I am Reader in Sociology & Political Economy in the Institute for International Management and Entrepreneurship at Loughborough University London. My PhD is in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

My most recent book is Management Divided: Contradictions of labor management (2022, Oxford University Press).

Praise for Management Divided:

"A superb piece of engaged scholarship, helping us make sense of the tensions and ambiguities of the capitalist workplace. Compelling material from the shop-floor, combined with deep, path-breaking theory. Sets a new standard for research on management and organizations."

-Paul Adler

Harold Quinton Chair in Business Policy

University of Southern California

"Vidal refreshes not only labor process theory and the sociology of work but economic sociology and organizational theory more broadly. Paradigm-making questions like these are urgently needed for our field. Vidal brings a critical and realistic eye to this daunting task." 

-Nathan E. Wilmers

Sarofim Family Career Development Associate Professor

and Associate Professor of Work and Organization Studies

MIT

“Matt Vidal’s Management Divided is a very good book and an important one. It dives deep into the organization of work in manufacturing and addresses a fundamental issue: what determines how we organize the management of workers, and, specifically, why is it that the most effective and efficient practices are not used? … It illustrates how incredibly elaborate, complicated, and interesting contemporary management decisions on the manufacturing shop floor are. That terrain is contested not only between workers and management but within management itself.”

-Peter Cappelli

George W. Taylor Professor

Professor of Management

The Wharton School

University of Pennsylvania

“Vidal skilfully builds his theoretical framework – organizational political economy – on an impressive range of literature. It is remarkable the depth and detail he discusses old and new books and articles, singling out arguments and empirical observations to clearly position his own theoretical arguments and findings. His framework is also supported by a large amount of empirical evidence. … Cutting across debates in several disciplines, from sociology and political economy to employment relations, management and organisation studies, Management Divided will surely stir up discussion in different fields. Vidal’s book contains provocative and original ideas, which will have a large following.”

                                                         -Chiara Benassi

Senior Lecturer

King’s College London

“This seminal book should be read by scholars and practitioners who are interested in Marxism, the labor process, supply chain management, and U.S. manufacturing’s future. … Vidal presents much information in theoretical terms, with sophistication and subtlety, while providing a thick description of lean management from both employees’ and managers’ perspectives. Readers will not be disappointed.”

            -Victor G. Devinatz

Distinguished Professor of Management

Department of Management

Illinois State University

“Management Divided is a lesson in theory building. It develops a complex theory of labour management and production models. … Altogether, this book represents one of the very few that explicitly integrates organisational and industrial analysis, with a theory of competition as well as workplace relations. Vidal connects deep structural contradictions with organisational theory, production models, managerial agency, worker alienation and the capitalist production of inefficiency.”

-Devika Narayan

Lecturer

School of Management

 University of Bristol

“This important book sees Matt Vidal bring a refreshingly rigorous application and synthesis of Marxist, institutional and organisational sociological theory to rich fieldwork on American lean production. … Its empirical depth will render the book a definitive account of lean production. … The theoretical contributions of Vidal’s research will be valuable to all critical sociologists of work and organisation.”

                                                                  -Alex Wood

Senior Lecturer

School of Management

University of Bristol

“Vidal has written a very stimulating book that fills a gap, especially with respect to a critical theory of management within the framework of labor process theory. The book represents an important step away from a pure control-resistance model of organization. … Also to Vidal’s credit is that his theory brings together labor process theory with institutionalist approaches. His book will be a must read for the further debate on lean production and management. What makes the book particularly interesting is the wealth of empirical material.”

-Martin Krzywdzinski, Professor

Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg

WZB Berlin Social Science Center

“The originality and importance of this work justifies the numerous reviews it has received.”

-Pascal Ughetto

Professor of Sociology

Laboratoire Techniques, Territoires et Sociétés

Gustave Eiffel University