Centre for Productivity and Performance

Members

Dr Duncan Robertson BSc (London), MA DPhil (Oxford), ARCS CSci CPhys MInstP FHEA FCA

Photo of Dr Duncan Robertson

Senior Lecturer in Management Sciences

MSc Business Analytics projects coordinator

Simulation; agent-based modelling; strategy dynamics

Dr Duncan Robertson joined the Management Science and Operations Group at Loughborough in 2014.  Prior to that, he held posts at Warwick Business School (as Assistant Professor of Strategic Management), Manchester Business School, UEA London, Sun Yat-sen University in China, as well as holding a visiting post at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and teaching at London Business School.  He is a Fellow and Trustee of St Catherine’s College in the University of Oxford.

Before undertaking his DPhil at Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG working in the City of London, Australia, and New Zealand, where he specialized in advisory and corporate finance roles within the banking sector.  He originally trained as a physicist at Imperial College London.

Dr Robertson’s research concentrates on strategy dynamics, modelling the interaction of firms, societies, and individuals.

A principal modelling approach used by Dr Robertson is the use of agent-based models to simulate the behaviours of individual firms, consumers, and the interaction between them.  Dr Robertson’s research uses concepts from complexity science to investigate systems that are difficult to analyse using traditional modelling techniques.  He uses methods and models from other social and natural sciences and applies them to management problems.  He has provided consultancy services for companies such as Unilever.

Another aspect of Dr Robertson’s research is its interdisciplinary nature (linking departments within business schools and between academic departments): he was awarded a £0.25 million grant from EPSRC (with Professor Sandra Chapman of Warwick’s Department of Physics (as PI) and Professor Ed Bullmore of Cambridge’s Department of Neuroscience).

Dr Robertson’s book The Dynamics of Strategy (co-authored with Adrian Caldart, published by Oxford University Press) sets out his work at the interface of strategic management and management sciences. 

Dr Robertson is a judge at the Management Consultancies Association Awards.  His research has been recognized by the Strategic Management Society, having been shortlisted several times for the research paper of the year at their annual conference.

Dr Robertson is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Complexity in Leadership and Management.  He is a Member of the Institute of Physics and a Chartered Physicist.  He was awarded a Fellowship of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 2011.

Books

  • Robertson, D. A. (2019) Agent-Based Strategizing, Cambridge University Press
  • Robertson, D. A. and Caldart, A. A. (2009) The Dynamics of Strategy: Mastering Strategic Landscapes of the Firm, Oxford University Press

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

  • Currie, S. M., Robertson, D. A. et al. (2020) ‘How Simulation Modelling Can Help Reduce the Impact of COVID-19’, Journal of Simulation (ABS1), 14(2), 83-97
  • Robertson, D. A. (2018) ‘Spatial Competition Models: A Taxonomy and Framework’, Risk Analysis (ABS4), 39(1), 225-243
  • Collet, F., Robertson, D. A., and Lup, D. (2014) ‘When Does Brokerage Matter?  Team Success in an Emerging Academic Field’, Strategic Organization (ABS3), 12(3), 157-179