Dr. Sheila Cannon

• Cannon, S. M.; G. Donnelly-Cox, Surviving the peace: Organizational responses to deinstitutionalization of Irish peacebuilding, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 44, (2), 2015, p360 - 378Journal Article, 2015, DOI , URL
• Cannon, Sheila, Organizational identity work in response to deinstitutionalization, Annual Colloquium of the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS), Rotterdam, The Netherlands, July 2014, 2014Conference Paper, 2014
• Cannon, Sheila, Surviving the peace: Processes of organisational identity work in response to deinstitutionalisation of Irish peacebuilding, Trinity College Dublin, 2014Thesis, 2014
• Cannon, S.; K. Kreutzer; G. Donnelly-Cox, Mission accomplished? Organizational identity work in Irish peacebuilding organizations, Annual Colloquium of the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS), Montreal, Canada, July 2013, 2013Conference Paper, 2013
• Donnelly-Cox, G; S. Cannon, Searching for solutions: Reactions in Ireland to crisis and altered conditions of support, Annual Conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR), Istanbul, Turkey, July 2010, 2010Conference Paper, 2010
• Donnelly-Cox, G; S. Cannon; J. Harrison, Ireland Country Report: Eufori Study. European Foundations for Research and Innovation, Brussels, Belgium, European Commission, 2015, 597-634Report, 2015, URL , TARA - Full Text
• Sheila M. Cannon, From Bad, to Good, to Redundant? A case study of an LGBT organisation in Ireland, European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS) Annual Colloquium, Copenhagen, Denmark, July 2017, 2017, pp1-25Conference Paper, 2017
• Cannon M. Sheila; Karin Kreutzer, Mission Accomplished? Organizational Identity Work in response to Mission Success, Human Relations, 71, (9), 2018, p1234 - 1263Journal Article, 2018, DOI , URL
• Sheila M. Cannon; Raymond Dart, Digital platforms as strategy: Case study evidence of social enterprises using digital innovations for social change, ARNOVA's 47th Annual Conference. From Relief to Resilience: How Philanthropy, Nonprofits and Volunteers Bridge the Gap between Crisis and Sustainability, Austin, Texas, USA, November 2018, ARNOVA, 2018, pp1-16Conference Paper, 2018
• Sheila M. Cannon, Legitimacy as Property and Process: The Case of an Irish LGBT Organization, Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Non-Profit Organization, 2019Journal Article, 2019, DOI , URL
• Cannon, Sheila M. and Raymond Dart, Real solutions or gimmicky distractions? Social enterprises using smartphone apps to address complex social problems, Voluntary Sector Studies Network (VSSN), York, UK, May, 2018, pp1-15Conference Paper, 2018
• Cannon, Sheila M. and Raymond Dart, Digital Social Innovation: A new actor in the third sector?, ARNOVA (Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action) 48th Annual Conference, San Diego, California, USA, November 2019, ARNOVA, 2019, pp1 - 24Conference Paper, 2019, TARA - Full Text
• Cannon, Sheila M.; Danielle Byrne; Mary Lee Rhodes; Gemma Donnelly-Cox; Raymond Dart, Social Enterprise in Ireland: A country case study, ARNOVA (Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action) 48th Annual Conference, San Diego, California, USA, November 2019, 2019, pp1 - 23Conference Paper, 2019
• Truong T.N. Thang, Sheila Cannon, Cherrell Picton, Shivangi Sareen, Mary Lee Rhodes, Social Enterprises in Viet Nam and Ireland, First, Hanoi, Vietnam, Labor Publishing House (Nha xuat ban lao động), 2019, 1 - 144ppBook, 2019, TARA - Full Text
• Cannon, Sheila M.; Alexandra Lamb, Paloma Raggo, Storytelling, Strategies, and Success: The Irish Reproductive Rights Movement, International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) 14th International Conference, Montreal, Canada, July 2020, 2020, pp1-20Conference Paper, 2020
• Cannon, Sheila M., Inter-ethnic Dialogue as a Personal and Collective Healing Process: Examples from Former Yugoslavia, Southeast Europe. Journal of Politics and Society, 53, (1), 2005, p38 - 45Journal Article, 2005, URL , TARA - Full Text
• Cannon, Sheila M. and Raymond Dart, Dramaturgy of technology: The start-up pitch, International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) 14th International Conference, Montreal, Canada, July 2020, 2020, pp1-18Conference Paper, 2020
• Wu, SH; Cannon, S; Coughlan, P., McNabola, A.; Novara, D.; Dreyer-Gibney, K., Sustainability-oriented process innovation and emergent social mission, EurOMA 2020, Managing Operations for Impact, Online, Warwick, 29-30 June, 2020Conference Paper, 2020, URL
• Foreword: The Opportunity of Global Social Entrepreneurship in, editor(s)Tom Gamble; Guragam Singh , Social Enterprise: A focus on entrepreneurship for the common good, Paris, France, Council on Business and Society, 2020, pp6 - 6, [Sheila M.Cannon; Conception Galdon]Book Chapter, 2020, URL
• SP Murphy, Cannon, S, Walsh, L, Just Transition Frames: Recognition, representation, and distribution in Irish beef farming, Journal of Rural Studies, 94, 2022, p150 - 160Journal Article, 2022, DOI , URL , TARA - Full Text
• Páramo Ortiz, Sergio; Cannon, Sheila M., Social Innovation Framework for Social Enterprises, Emergence of Social Enterprise in Europe Conference, EMES 8th International Research Conference, University of Zaragoza, Teruel, Spain, October 2021, 8, 2021, pp1 - 22Conference Paper, 2021
• McQuaid, Siobhan; Esmee D. Kooijman; Mary-Lee Rhodes; Sheila M. Cannon, Innovating with Nature: Factors Influencing the Success of Nature-Based Enterprises, Sustainability, 13, (22), 2021, p25Journal Article, 2021, URL
• Sheila M. Cannon; Raymond Dart, The Emergence and Evolution of Digital Social Ventures in Dublin, Ireland, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 2022, p19Journal Article, 2022, DOI , URL
• Eline Roomer; Sheila M. Cannon, Corporate Climate Adaptation Discourses: A systematic literature review and future agenda, 38th Colloquium, European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS), Vienna, Austria, 7 July 2022, edited by Zlatko Bodrozic; Ana Maria Peredo; Christopher Wright , 38, EGOS, 2022, pp11Conference Paper, 2022
• Sheila M. Cannon; Gemma Donnelly-Cox; Richard Hazenberg, Teaching Social Innovation through University Projects: The role of double agents in creating collaborative value, 38th Colloquium, European Group for Organization Studies (EGOS), Vienna, Austria, 7 July 2022, 2022, pp25Conference Paper, 2022
• Cannon Sheila, Byrne Danielle, Donnelly-Cox Gemma, and Rhodes Mary-Lee, Institutional influences on social enterprise types in the Republic of Ireland, The Irish Journal of Management, 2023, p1-16Journal Article, 2023, DOI , TARA - Full Text
• Coffey, David & Sheila M. Cannon, Understanding how organizations intentionally create value: Critical realism, value co-creation, and social enterprises, 9th EMES Conference, Act Locally, Change Globally: Social enterprises and cooperatives for more resilient economies and societies, Frankfurt, September 2023, 2023, pp1-28Conference Paper, 2023
• Cannon, Sheila M. & Concepción Galdón, Promise, Pitfalls, and Potential of Social Entrepreneurship. Positive Change Unleashed, 1st, Routledge, 2024, 1-146ppBook, 2024, URL
• Roomer, Eline; Sheila M. Cannon; David Coffey, Socio Critical Corporate Environmentalism: A systematic literature review, Innovating for the Future - Policy, Purpose, and Organizations, Academy of Management Conference, Chicago, Illinois, August 2024, 2024, pp1 - 38Conference Paper, 2024
• Moriarty Roisin; Tadhg O'Mahony; Agnieszka Stefaniec; Jean L. Boucher; Brian Caulfield; Hannah Daly; Diarmuid Torney; Sheila Cannon; Nessa Cronin; Brendan Dunford; Danielle Gallagher; Liam Heaphy; Ian Hughes; Rob Kitchin; Conor McGookin; Niamh Moore-Cherry; Susan P. Murphy; Tara Quinn; David Robbins; Jamie Rohu; Iulia Siedschlag; Lyndsay Walsh, Ireland's Climate Change Assessment: Volume 4: Realising the Benefits of Transition and Transformation, Environmental Protection Agency, 2023, p1 - 284Report, 2023, URL , TARA - Full Text
• Coffey, David; Sheila M. Cannon, Social value creation in social purpose organising, Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, 53rd Annual Conference, Washington DC, November 2024, ARNOVA, 2024, pp1 - 24Conference Paper, 2024
• Coffey, David; Sheila M. Cannon, Exploring instrumental and expressive dimensions of social value creation in a rural social enterprise, Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, 53rd Annual Conference, Washington DC, November 2024, ARNOVA, 2024, pp1 - 4Conference Paper, 2024
• Gemma Donnelly-Cox and Sheila M. Cannon, Responses of Non-profit Organisations to Altered Conditions of Support: The Shifting Irish Landscape, Voluntary Sector Review, 1, (2), 2010, p335 - 353Journal Article, 2010, DOI , URL
• Cannon, Sheila M; Donnelly-Cox, Gemma, A Hidden landscape? Finding and exploring the changing field of peacebuilding organisations, 27th EGOS Colloquium, European Group for Organizational Studies, Gothenburg, Sweden, 7-9 July 2011, 2011, pp1-24Conference Paper, 2011

• Cannon, Sheila M. and Anne Shelly-Lacey, Submission on Social Enterprise to Oireachtas Joint Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community, Dublin, Government of Ireland, December, 2019Report, URL
• Cannon, Sheila M., Climate Strikes: Greta Thunberg calls for 'system change not climate change' - here's what that could look like, The Conversation UK, 2019Journal Article, URL
• Cannon, Sheila M., A top-down solution to the Irish border after Brexit undermines 20 years of peacebuilding, The Conversation UK, 2018Journal Article, URL
• Cannon, Sheila M., What businesses taking a stand against Donald Trump can learn from NGOs, The Conversation UK, 2017Journal Article, URL
• Conception Galdon; Sheila M. Cannon; Edgard Barki; Adrian Zicari; Paula Cardenau, The Paradox of Our Times and a Key Role for Social Enterprise, Council on Business and Society, 2020Journal Article, URL
• Sheila M.Cannon; Kreutzer, Karin, Version 2.0: Are Nonprofits Allowed to Reinvent Themselves?, Global Voice, Council on Business and Society, 12, 2020, p35 - 38Journal Article, URL , TARA - Full Text
• Sheila M.Cannon, Fair Supply Chains and Business Education, Council on Business and Society Insights, 23 October 2020, 2020, p2Journal Article, URL
• Cannon, Sheila M., The MBA Social Enterprise Projects: Supporting Social Enterprises through Teaching, Regions for Social Economy Business Development - RESET, Support to Social Economy Business Development Workshop, Dublin, Ireland and online, 2 November 2021, European Union, 2022, pp20Oral Presentation
• Páramo Ortiz, Sergio; Cannon, Sheila M., Dimensions of Social Innovation: Radical versus Instrumental Approaches in Social Entrepreneurship, Centre for Social Innovation, Research Seminar, Trinity College Dublin, 17 November 2021, Trinity Business School, 2021, pp25Conference Paper
• Cannon, Sheila M., Civic Engagement: The MBA Social Enterprise Projects, Trinity Business School, Trinity Centre for Social Innovation, Trinity College Dublin, November 2021, 2021, pp1-20Oral Presentation
• Cannon, Sheila M., Teaching and Learning the Process of Social Entrepreneurship, National Forum for Teaching and Learning, National Forum Seminar Series, Carlow Institute of Technology, Ireland, 23 April 2021, 2021, pp20Conference Paper, URL
• Blanco Sanchez, Azucena; Sheila M. Cannon (supervisor), Green Demarketing Taking Off: A new environmental CSR approach for airlines, Trinity College Dublin, 2019Thesis, TARA - Full Text
• Cannon, Sheila M; Susan P Murphy; Lyndsay Walsh, What's the Beef? how to Make a 'Just Transition' in Farming to Meet Climate Targets, Council on Business and Society: Global Voice Magazine, 24, 2022, p99 - 101Journal Article
• Cannon, Sheila M; Susan P. Murphy; Lyndsay Walsh, False dichotomy has been established between beef farming and environmentalism, Irish Times, 2022, p1-3Journal Article
• Cannon, Sheila M, Nostalgia and Innovation, Irish Times, 13 June, 2022, p1-3-Journal Article, URL
• Cannon, Sheila M., Long airport queues show environmental impact of air travel is not a top priority in post-lockdown era, Irish Independent, 30 May, 2022, p1 - p3Journal Article, URL

Sheila is a social scientist, who uses qualitative methods to contribute to organisational theory. Sheila's research focuses on social purpose organisations: social enterprises, nonprofits, and civil society organisations. Her research contributes to knowledge and literature on neo-institutional theory, organisational theory, and organisational identity work. She focuses on how organisations influence and respond to social change, particularly in the social change associated with responding to the climate crisis. So far, she has studied contexts including peacebuilding, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, digital disruption, nature based enterprises, and corporate activism. Sheila has published in top journals in her field, such as Human Relations, 4-star and ranked 10th by the Financial Times (FT50), as well as the highest ranked nonprofit journal, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (3-star). Her doctoral research, "Surviving the Peace: Processes of organisational identity work in response to deinstitutionalisation of Irish Peacebuilding," received the 2015 Rudney Memorial Award for Outstanding Dissertation in Nonprofit and Voluntary Research. She subsequently served as Chair of said committee in 2016 and 2020. She achieved a Research Excellence award from TCD in 2018. She presents research at international conferences. She publishes in The Conversation, making academic research accessible to a wider audience.

• Title

  European Foundations for Research and Innovation (EUFORI) Study
  Summary

  Each European member state applied the same methodology to analyse foundations that fund and support Research and Innovation, in order to have a comprehensive map and comparative analysis of philanthropic R&I funding across Europe. The Centre for Nonprofit Management at Trinity Business School conducted the Ireland country report.
  Funding Agency

  European Commission
  Date From

  2013
  Date To

  2015
• Title

  Value Creation in Social Enterprises: A Case Study of the Fanad Head Lighthouse, Donegal
  Summary

  A case study of one historic, community-owned social enterprise provides insight into how organisations create different types of value for different stakeholders. This project consists of conducting qualitative data and includes empirical work by one doctoral researcher. Firstly a comprehensive literature review was conducted, followed by data gathering at the lighthouse and with wider stakeholders. The data and findings will be written up and submitted as conference and journal articles.
  Funding Agency

  TCD Arts and Social Sciences Benefactions Fund
  Date From

  February 2023
  Date To

  September 2025
• Title

  Viet Nam Ireland Bilateral Exchange (VIBE)
  Summary

  Sharing knowledge and resources on teaching and studying social enterprise and social innovation. We wrote a case book of social enterprises. We created a National Mapping project for Viet Nam, and a plan for one in Ireland.
  Funding Agency

  Irish Aid
  Date From

  January 2017
  Date To

  December 2019
• Title

  New Forms of Civic Engagement
  Summary

  Across Canada and in many other countries, a 'new wave' of civic engagement is emerging (Molenveld, et al., in press; Edelenbos et al., 2018; Voorberg et al., 2014) in which communities, whether geographic or social, are working together to create major social change and provide services in different ways. This research project integrates several genres of literature to better understand how citizen initiatives succeed in social change and community building. It focuses on Ireland where major social change has occurred in recent years, notably related to women's reproductive rights and attitudes toward homosexuality. Situated at the Centre for Social Innovation, Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin, the project will also contribute to ongoing collaborative linkages of the Centre with the Masters program in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (MPNL) at Carleton University - the only program of its kind in Canada. Alexandra Lamb conducted research at the Centre for Social Innovation in Trinity Business School as part of her Master's degree at Carleton University, under the co-supervision of Sheila Cannon (TCD) and Paloma Raggo (Carleton). The research focussed on the women's reproductive rights movement in Ireland that resulted in the 2018 referendum successfully repealing the 8th amendment of the Irish constitution, which had effectively outlawed abortion since 1984. We identified a new approach to issue framing, responsive framing, where activists worked together to understand and respond to public opinion. The results of this research form Alexandra's master's dissertation, a conference paper at ISTR (International Society of Third Sector Research) in Montreal, July 2020, and subsequently a peer reviewed publication.
  Funding Agency

  Mitacs Globalink, Canada
  Date From

  September 2019
  Date To

  December 2019
• Title

  Preparation Support for H2020 Grant proposal
  Summary

  This project consisted of designing and writing a grant proposal for EU funding H2020 Excellent Science, for a project entitled: Social Innovation and Social Enterprise (SISE).
  Funding Agency

  Enterprise Ireland
  Date From

  July 2014
  Date To

  January 2015
• Title

  Value-Oriented Organising: Legitimising Social Change for Climate Adaptation
  Summary

  The technical expertise and scientific knowledge already exist to mitigate the climate crisis. The barrier to an effective response has been socio-cultural beliefs, values and assumptions that legitimise how we organise. Climate crisis response focuses on national and international climate policies, business practices, technological solutions, and individual behaviour. Meanwhile, social purpose organising, including research and practice of nonprofit, nongovernmental, and civil society organisations, has been surprisingly fragmented, diluting the global civil society efforts to legitimise sustainable ways of organising, such as regenerative food systems, sustainable agriculture, green urban planning, circular economies, and transitioning to renewable energy. VOLSOCA will synthesise the different approaches to organising with social and environmental purposes, including civil society, third sector, social enterprise, and sustainable development studies, to deliver new theory and frameworks on value-oriented organising (VOO), a new concept that I have developed to test and refine in this project. VOO is the process of creating, capturing and sharing social, environmental and economic value, a trivalent nested model. Great efforts by many third sector organisations have developed new ways to create sustainable value, but they have not scaled. VOLSOCA will kick start the scaling up of civil society sustainability initiatives by delivering a new framework for the value they create, but also how they actually influence, or legitimise, what is valued. This project opens up new horizons to address the challenge of legitimising climate adaptation, the social changes that underpin successful change required to reduce the negative impact of human activity on the natural environment as well as adapt to climate change. With my multidisciplinary team, I will use key case studies and action research to create a new theoretical framework to illustrate how the process of organising to create value influences or legitimises what is valued, and thus influences social change. This will lead to new areas of research in the socio-environmental sciences and a fundamentally new understanding of climate adaptation.
  Funding Agency

  Enterprise Ireland
  Date From

  07/09/2020
  Date To

  06/09/2021

Economics and Business Administration, Social sciences,

• Gabriel G. Rudney Memorial Award for Outstanding Dissertation in Nonprofit and Voluntary Action Research 2015
• Trinity Teaching Excellence Award, School level 2024
• Performance Excellence Award, Trinity Business School 2021
• Research Excellence Award, Trinity Business School 2018
• Financial Times, Research Impact Award, Honorable Mention 2023
• Mitacs Globalink Research Award 2019
• Teaching Excellence Award, Trinity Business School 2023
• Trinity Civic Engagement Award 2021
• Teaching Excellence Award, Trinity Business School 2018

• Emergence of Social Entrepreneurship in Europe (EMES) ongoing
• Academy of Management ongoing
• Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) ongoing
• International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) 2020
• Social Economy Research Network of Ireland (SERNI) ongoing
• European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS) ongoing

• Member of Project Advisory Group for Vantastic Mobility Services Social Return on Investment Analysis June 2018
• Member of Policy Advisory Committee on Social Enterprise to the Department of Rural and Community Affairs 2019
• Faculty Advisor to Enactus Ireland, supporting student social entrepreneurship 2020, ongoing
• TCD representative to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, United Nations Implementation Group for Business and Human Rights. 2019