Dr Paola Zappa joins the Maynooth University School of Business.
Paola earned her PhD in Management from the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy. Prior to joining the School of Business, Dr Zappa held academic positions in the University of Milano-Bicocca and the University of Italian Switzerland, as well as visiting positions at the University of Manchester (UK) and University of Melbourne (Australia). She has also taught multiple courses and workshops in the areas of Management and Research Methods at these institutions.
Her research uses organisational theory to understand formal and informal collaboration in intra and inter organisational networks. Using multilevel network theory, Dr Zappa has studied how formal interdependencies among subunits, arrangements of knowledge domains and work conditions affect collaboration and knowledge sharing among organizational members. Paola has also explored dynamics and outcomes of collaboration and competition in informal groups and communities of practice, and the impact of online platforms on such dynamics. She has undertaken research in a variety of knowledge-intensive contexts, including healthcare organisations and Formula One racing teams. Her research has been published in leading international journals such as Organisation Research Methods and Social Networks, amongst others. She regularly presents her work at the Academy of Management (one of her papers at AOM was the runner up for the Organisation and Management Theory divisions best paper), European Group on Organisational Studies (EGOS), and Meetings of the International Network for Social Network Analysis, where she has organised and chaired sessions on Multilevel Network Research.