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Rowena Barrett

Head of School (Management)

Current teaching

• MAN5365 - Business Project (Sem. 2, 2012)
• MAN5625 - Workplace Practicum (Sem. 2, 2012)
• MBA5603 - Leadership and Change Management (Sem. 1, 2012 for the WA Police)

Background

Professor Rowena Barrett is the Head of the School of Management and Professor of Human Resource Management (HRM). Previously she was Professor of HRM and Small Business at De Montfort University, Leicester, in the United Kingdom.

In her 3 years in the UK, Professor Barrett's research focussed on people management issues in smaller firms. She led the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Research Group at De Montfort Univerity and realised that the issues facing small firms are largely similar in developed countries with some variations for regulatory and institutional contexts. This understanding was facilitated by leading the Family and Small Business Research Unit at Monash University, where she worked for many years prior to moving to the UK. 

Professor Barrett's academic background is in Industrial Relations with her PhD (University of Melbourne) focussed on industrial relations in small firms. Her research interests have generally focused on understanding how people are managed in smaller firms, particularly given that many smaller firms operate without formalised management systems. Professor Barrett's research has been supported by funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC), government agencies, industry and organisations. She has an impressive portfolio of research publications including books, book chapters and journal articles.

Professor Barrett is a member of the editorial boards of New Technology Work and Employment, Small Enterprise Research and the Australia New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM) journal – Journal of Management and Organisation. She has edited special issues of international journals on small firm topics, and regularly reviews papers for a wide array of international and domestic journals. 

Professor Barrett is an active member of ANZAM and from 2010-2012 has been the Human Resource Management Track Chair for the annual ANZAM conference. In June 2012 she was co-opted to the ANZAM Board as the representative for Western Australian management academics. She has extensive experience in teaching in the areas of Management, Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations. She has supervised a range of PhDs to completion on diverse smaller firm topics and has examined a number of PhDs from both the UK and Australia. 

Professor Barrett undertakes activities outside academia and was appointed a member of the Western Australian Government’s Women’s Advisory Council in December 2011 for 2 years. The Women’s Advisory Council provides advice to the Minister for Women’s Interests on matters important to the women of WA. To provide such advice, the Council consults with women’s organisations and individuals, assesses government policies and programs relevant to women, and monitors the impact that government policies and programs have on women, once implemented. In addition to this, Professor Barrett is President of a community-run child care organisation in Perth which caters for up to 80 children in before and after school care. 

Staff qualifications

• BSc (Monash University)
• PGDipEd (Monash University)
• MCom (IR with Honours) (University of Melbourne)
• PhD (University of Melbourne)

Research

Research interest

• Work, employment and management issues in small firms

Current research areas

• Regulatory effects on small firms, particularly the harmonisation of Occupational Health and Safety regulations
• Pay equity in small firms
• Ethnic entrepreneurship
• Small firm training

Research grants

• 2012 - 2013, Innovation in resource sector small firms and workers on temporary 457 visas. Faculty of Business and Law Strategic Research Funding. Research team: Prof Rowena Barrett, Dr Susanne Bahn, Mr Krishna Prasad & Dr Pattanee Susomrith.
• 2010 - 2011, Building the base for cross national comparisons of ethnic entrepreneurship: Understanding Polish entrepreneurs in Australia. Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Inc. Research team: Barrett, R., & Vershinina, N.

Recent publications

Monographs

• Barrett, R., & Mayson, S. (eds) (2008). International Handbook of HRM and Entrepreneurship, Edward Elgar: UK.
• Barrett, R. (ed) (2005). Management, Labour Process and Software Development: Reality Bytes. Routledge, London, UK.

• Barrett, R. (2011). ‘In for the long haul: Family business succession at HaulageCo’, T. Dundon and A. Wilkinson (eds.) Case Studies in Global Management, Australia: Tilde University Press.
• Barrett, R. (2009). ‘A story about being engaged in research: Buzzing bees, small business and Australian unfair dismissal laws’ in K. Townsend and J. Burgess (eds) Methods in the Madness: Research Stories you Wont Read in Textbooks (pp. 175-190). Oxford: Chandos Publishing;
• Barrett, R., & Mayson, S. (2008). ‘The formality and informality of HRM practices in small firms’, in R. Barrett and S. Mayson (eds) International Handbook of HRM and Entrepreneurship (pp. 111-136), Edward Elgar;
• Barrett, R., Mayson, S., & Warriner, N. (2008) ‘The relationship between small firm growth and HRM practices’, in R. Barrett and S. Mayson (eds) International Handbook of HRM and Entrepreneurship (pp. 186-204), Edward Elgar: UK;
• Barrett, R., & Mayson, S. (2008). ‘Introduction: At the intersection of entrepreneurship and human resource management’, in R. Barrett & S. Mayson (eds) International Handbook of HRM and Entrepreneurship (pp. 1-20), Edward Elgar: UK;
• Barrett, R. (2006). ‘Small Business Employee Relations’, in J. Teicher and P. Holland (Eds.) Employee Relations Management: Australia in a Global Context, 2^nd Edition. Prentice Hall;
• Mayson, S., & Barrett, R. (2006). ‘HRM in small firms: Evidence from growing small firms in Australia’, in J. Tansky and R. Heneman (Eds) Human Resource Strategies for the High Growth Entrepreneurial Firm. Information Age Pub Inc;
• Barrett, R., Walker, B., Dunemann, M., & Rajapakse, T. (2005). ‘What is a ‘family business’? Defining an elusive concept’, in L. Glassop & D. Waddell (eds) Family Business in Australia, Heidelberg Press: Australia;
• Barrett, R. (2005). ‘Myth and reality’, in R. Barrett (Ed) Management, Labour Process and Software Development: Reality Bytes. Routledge, London, UK;
• Barrett, R. (2005). ‘Managing the software development labour process: Direct control, time and technical autonomy’in R. Barrett (Ed) Management, Labour Process and Software Development: Reality Bytes. Routledge, London, UK;
• Barrett, R. (2005). ‘The reality of software development’ in R. Barrett (Ed) Management, Labour Process and Software Development: Reality Bytes. Routledge, London, UK.

• Vershinina, N., Barrett, R., & Meyer, M. (2011). ‘Forms of capital, intra-ethnic variation and Polish entrepreneurs in Leicester’, Work, Employment and Society, Vol 25, No. 1.
• Barrett, R. & Claydon, T. (2010). ‘Possibilities for explaining the paradox of happy workers in small firms’, Revue Management et Avenir. No. 39, pp.176-187.
• Barrett, R., & Meyer, M. (2010). ‘Correlates of perceiving human resource management as a ‘problem’ in smaller firms’, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 48, No. 2. Pp. 133-150.
• Dyt, R., Halabi, A., & Barrett, R. (2010). ‘Understanding financial information used to assess small firm performance: An Australian qualitative study’, Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management, Vol. 7, No. 2. pp. 163-179.  
• Dyt, R., Halabi, A., & Barrett, R. (2010). ‘Understanding financial information used to assess small firm performance: A qualitative study’, Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management, Vol. 7;
• Barrett, R., & Wynarczyk, P. (2009). ‘Building the science and innovation base: Work, skills and employment issues’, New Technology Work and Employment, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 210-214;
• Billington, L., Neeson, R., & Barrett, R. (2009). ‘The effectiveness of workshops as a managerial learning opportunity’, Education + Training, Vol. 51, No. 8/9, pp. 733-746;
• Barrett, R., & Burgess, J. (2008). ‘Small firms and the challenge of equality, diversity and difference’, Equal Opportunities International, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 213-220;
• Rainnie, A., Barrett, R., Burgess, J., & Connell, J. (2008). ‘Call centres, the networked economy and the value chain’, Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 195-208;
• Barrett, R., & Mayson, S. (2008). ‘Small firms, the paid maternity leave debate in Australia and the business case’, Equal Opportunities International, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 276-291;
• Neeson, R., Billington, L., & Barrett, R. (2007). ‘Learning to solve a business problem: ‘hands-on’ gets results’, Industry and Higher Education, Vol. 21, No. 6, pp. 465-472;
• Barrett, R., Neeson, R., & Billington, L. (2007). ‘Finding the ‘right’ staff in small firms’, Education + Training, Vol. 49, No. 8/9, pp. 686-697;
• Barrett, R., & Mayson, S. (2006). ‘Exploring the intersection of HRM and entrepreneurship: Guest editors’ introduction to the special edition on HRM and entrepreneurship’, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 443-446;
• Mayson, S., & Barrett, R. (2006). ‘The ‘science’ and ‘practice’ of HRM in small firms’, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 447-455;
• Griffiths, R., Allen, D. & Barrett, R. (2006). ‘Integration of family owned business succession with turnover and lifecycle models: Development of a successor retention model’, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 490-507;
• Barrett, R. (2006). ‘Small business learning through mentoring: Evaluating a project’, Education + Training, Vol. 48, No. 8/9, pp. 614-626;
• Barrett, R., & Rainnie, A. (2005). ‘Small firms and new technology’, New Technology Work and Employment, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 184-189;
• Webster, B., Walker, B., & Barrett, R. (2005). ‘Small business and online training in Australia: Who is willing to participate?’ New Technology Work and Employment, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 248-258.

• Vershinina, N., & Barrett, R. ‘Researching immigrant entrepreneurial development: An ethnographic study of Polish entrepreneurs in Leicester’, RENT Conference, Budapest, Nov 2009;
• Vershinina, N., Barrett, R. & McHardy, P. ‘Entrepreneurial decision making - exploration into entrepreneurial logic’, 31^st National ISBE Conference, Liverpool, Nov 2009;
• Barrett, R., Claydon, T., & Rainnie, A. The paradox of happy workers in small firms: An exploration of new explanations for an old issue’ IIRA Conference, Sydney, Sept 2009;
• Guica, V., Mayson, S., & Barrett, R. ‘HRM and the role of the entrepreneurial founder in the fast growth firm’, Academy of Management, Chicago, Aug 2009;
• Wang, C., Walker, B., Redmond, J., & Barrett, R. ‘Who gets the nod? Gender issues in family business’ 30^th National ISBE Conference, Belfast, Nov 2008.