Steve Taylor | Worcester Polytechnic Institute

My research is focused in two areas: Organizational aesthetics takes seriously the idea that management is as much an art as it is a science, and applies art-based scholarship and practice to management and organizations. Reflective practice is the ability to analyze our own actions and learn from that how to be more effective, ethical, and artful as managers and leaders. At the heart of my work as a researcher and teacher, is my own practice as a playwright. My plays have been performed in England, France, Poland, Canada, New Zealand, Italy, and the USA. From my work in the theater, I have come to realize that learning is a whole body sport and this belief informs both my research and teaching.

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Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 4: Quality Education

SDG 4: Quality Education - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

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Quality Education Goal

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

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Decent Work and Economic Growth Goal

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

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Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure Goal

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities - Reduce inequality within and among countries

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Reduced Inequalities Goal

SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

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Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions Goal

Scholarly Work

Professor Taylor's research focuses on Organizational Aesthetics and Reflective Practice.

Featured works:

Creed W.E.D., Taylor S.S., Hudson B.A., (2020). Institutional Aesthetics: Embodied Ways of Encountering, Evaluating, and Enacting Institutions. . Organization Studies. , 41, 415-435. . https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840619835254

Taylor, S. S., (2017). Staging Organization. Palgrave Macmillan Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63127-1

Taylor, S. S., (2012). Leadership Craft, Leadership Art. Palgrave Macmillan New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137012784

Ladkin, D., Taylor, S.S., (2010). Enacting the ‘true self’: Towards a theory of embodied authentic leadership,. The Leadership Quarterly, 21, 64-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.10.005

Ladkin, D., Taylor, S.S., (2009). Understanding arts-based methods in managerial development. Academy of Mangement Learning & Education, 8, 55-69. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2009.37012179

Professional Highlights & Honors

Series Editor, Business, Arts and Humanities, 2016
Palgrave Macmillan

Fulbright Specialist, 2013
Massey University, New Zealand

Founding Editor-in-Chief, 2011
Organizational Aesthetics

Researcher in Residence at the Banff Centre, 2008
Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, Canada

Leadership Arts Playwright in Residence, 2004
Banff Centre