Dr Ben Hardy

Ben is a Lecturer in Management at The Open University Business School, a post he took up following post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge. He has a diverse background having originally qualified from the University of Edinburgh as a veterinary surgeon. After working in academic veterinary medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and in general practice in Kent he joined the veterinary pharmaceutical industry as a Technical Services Manager. He then went to Cambridge to study for an MBA. During the first term of the MBA he became fascinated by the topic of organisational behaviour and subsequently completed an MPhil, which he passed with distinction, and a PhD. Both of these explored aspects of the concept of morale: a subject which has been rather neglected by academic research. On the way he developed interests in linguistics and the beneficial effects of negative emotions. Ben was an IBM PhD Research Fellow. He was a recipient of a Trinity Hall Research Bursary and is a Bateman Scholar at Trinity Hall. He now combined his business knowledge with his medical background as a Research Associate in Neuroscience, Endocrinology and Finance, which examined the role of the body, and particularly hormones, in the functioning of financial markets. 

He is currently conducting experiments as part of a large ESRC grant examining the effect of endocrine factors on financial trading. He is also involved in the xDelia project which seeks to understand the role played by emotion in financial decision-making. Ben is a member of the Vetlife veterinary mental health consortium which seeks to improve the mental health and wellbeing of the veterinary profession.

Ben’s principal experience is in teaching management practice. This involves helping people to understand and improve the actual minute-by-minute process of management. He has taught on MBA, Masters in Finance and Masters in Philosophy courses. 

The interaction between the body and social settings. Both the influence of social factors on the body and the influence of the body on the social environment. Emotions and morale in organisations. Linguistics in survey research. Veterinary mental health.

Ben has taught courses for, and acted as a consultant to, a wide variety of organisations such as BT, Nokia, WPP, ICBC, China Minsheng Bank, McLaren, Novozymes, DisplayLink, IBM, Essex County Council, Novartis and Yunan Construction. 

He teaches communication skills to veterinary students and is a trustee/director of the Feline Advisory Bureau, a major cat charity.