Dr Joey Lauw-Kalata Soehardjojo PhD

Dr Joey Lauw-Kalata Soehardjojo PhD

Lecturer, International Business
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  • Collaborative projects
  • Industry Projects
  • Masters Research or PhD student supervision
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About

Dr. Joey Soehardjojo is a Lecturer (Education, Research and Industry Engagement) at RMIT University Vietnam. He is an interdisciplinary scholar of innovation, work, and organization whose research examines how labor-market institutions, HRM–employment relations systems, and multi-actor governance shape work and industrial development in global production networks, with a particular focus on Japan and Southeast Asia.

 

Building on his award-winning PhD thesis, his scholarship is grounded in extensive longitudinal, multi-sited field research with firms, employer associations, unions, government agencies, and intermediary organizations. As a lead author, he has published in ABDC A/CABS rank 3* outlets includingEconomic and Industrial Democracyand theInternational Journal of Human Resource Management, and has led and contributed to funded research projects supported by UKRI ESRC, the British Academy, and Japan’s JSPS.

 

Alongside academic research, Joey maintains sustained industry and policy engagement. He contributes to knowledge exchange with policy stakeholders, industry, trade unions, and quasi-public agencies, and has served as an invited speaker and discussant for government and industry.

 

Before entering academia, Joey held leadership and management roles in New York City, including work in the financial district (Wall Street) and at Rockefeller Center. In the post-9/11 period, he supported cross-cultural communication and training work aligned with public-agency operational needs, contributing to practical cultural competence and communication capability in complex, high-stakes environments, including work involving the CIA, FBI, and NYPD. He also participated in the Walt Disney World International Program (EPCOT, Florida). Multilingual and internationally mobile, he has lived in eight countries and has worked in UK higher education across both Russell Group and modern universities. He is now based in Vietnam, his most recent professional and personal home, and enjoys local gastronomy and culture.

 

Joey holds a PhD from Warwick Business School (UK) and completed an MSc at the University of Oxford and an MSc at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), both in the UK. He also holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University (Canada) and Osaka University (Japan).

 

PhD Dissertation achievement and recognition:

  • Winner, Thomas A. Kochan and Stephen R. Sleigh Best Dissertation Award, Labour and Employment Relations Association (LERA), 73rd Annual Meeting, USA, 2020
  • Runner-up, Adam Smith Best Doctoral Dissertation Award, Academy of International Business UK & Ireland (AIB-UKI), 47th Annual Conference, UK, 2020
  • Highly Commended, EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Award, European Foundation for Management Development, Belgium, 2020
  • Impact factor: Since being made Open Access in October 2022, the thesis has been downloaded over 500 times across 30 countries

Teaching achievement and recognition:

  • 2019 Teaching Excellence Awards: University of Warwick and Warwick Business School, UK

Research grants and Fellowship:

  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Co-Investigator, ¥18,850,000 (US$128,000), 2025-2028
  • International Collaborative Fund, Manchester Metropolitan University, £8500 (US$9,750), 2024
  • Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Japan, ¥2,300,000 (US$17,000), 2023
  • The British Academy, UK, £61,500 (US$76,800), 2022
  • Social Science Research Council, US, US$64,401, 2021
  • UKRI Economic and Social Science Research Council, UK, £91,862 (US$115,000), 2020
  •  Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, ¥7,580,000 (US$56,700), 2019
  • Great Britain Sasakwa Foundation, £11,500 (US$15,000), 2018
  • Harvard-Yenching Institute, Harvard University, US, 2018

Research fields

  • 350706 International business
  • 3505 Human resources and industrial relations
  • 350712 Production and operations management
  • 350909 Supply chains
  • 350705 Innovation management

UN sustainable development goals

  • 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
  • 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Academic positions

  • PhD and DBA external examiner
  • UK Higher Education
  • United Kingdom
  • 2026 – Present
  • ESRC Research Funding Evaluator
  • UK, US and Japan Research Institutes
  • United Kingdom
  • 2023 – Present

Non-academic positions

  • Industry, Policy stakeholder and Public engagement
  • Knowledge Transfer Partnership
  • UK, Japan and ASEAN, Japan
  • 2019 – Present

Teaching interests

My teaching is research-led, inclusive, and dialogic. I design learning experiences that help students connect theory to real organizational and societal challenges, drawing on insights from longitudinal fieldwork across Asia to inform lectures, case studies, and student-led research projects that foster critical thinking and global awareness. I have taught across undergraduate and postgraduate programs, including both coursework teaching and research supervision, working with diverse cohorts of international students as well as mature learners returning from industry and those balancing study with family and caring responsibilities. My teaching record has been recognized through university- and department-level teaching awards in the UK.

 

I contribute actively to curriculum development, module design, and program review, aligning content with interdisciplinary goals and contemporary global challenges, including digitization, the future of work, and sustainable industrial transformation. I emphasize academic integrity, methodological rigor, and reflective learning, supporting students to develop strong analytical writing, evidence-based argumentation, leadership, and professional communication skills. Equally important is a commitment to student well-being and inclusive learning, including appropriate support for neurodivergent students and learning practices that promote active learning and a healthy balance between academic study and everyday life.

 

Postgraduate research project supervisor expereince:

  •  Provided structured academic supervision, advice, and encouragement to ensure successful completion of postgraduate research theses in line with the QAA Quality Code (Chapter B11: Research Degrees) and SCQF Level 11 standard
  • Guided MSc  in international bsuienss management and MBA 21 students in developing specific, generic, and transferable research skills consistent with the Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF)
  • Supported students in conceptualizing research design, ethical approval processes, methodological rigor, and scholarly research writing.
  • Engaged and monitor progress and provide constructive feedback through regular supervision meetings and developmental reviews
  • Ensured adherence to institutional and national standards for research integrity, data management, and academic quality assurance.

Research interests

My research portfolio is oriented toward theory development with clear societal relevance. It speaks directly to policy stakeholders and communities of practice by engaging with contemporary shifts in the global political economy—industrial restructuring, uneven labor-market institutionalization, supply-chain pressures, and contested employment regulation. I use empirically grounded research to explain how these dynamics shape economic equity, job quality, worker voice, inclusion, and capability building, and to develop theory on the governance of innovation and work across organizations, industries, and institutional environments.

 

As lead author, my research focuses on:

  • Labor-market institutions and HRM–employment relations systems in comparative perspective, including the politics and practice of implementation and enforcement.
  • Multi-actor governance and legitimacy processes shaping employment regulation, worker voice, and industrial relations outcomes.
  • Global production networks and industrial upgrading, including how supply-chain governance influences work, skills, and inclusion across tiers.
  • Intermediary organizations and institutional agency, examining how hybrid actors coordinate knowledge transfer and capability building in industrial fields.
  • Work, innovation, and skills formation in late-industrializing contexts, with attention to the distributional consequences of industrial development.

 

I collaborate with co-authors across Australia and the UK and welcome research collaborations—especially projects that combine rigorous fieldwork with contributions to theory and practical value for policy, industry, and worker organizations.

 

Manuscripts under Review by the journal:

 

1.       Title: Human Resource Management Implementation as a System-Level Legitimacy Process: Visibility and Binding Mechanisms in the Multi-Actor Governance of Industrial Relations

Authors: Soehardjojo, J., Bresnen, M., Cooke, F. & Delbridge, R.

Journal: International Journal of Human Resource Management (ABDC A/CABS 3*)

 

2.       Title: Supplier Development as a Distributed Operational Capability: A Multi-Tier Learning System in a Late-Industrialized Supply Network

Authors: Soehardjojo, J., Delbridge, R.& Bresnen, M.

Journal: Production & Operationa Management (ABDC A*/CABS 4*/FT50)

Initiatives and links