Dr Nicola Mountford

    School of Business

    Lecturer / Assistant Professor

    School of Business
    2
    (01) 474 7765

    Biography

    Nicola is a Lecturer in Management at Maynooth University's School of Business.  Nicola's research interests are in the public organization of markets, in particular through the use of inter-organizational networks.  To-date much of her research has focused on the re-organization of the healthcare market in response to the increasing pervasiveness of technology, and she held a Fulbright TechImpact Scholar award in the area of eHealth.  Nicola has published in business journals such as Organization Studies and the Journal of Business Research; and has presented at business conferences such as INFORMS and Academy of Management. Nicola has a strong emphasis on collaboration across boundaries – whether they be sectoral, disciplinary, or geographic.

    Research Interests

    My research focuses on the organization of markets - in particular examining how the relationships between public actors and networks of actors might impact the evolution of the market.  I draw on several streams of research to answer questions in this area including market studies, and institutional theory.  My research in this area has been published in journals such as Organization Studies (ABS4/FT50), the Journal of Business Research (ABS3) and Academy of Management Proceedings (best papers).  I have also engaged in inter-disciplinary research in relation to eHealth that has been published in Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR).

    To-date my research context has focused on the field of healthcare and how technology is transforming organizational relationships through eHealth interventions and re-organizations.  I have undertaken a Fulbright-award study on such transformations in the New York healthcare market and led the publication of a technical report by the European Network for the Joint Evaluation of Connected Health Technologies (www.enject.eu) entitles "Connected Health in Europe - where are we today?". I am, however, also interested in other public goods markets such as mobility services, telecommunications, energy and education.

    From an education research perspective I am also interested in the challenges and opportunities presented by inter-disciplinarity - particularly at doctoral studies level.  My work on this topic has been presented at international conferences such as  International Conference on Higher Education Advances (www.headconf.org) and published in journals such as Studies in Higher Education (ABS3) and JMIR. 

    Research Projects

      Project Role Funding Body / Program Description Start Date End Date Award (€)
    Cancer: Activating Technology for Connected Health Dissemination Committee & Co-Author /
    European Network for the Joint Evaluation of Connected Health Technology Management Committee Member and Training School Co-ordinator /
    Fulbright TechImpact Scholar PI /
    Travel Support for ITN PI EU Horizon 2020 National Support Network / Travel Assistance 10-OCT-19 09-APR-20 400
    Opening Doors PI EU Horizon 2020 / Science with and for Society The purpose of OPENING DOORS is to co-develop an interdisciplinary, intersectoral, & international educational offering for post-graduate researchers. Our goal is to shape more innovative, socially aware, integrative and employable research graduates, ready to meet the challenges of the future. This will be accomplished through a challenge-based, open online educational course on open science. The focus of the course is on cultivating valued skills that can contribute meaningfully to the quadruple-helix model of open innovation. This model recognises four major actors in the innovation system: the scientific enterprise, policy, industry, and society. The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed technology-enabled university teaching overnight. An adaptation process that often takes years has been greatly accelerated, disrupting many cultural barriers to using digital learning environments. The OPENING DOORS virtual learning environment will be underpinned by connectivism as the pedagogical approach. Connectivism reflects the networked innovation environments of the future. The specific objectives of OPENING DOORS are to: 1) identify the graduate skills that are valued in open innovation systems through interviews with employers, PhD graduates and educators in those systems 2) co-design an educational course for PhD and postdoctoral researchers in collaboration with industry, government, community, university stakeholders including PhD students, that uses real-world challenges as the basis of collaborative learning opportunities 3) enable students to manage interdisciplinary, intersectoral and international connectivity through an open, online learning environment; reflexivity, interdisciplinary team communication processes, intercultural sensitivity, digital skills and career development will underpin the learning process This work is vital in an era where open science practices are becoming the currency in many intersectoral innovation networks 01-FEB-21 30-APR-22
    CHAMELEONS: Championing A Multi-Sectoral Education and Learning Experience to Open New Pathways for Doctoral Students PI EU Horizon 2020 / Science with and for Society Broadening PhD curricula will produce multiskilled individuals who will be highly competitive and sought after in the job market. The overall aim of CHAMELONS is to develop a range of interdisciplinary, intersectoral and international modules which are designed to broaden the skills of PhD graduates and improve their employability in both academic and non-academic environments. CHAMLEONS integrates work-based learning and business-education partnerships into doctoral programme design. In doing so, we will increase support for learners' mobility, providing opportunities to work in multiple countries and in multiple sectors. Data show that young people who study or train abroad find employment much more quickly than those without international experience. They adapt more quickly to new situations and are better problem solvers. In doing so, CHAMELEONS will deliver on a number of important sub-objectives. We will empower our PhD students with fundamental and advanced research skills that build into a state-of-the-art researcher toolkit that can be used in multiple sectors and contexts (RO1: State of the Art Research Toolkit). CHAMELEONS students will emerge from their PhD programme with business skills knowledge that they have honed and road-tested in live multi-sectoral environments (RO2: Business skills). CHAMELEONS will foster emotional intelligence within its students through personal development, organizational behaviour, and team building modules (RO3: Emotional Intelligence). Meeting these three research objectives will ensure a long and successful career for the student, a return on investment for the educational funders such as governments and EU programmes, and real and realised societal change in healthcare and beyond. 01-MAR-20 28-FEB-22 147653.75

    Conference Publications

      Year Publication
    2018 (Re)-Organizing the evolving healthcare market: Collaborative governance in bureaucratic contexts (best papers)
    Mountford N.;Geiger S. (2018) (Re)-Organizing the evolving healthcare market: Collaborative governance in bureaucratic contexts (best papers) 78th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2018 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2017 An Interdisciplinary 4th Level Education Model:Connected Health
    Nicola Mountford;Gemma Watts;Luis Fernandez Luque;Ioanna Chouvarda;Threase Kessie;Tara Cusack; (2017) An Interdisciplinary 4th Level Education Model:Connected Health [DOI] [Details]

    Peer Reviewed Journals

      Year Publication
    2020 'Duos and Duels in Field Evolution: How Governments and Interorganizational Networks Relate'
    Mountford N.;Geiger S. (2020) 'Duos and Duels in Field Evolution: How Governments and Interorganizational Networks Relate'. ORGANIZATION STUDIES, 41 (4):499-522 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2020 'Interdisciplinary doctoral research networks: enhancers and inhibitors of social capital development'
    Mountford, N;Coleman, M;Kessie, T;Cusack, T (2020) 'Interdisciplinary doctoral research networks: enhancers and inhibitors of social capital development'. Studies in Higher Education, 45 (12):2558-2573 [DOI] [Details]
    2019 'Leveraging Interdisciplinary Education Toward Securing the Future of Connected Health Research in Europe: Qualitative Study'
    Chouvarda I;Mountford N;Trajkovik V;Loncar-Turukalo T;Cusack T; (2019) 'Leveraging Interdisciplinary Education Toward Securing the Future of Connected Health Research in Europe: Qualitative Study'. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21 (11) [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2019 'Managing by proxy: Organizational networks as institutional levers in evolving public good markets'
    Mountford N. (2019) 'Managing by proxy: Organizational networks as institutional levers in evolving public good markets'. Journal of Business Research, 98 :92-104 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2019 'The Extent and Coverage of Current Knowledge of Connected Health: Systematic Mapping Study'
    Karampela M;Isomursu M;Porat T;Maramis C;Mountford N;Giunti G;Chouvarda I;Lehocki F; (2019) 'The Extent and Coverage of Current Knowledge of Connected Health: Systematic Mapping Study'. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21 (9) [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2018 'Activating technology for connected health in cancer: Protocol for a research and training program'
    Mountford N.;Zubiete E.;Kessie T.;Garcia-Zapirain B.;Nuño-Solinís R.;Coyle D.;Munksgaard K.;Fernandez-Luque L.;Romero O.;Fernandez M.;Jimenez P.;Daly A.;Whelan R.;Caulfield B. (2018) 'Activating technology for connected health in cancer: Protocol for a research and training program'. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 20 (1) [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2017 'Vectors and drivers of connected health in Europe: a foundation for integrated care'
    Mountford N, Chouvarda I, Isomursu M, Caulfield B. (2017) 'Vectors and drivers of connected health in Europe: a foundation for integrated care'. International Journal of Integrated Care, 12 (5) [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2017 'Towards a More Holistic Understanding of Whole Organizational Networks: Anthropological Approaches in Evolving Markets'
    Mountford, N; Kessie, T; (2017) 'Towards a More Holistic Understanding of Whole Organizational Networks: Anthropological Approaches in Evolving Markets'. 15 (2):74-84 [Details]

    Conference Contributions

      Year Publication
    2020 European Marketing Academy Annual Conference - IJRM/JCR Paper Development Workshop.
    Moran G. & Mountford, N. (2020) European Marketing Academy Annual Conference - IJRM/JCR Paper Development Workshop. [Refereed Abstracts], The Media and the Masses: Discursive Legitimation and Legitimacy Diffusion in Advancing Consumer Movements, Budapest (online) [Details]
    2020 7th biennial International Symposium on Cross-Sector Social Interactions.
    Nicola Mountford and Susi Geiger (2020) 7th biennial International Symposium on Cross-Sector Social Interactions. [Oral Presentation], Collaborative Governance in Bureaucratic Contexts, Limerick, Ireland (online) [Details]
    2020 European Group for Organizational Studies Annual Conference.
    Mountford, N. & Moran, G. (2020) European Group for Organizational Studies Annual Conference. [Oral Presentation], Levels of legitimacy – The recursive and discursive relationships between actors, populations and forums in their ability to [de]legitimize market practices, Hamburg (online) [Details]
    2019 Health Activism Between Markets and Morals.
    Mountford N.; Moran G. (2019) Health Activism Between Markets and Morals. [Oral Presentation], If the price is right… Social media and market (re)-organization in Ireland’s pricing of orphan drugs, Dublin, Ireland , 20-SEP-19 - 20-SEP-19 [Details]
    2019 European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS).
    Mountford N.;Geiger S. (2019) European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS). [Oral Presentation], How governments re-organize public good markets, Edinburgh, Scotland [Details]
    2019 European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS).
    Mountford N.;Geiger S. (2019) European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS). [Oral Presentation], Markets and Fields in Organization Studies, Edinburgh, Scotland , 03-JUL-19 - 06-JUL-19 [Details]
    2019 New Institutionalism - 15th Workshop.
    Cai, Y, Mountford, N., Comas, J. (2019) New Institutionalism - 15th Workshop. [Oral Presentation], Regaining the Power of Institutional Logics in Empirical Studies on Higher Education and Healthcare Organisations, Uppsala, Sweden [Details]

    Published Reports

      Year Publication
    2016 Connected Health in Europe: Where are we today?.
    Mountford et al. (2016) Connected Health in Europe: Where are we today?. University College Dublin, Ireland. [Details]

    Honours and Awards

      Year Title Awarding Body
    2016 Fulbright TechImpact Scholar Fulbright Ireland
    2018 Academy of Management Conference - Best papers (Top 10%) Academy of Management

    Professional Associations

      Association Function From / To
    EGOS Member /
    INFORMS Member /
    Academy of Management Member /

    Committees

      Committee Function From / To
    European Network for the Joint Evaluation of Connected Health Technologies Management Committee Member and Training School Co-ordinator 2015 / 2018

    Teaching Interests

    I am particularly interested in teaching at the inter-disciplinary boundaries between business and other disciplines such as the wider social sciences, health science, computer science, and life sciences.

    I currently co-ordinate the Masters-level Business Research Project module within the School of Business and the second year module, Enterpreneurship Theory, Processes and Practices.  I also lecture on the PhD level Qualitative Research Methods module and supervise MSc dissertations.

    External Collaborators

      Name Role / Description Country
    Prof Susi Geiger, University College Dublin IRELAND
    Prof Rajiv Kohli, William and Mary University U.S.A.
    Prof Ioanna Chouvarda, AUTH GREECE
    Dr Arto Lanamaki, University of Oulu FINLAND
    Prof Brian Caulfield, University College Dublin IRELAND
    Dr Tara Cusack, University College Dublin IRELAND
    Prof Minna Isomursu, ITU Copenhagen DENMARK
    Prof Vincent Mangematin, Kedge Business School FRANCE