Birkbeck Business School Research Seminar – Dr. Dominic Chai SJ
When:
—
Venue:
Birkbeck Central
Dear colleagues and students,
As part of the Birkbeck Business School Research Seminar Series, jointly with the Birkbeck Accounting and Finance Research Seminar, we are delighted to host a hybrid research seminar by Dr Dominic Chai SJ, Associate Professor of Management at Loyola Marymount University, United States, and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
Dr Dominic Chai was previously a colleague in the Department of Management at Birkbeck, University of London, from 2015 to 2017.
The seminar will take place on Tuesday, 9 June 2026, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm UK time at BCB311, and will be delivered in a hybrid format, with both in-person and online participation available.
Talk title: Grounding Business Education in Contemplation: Reimagining Business Education Beyond the Technocratic Paradigm
Speaker: Dr Dominic Chai SJ
Date: Tuesday, 9 June 2026
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm UK time
Format: Hybrid, in person and online
Abstract:
Grounding Management in Contemplation:
Business Education Beyond the Technocratic Paradigm
Justin Nordin, Melissa Fitzpatrick, and Dominic Chai
College of Business Administration, Loyola Marymount University
Business schools have expanded their offerings in sustainability and corporate social responsibility, yet these concerns are often treated through technical, financial, and instrumental frameworks. Drawing on Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ (2015) and Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas (2026), this paper examines the technocratic paradigm: a way of seeing the world primarily as something to be measured, predicted, optimized, and controlled. As a constructive alternative, it develops contemplation as a mode of attentive, non-instrumental engagement with reality, one that brings into view the interconnectedness, beauty, and goodness of the world. The paper asks how contemplation might ground a more ethical and sustainable approach to management education and open space for business practice oriented toward the common good.
About Dr Dominic Chai SJ
Dominic Chai, SJ, PhD, is Associate Professor of Management and Associate Dean for Strategy and Mission at the LMU College of Business Administration, Loyola Marymount University, United States. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, a doctorate from the London School of Economics, and a licentiate in sacred theology from Boston College.
Fr Chai has held faculty positions at Manchester Business School, Seoul National University, Birkbeck College, University of London, and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he has taught strategic management and business ethics. His industry experience includes serving as an executive at Hyundai Development Company in Korea, where he led global strategy and launched ventures to create value and synergy across the business group.
During the recent pandemic, he was missioned to the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, where he co-ordinated the Vatican COVID-19 Commission’s Economy Taskforce, advocating debt relief for impoverished nations and forging partnerships to put Laudato Si’ into action.
Currently, Fr Chai collaborates with the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools to strengthen the global network of Jesuit institutions committed to addressing societal challenges. He is also a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Business Research. His research interests centre on integrating Catholic Social Thought into economic discourse, with the aim of advancing the well-being of global society and the common good.
Please feel free to share this invitation with anyone who may be interested, including students, colleagues, and external researchers.
We look forward to welcoming you to what promises to be a stimulating and engaging seminar.
Contact name: Ellen Yu
Tags: