Entrepreneurship and Innovation

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation (E&I) research group includes ten people, led by Stephan Manning:

The group’s research focuses on three themes: Entrepreneurship and Sustainability; Small Businesses and Economic Development; consumption; Corporate Entrepreneurship and Collaborative Innovation.

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability

This theme focuses on the relationship between entrepreneurship and sustainability, both in terms of environmental protection and in the broader context of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Core contributors to this theme include (in alphabetical order): Vasiliki Bamiatzi, Steven Brieger, Shova Thapa Karki, Stephan Manning and Mirela Xheneti. Specifically, the research group studies topics such as entrepreneurship and resilience, circular economy entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship, and sustainable farming. In these areas, the group also collaborates with scholars in SPRU, IDS and Global Studies, and takes an active part in the Circular Economy Research Mobilization Group.

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability themes include:

  • Transnational ecosystems supporting social entrepreneurship (Stephan Manning)
  • Resilience and sustainability of small firms (Shova Thapa Karki)
  • Entrepreneurship and the circular economy (Shova Thapa Karki & Mirela Xheneti)
  • Promoting high-skilled migrant entrepreneurship (Mirela Xheneti)
  • Effective promotion of sustainable cocoa farming (Stephan Manning)
  • Entrepreneurial emotions and well-being (Ngoc Luc)
  • Migration and gender aspects of entrepreneurship (Steven Brieger).

Small Businesses and Economic Development

This theme focuses on small businesses in the context of both regional and global economic development. Core contributors to this theme include (in alphabetical order): Hadi Fariborzi, Ngoc Luu, Stephan Manning, David Storey, and Mirela Xheneti. Specifically, the research group studies topics such as new venture survival and growth, interregional differences in entrepreneurship, social capital and entrepreneurial orientation, internationalization of new ventures, and entrepreneurial ecosystems. In these areas, the group also collaborates with scholars in Economics, International Business and other fields.

Small Business and Economic Development themes include:

  • New venture growth in Japan (Mirela Xheneti)
  • Small venture growth in UK and Australia (Vassiliki Bamiatzi)
  • International entrepreneurship (Stephan Manning).

Corporate Entrepreneurship and Collaborative Innovation

This theme focuses on the interplay between entrepreneurial initiatives and various forms of collaborative innovation, including open innovation. Core contributors to this theme include (in alphabetical order): Stephan Manning, Monica Masucci and Chris Storey. Specifically, the research group studies topics such as service innovation, open innovation, project entrepreneurship, project network organizations, crowdfunding, innovation value chains, responsible research and innovation, global multi-stakeholder innovation, and cross-sector partnerships. In these areas, the group also collaborates in particular with scholars at SPRU. In addition, Monica Masucci co-directs the Intrapreneurship Hub which focuses on how employees create new business opportunities.

Corporate Entrepreneurship and Collaborative Innovation themes include:

  • How corporate ventures are evaluated and selected (Monica Masucci)
  • Human capital in the internal corporate venturing process (Monica Masucci)
  • Ecosystem actors and value creation in emerging ecosystems (Monica Masucci)
  • Inbound and outbound open innovation (Monica Masucci)
  • Innovation as source of competitive advantage in services (Chris Storey)
  • Webs of innovation value chains in additive manufacturing (Stephan Manning)
  • Building self-sustaining research and innovation ecosystems (Stephan Manning).