I study how technological change reshapes work, organisations and the distribution of economic value.
My research asks how people build capabilities and coordinate their work as new tools change what they can do—and how the benefits and risks are shared.
My current research programme develops a theory of value after AI. As more cognitive work can be bought as a service, what happens to the value of human expertise, the organisation of firms, and the sources of economic advantage? I investigate when cheaper intelligence increases the value of other capabilities and resources—including infrastructure, practical knowledge, embodied skill and organisational judgement—and when technological progress erodes those advantages. The programme also examines care and the relationships that sustain human capabilities, much of which remains outside conventional measures of economic value.
This work builds on research stretching back to the early 2010s: how independent workers cooperate in coworking spaces, how people learn new practices of remote work, how social media changes employee voice, and how digital technologies enable new forms of governance. My recent work on shadow user innovation examines employees’ informal use of generative AI and how organisations respond to innovations emerging beyond established processes. Across these settings, I am interested in how technical possibilities become everyday practices, organisational capabilities and institutional arrangements.
Peer-reviewed publications, manuscripts under review, working papers, books, and the core intellectual agenda across organisation studies, innovation, entrepreneurship, and socio-technical change.
Open-source code, reproducible pipelines, classifiers, dashboards, datasets, validation workbenches, and methods utilities that make the research inspectable and reusable.
Fuller systems with users, onboarding, workflows, support, possible pricing, and ongoing product life when the research becomes useful in the world.
Alongside my scholarship, I design and build tools for research and organisational practice. These include Variorum, a scholarly-review environment that makes evidence and judgements traceable, and Founder Compact, a system for helping founding teams establish roles, commitments and governance arrangements. Building these tools gives me a practical setting in which to explore the coordination problems my research addresses.
I also write Letters from the Uncanny Valley, an essay series on writing, judgement and authorship after AI.
Research
Peer-reviewed publications, manuscripts under review, and working papers.
Access badges distinguish open copies, DOI records, research tools, and papers that still need a publisher-policy check before a manuscript can be mirrored on OSF, SSRN, or ResearchGate.
- Van Bueren, B. J., Lim, W. M., Donthu, N., Argus, K., Waters-Lynch, J. M., Sabani, A., & Leenders, M. A. (2026). How to Conduct a Multi-Domain Systematic (Literature) Review? Guidelines Using The Lotus Protocol. Psychology & Marketing.
- Waters-Lynch, J., Allen, D. W., Potts, J., & Berg, C. (2025). Shadow user innovation: governing covert generative-AI use for dynamic-capability renewal. Innovation, 1–17. [3 citations]
- Waters-Lynch, J., & Duff, C. (2024). Learning under lockdown: sensing, feeling and learning to work from home. Journal of Organisational Ethnography. [2 citations]
- Waters-Lynch, J., & Duff, C. (2021). The Affective Commons of Coworking. Human Relations, 74(3). [144 citations]
- Maddock, A., Waters-Lynch, J., & Parasol, M. (2023). Harnessing digital twins for fostering city-scale entrepreneurial ecosystems. IEEE Engineering Informatics, 1–9. [1 citation]
- Waters-Lynch, J., Timming, A. R., Wilkinson, A., & Breteler, A. From Off-Duty Social Media Expression to Workplace Evidence: Peer Circulation and HR Judgement.
- Somlai, R., Waters-Lynch, J., Lockrey, S., & Polson, D. Why Food-Waste Strategies Stall: Decision Procedures for Environmental Management in Food-System Firms.
- Goldstein, T., Waters-Lynch, J., Verreynne, M.-L., & Wade, B. Who Gets to Be Fundable? Venture Investors and the Cross-Border Translation of Entrepreneurial Ideology.
- Waters-Lynch, J., & Allen, D. W. E. Accountable Pseudonymity: Identity Regimes as Organisational Design.
- Waters-Lynch, J. Intelligence Is Not Self-Executing: Why Organisational Outcomes Diverge under Broad Generative AI Access.
- Waters-Lynch, J., & Timming, A. R. A 2024 Discontinuity in the Association Between Psychological Distress and Reported Suicidal Ideation: Evidence from the 2021–2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
- Waters-Lynch, J., Lambe, B., Smolarski, J., & Ahmad-Khan, A. Do Social-Media Boycotts Move Markets? Short-Horizon Evidence from U.S. Consumer Brands, 2019–2023.
- Waters-Lynch, J. Beyond Duty, Utility, and Virtue: Islamic Jurisprudential Ethics as an Interpretive Moral Architecture for Business Ethics.
- Waters-Lynch, J., Tavassoli, S., Duff, C., & Arenius, P. Entrepreneurial Atmospheres: What Makes a Place Entrepreneurial?
- Waters-Lynch, J., with Potts, J., & Lambe, B. Intelligence, Industrialised: A Theory of Value after AI. Six forks, stated as dated, falsifiable bets, with an observatory and a registered research agenda.
- Waters-Lynch, J. Digital Ghosts Governance: Consent, Legitimacy, and Posthumous Identity in Organizations.
- Waters-Lynch, J. AI Mythos: Mythic Ontologies, Factions, and Firm-Level AI Strategy.
- Waters-Lynch, J., & Potts, J. Too Good to Be True? Reputation Dynamics and Contagion Hiring in Low-Trust Labour Markets.
- Waters-Lynch, J. et al. When CEO Narcissism Dictionaries Measure Promotional Disclosure Style: A Construct-Audited Text-as-Data Approach.
- Waters-Lynch, J., Dodson, J., Potts, J., Hurley, J., & Butcher, T. (2016). Coworking: A Transdisciplinary Overview. Social Science Research Network. [243 citations]
- Waters-Lynch, J., Breteler, A., & Timming, A. R. (2026, forthcoming). Employee Voice and Free Speech. In Prouska, R., Kougiannou, N. K., Wilkinson, A., & Brooks, S. (Eds.), Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Employee Voice. Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Waters-Lynch, J., & Tavassoli, S. (2025). Collaborative Work Spaces, Diversity and Regional Entrepreneurship Growth. In The Handbook of Spatial Diversity and Business Economics. Oxford University Press.
- Waters-Lynch, J., & Duff, C. (2021). Coworking's Cooperation Paradox: On the role of stigmergic curation. In Orel, M., The Flexible Workplace. Springer. [8 citations]
- Waters-Lynch, J. (2016). Coworking: Challenges and Opportunities for a Prosperous and Fair New Economy. In The City as Commons. Commons Transition Coalition. [45 citations]
- Waters-Lynch, J. (2008). Young people driving networks. In Black, R. (Ed.), Beyond the Classroom: Building New School Networks. ACER Press. [3 citations]
- Eckersley, R., Cahill, H., Wierenga, A., Wyn, J., & Waters-Lynch, J. (2007). Generations in Dialogue about the Future. Australia 21 / Australian Youth Research Centre. [59 citations]
Methods
I combine qualitative fieldwork and theory development with computational and quantitative analysis, drawing on organisation studies, economics, sociology and anthropology. In the AI programme, I translate theoretical claims into testable predictions, with explicit time horizons and indicators drawn from public data.
- Qualitative ethnography and Gioia-style analysis. Fieldwork, interviews, coding, data structures, and iterative comparison to move from observed practice toward analytically defensible categories and mechanisms. Related workLearning under lockdownCivic expressionFood wasteFundableCooperation paradox
- Computational qualitative inquiry. Developing uses of LLMs, multi-agent coding, prompt-logged procedures, disagreement analysis, and edge-case review to make interpretive research more auditable. The aim is not to automate qualitative judgement, but to preserve its strengths while making coding decisions, abductive moves, and contested interpretations easier to inspect and reproduce. Related toolsFieldworkVariorum
- Mechanism-based conceptual theorising. Building middle-range accounts that name how technical and social shifts produce specific organisational outcomes: capabilities, commons, atmospheres, identity regimes, and governance forms. Related workShadow user innovationAffective commonsIdentity regimesCompetence infrastructureAtmospheres
- Event-study analysis. Estimating market reactions to public shocks and announcements using social-media attention, financial-news coverage, and equity-return panels. Related workBoycottsAI adoption premium
- Machine-learning prediction and temporal validation. Supervised learning on large survey data, with explicit attention to out-of-year performance, temporal drift, model maintenance, and human-mediated governance of predictions. Related workSuicidal ideation
- Network analysis and bibliometrics. Graph construction, lineage mapping, reputation-contagion modelling, and bibliometric signal analysis for labour-market and institutional questions. Related workHiring networks
- Text, discourse, and media analytics. Large-N media and text corpora, transcript analysis, supervised classification, topic structure, sentiment signals, and discourse-mapping for AI and public-attention questions. Related workBoycottsAI mythosHiring signalsCEO rhetoric
- Construct-audited text-as-data measurement. Developing computational text measures by treating dictionary and model scores as hypotheses to be audited: preserving match-level evidence, manually reviewing false positives and false negatives, separating adjacent constructs, freezing scoring rules before validation, and testing whether measures behave consistently across speakers, firms, contexts, and outcomes. Related workCEO rhetoricBoycotts
- Formal models, simulation, and scenario analysis. Conceptual models, testable propositions, vignette designs, and simulation-ready mechanisms for questions that need sharper causal structure before empirical testing. Related workAI scenario frameworkDigital ghostsCollaborative work spaces
- Agent-based simulation. Planned and exploratory work translating evolved psychological mechanisms, institutional rules, and strategic behaviour into simulation-ready models before empirical testing. StatusPlanned / exploratory
- Review methodology and evidence synthesis. Multi-domain literature review, integrative theory mapping, and cross-field synthesis for bodies of work that sit between disciplines. Related workLotus ProtocolCoworking overviewAtmospheres
- Governance and institutional design analysis. Translating organisational, ethical, and institutional problems into design settings: identity regimes, AI use, digital ghosts, peer review, and formation governance. Related workIdentity regimesShadow user innovationDigital ghostsIslamic ethics
- Reproducible computational workflows. Python pipelines for data cleaning, modelling, validation, visualisation, and research audit trails, increasingly supported by AI-assisted coding and verification. Related workSuicidal ideationBoycottsAI adoption premium
Implementation primarily in Python (pandas, networkx, scikit-learn, statsmodels), with end-to-end AI-assisted research workflows for literature synthesis, data extraction, code generation, and analysis verification.
Open science. Code released to GitHub; data published on OSF where appropriate. Anonymisation pipelines are in development for sensitive datasets so reproducibility holds without exposing source material.
Credentials
Academic background, teaching, industry work, and review activity.
Credentials
Assistant Professor, Management — Alfaisal University, Riyadh (2024 – present)
Senior Lecturer, Entrepreneurship and Innovation — RMIT University (2023 – 2024)
Lecturer & Director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program — RMIT University (2020 – 2022)
PhD (Management), RMIT University (2018). Thesis: A Theory of Coworking: Entrepreneurial Communities, Immaterial Commons and Working Futures. Passed outright; examiner listed it in the top 5% of theses examined. [12 citations]
Bachelor of Arts (International Studies) with First Class Honours, RMIT University (2006). GPA 3.9.
Awards. School of Management Award for Innovative Teaching (2023); Inspirational Teaching (2019); nominated for Vice Chancellor's Prize for Research Excellence (2018).
Teaching
Courses designed, taught, and coordinated:
Alfaisal University
- Strategic Management — Alfaisal University (2026)
- Entrepreneurial Finance — Alfaisal University (2026)
- Business Ethics — Alfaisal University (2025)
- Principles of Management — Alfaisal University (2025)
- Design Thinking — Alfaisal University (2025)
- Business Ethics — Alfaisal University (2024)
RMIT University
- Digital Technology Strategy — RMIT (2024)
- Driving Innovation in Organisations — RMIT (2019–2024)
- Managing Global / Remote Teams — RMIT (2021)
- Enterprise Beyond Profit — RMIT (2019)
Industry Engagement & Funding
Selected research income:
- $140,000 — Gander Pty Ltd / End Food Waste CRC, Retail Food Waste Savings (2023)
- $50,000 — RMIT Strategic Capability Deployment, "Cafe Lab" (2023)
- $45,754 — ACCAN, E-Change & Remote Work (2020)
- $10,000 — Impact Investment Group, Urban Futures (2018)
Editorial Review Activity
Manuscript reviewer for:
- Human Relations
- Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice
- Journal of Management Studies
- British Journal of Management
- Journal of Business Research
- Cambridge Journal of Economics
- Journal of Small Business Management
- Applied Psychology: An International Review
- Geoforum
- Review of Managerial Science
- Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy