High-growth innovative enterprises are quite rare, and yet it is precisely these ventures which have the potential to create robust new employment, products, and wealth. Understanding how and why some entrepreneurs manage to create innovation, and venture growth, is a key priority for policy makers and academics alike.
Current research & projects
- Eleanor Shaw has been working with Dr Robert Lee and Professor Heinz Tuselmann (Manchester Metropolitan University Business School) in a study that illustrates the association of well-being and quality of life with higher innovation.
- Hunter Centre member of staff, Jonathan Levie, is the theme leader for “Ambition and Growth” at the UK’s Enterprise Research Centre. He's also the Scottish universities representative on Scotland’s MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP) core team. This team aims to engage stakeholders nationwide in a collective impact approach to enhancing the innovation-based entrepreneurship ecosystem in Scotland. His publications include evaluations of the role of founder’s human capital in high-technology firms, as well as investors’ understanding of this human capital.
- Sarah Dodd has studied the role of networking processes in enterprise growth
- Dominic Chalmers explores innovation in social enterprises
- Niall MacKenzie has carried out extensive research into the impact of innovation on economic development
- Stoyan Stoyanov researches social capital and networking in the strategic and international development of immigrant and diaspora enterprises
PhD student research
Several Hunter Centre PhD students are also engaged with this dynamic area.
- Sergio Costa’s research interests lie at the intersection of university/technology entrepreneurship, strategy and innovation
- Mark Johnson is investigating knowledge exchange choices throughout the academic life cycle, the knowledge exchange channels that academics engage in and their attitude to risk
- Russell Matthews' PhD thesis focuses on the formation and development of top management teams in peripheral region high technology ventures
- Eko Suhartanto’s current PhD research interests lie in understanding aspects of corporate entrepreneurship across different kinds of organisation
- The overall objective of Eleni Kesidou’s PhD research is to draw the framework needed to increase understanding of the role entrepreneurial leadership skills play in business growth and organisational performance in the context of the Scottish Economy
- Jacques Hefti’s PhD focus is on understanding success factors for scalability and growth of start-ups, including the investor perspective, the business incubator and implications of state-funded entrepreneurship programmes
- Brad McMaster’s overarching interest in his PhD research is in enhancing the performance of entrepreneurial teams through researching the factors and outcomes related to exemplary performance
Our key publications
Levie, J., & Lichtenstein, B. B. (2010). A terminal assessment of stages theory: Introducing a dynamic states approach to entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 34(2), 317-350.
Gimmon, E., & Levie, J. (2010). Founder's human capital, external investment, and the survival of new high-technology ventures. Research Policy, 39(9), 1214-1226.
Levie, J., & Gimmon, E. (2008). Mixed signals: why investors may misjudge first time high technology venture founders. Venture Capital, 10(3), 233-256.
Gimmon, E., & Levie, J. (2009). Instrumental value theory and the human capital of entrepreneurs. Journal of Economic Issues, 43(3), 715-732.
Jack, S., Dodd, S. D., & Anderson, A. R. (2008) Change and the development of entrepreneurial networks over time: a processual perspective. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 20(2), 125-159.
Anderson, A. R., Dodd, S. D., & Jack, S. (2010). Network practices and entrepreneurial growth. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 26(2), 121-133.
Anderson, A. R., Dodd, S. D., & Jack, S. L. (2012). Entrepreneurship as connecting: some implications for theorising and practice. Management Decision, 50(5), 958-971.
Innovating not-for-profit social ventures : exploring the microfoundations of internal and external absorptive capacity routines Chalmers Dominic, Balan-Vnuk Eva, International Small Business Journal (accepted for publication, 2013)
Social innovation : an exploration of the barriers faced by innovating organizations in the social economy Chalmers Dominic, Local Economy Vol 28, No. 1, pp. 17-34 (2013)
