stephanos "Volkswagen CEO has fallen on his sword, but is it the death of diesel." (2015) theconversation.com Republished by USnews.com, Fortune.com. Lead author.
“Sound the last post: Royal mail is failing to keep up with its smarter competitors” (2015) theconversation.com
"Let me edutain you! Why university lecturers need to play to their audience"(2015) theconversation.com Republished by Science20, MalaysianInsider
"Airport wars heat up as political window opens for new runways" (2015) theconversation.com
“Why LinkedIn’s university rankings matter” (2014) theconversation.com
“Penguin vs guerrilla marketing in ad land’s Christmas rush” (2014) theconversation.com Republished by Highland Times
“Coke Life lands a blow against sugar but its worthy credentials could still be in trouble” (2014) theconversation.com
“Fun, finance and fulfillment lures MBAs to the third sector” (2013) theconversation.com Republished by world finance, nfpeople
“VW Type 2 may rise from the dead after Kombi apocalypse” (2013) theconversation.com