https://www.rikon.ie
Dr. Thomas (Tom) O’Toole B. Comm., MBS, FMII, FIAM, PhD.

Dr. Thomas (Tom) O’Toole B. Comm., MBS, FMII, FIAM, PhD.
Head of School (Dean) of Business

Dr. Thomas O’Toole is Head of the School of Business at South East Technological University.  He teaches in the subject areas of marketing and strategy. Dr. O’Toole’s research specialism is in the area of inter-firm relationships and networks with a specific focus on collaboration.

Dr. O’Toole’s publication track record includes over 90 peer reviewed articles (including in the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Product Innovation Management, European Journal of Purchasing and Supply, International Small Business Journal, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Journal of Customer Behaviour).

He is co-author of the text, now in its second edition, entitled Strategic Marketing Relationship, from strategy to implementation (Wiley: London).  Dr. O’Toole is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the European Journal of Marketing.  He became a Fellow of the Irish Academy of Management in 2012 for his contribution to the Academy and to management education, and was awarded a Fellowship of the Marketing Institute of Ireland in 2005 for his contribution to marketing practice in Ireland.  Dr. O’Toole serves on a range of boards of non-for-profit and community organisations.  In 2013, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholar.

One very enjoyable part of my job is research which informs my teaching and practice. My area of research is strategic market relationships and networks or how businesses or other organisations collaborate to compete.  If you are interested in this work you can contact me.  I am always looking for cases of companies who have strategic collaborations with their partner buyers or suppliers.  In addition, I am open to taking on students for research degrees in the area of my research.
I am currently involved in several major research projects and a longitudinal study.  The projects can be described as follows:

  • Collaborative/open innovation.  Most organisations create new value through innovation.  Our focus is on co-created innovation or where partners collaborate to create new products, services or process.  We are specifically interested in the intensity of this engagement.  This project involves researchers in WIT and in Holland.
  • Developing network capability of entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises.  This project examines how enterprises connect to other enterprises and organisations to develop their business.  The project examines how this evolution happens and has crossed industries including high technology, food and beverage.  It is being conducted with other Irish, US and Australian researchers.
  • Relationship strength or managing the close relationship. How relationships between businesses are managed and coordinated is of central concern in every supply and demand chain.  This project is a longitudinal one which examines the nature of this cooperation in particular at advanced levels of partnering.  This project involves collaborators from many other institutions.

Over many years as a lecturer I have been fortunate to teach across most of the Schools in the Institute and across all levels of student learning.

I have taught marketing subjects and business strategy.  In the last few years I have added research methods and teaching students and staff about research degrees and supervision respectively.  Major current interests of mine are in how first years experience college, and the impact and use of technology in the classroom.

In addition, I am excited by the use of problem-oriented, practice-to-theory or active modes of learning that can make learning more fun and embed the learning outcomes at a deeper level, and by the promotion of enterprise education to enhance the creativity of learners.
The School of Business uses a model of small class size which enables it to give students personalized attention in their learning journey for life and as business professionals.  The School has pioneered many novel and innovative approaches to teaching and learning, and many of its staff have published material on teaching.  I have written articles on practice-based teaching, active modes of knowledge transfer to enterprise, and authored many case studies used for classroom instruction.

Dr. Thomas O’Toole is Head of the School of Business at South East Technological University.  He teaches in the subject areas of marketing and strategy. Dr. O’Toole’s research specialism is in the area of inter-firm relationships and networks with a specific focus on collaboration.

Dr. O’Toole’s publication track record includes over 90 peer reviewed articles (including in the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Product Innovation Management, European Journal of Purchasing and Supply, International Small Business Journal, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Journal of Customer Behaviour).

He is co-author of the text, now in its second edition, entitled Strategic Marketing Relationship, from strategy to implementation (Wiley: London).  Dr. O’Toole is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the European Journal of Marketing.  He became a Fellow of the Irish Academy of Management in 2012 for his contribution to the Academy and to management education, and was awarded a Fellowship of the Marketing Institute of Ireland in 2005 for his contribution to marketing practice in Ireland.  Dr. O’Toole serves on a range of boards of non-for-profit and community organisations.  In 2013, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholar.