PhD Scholarship in Management (Strategy and Entrepreneurship)

Research Project: A Multi-level Study of Strategic Social Entrepreneurship Practice: Linking Entrepreneur, Enterprise, and Environment

Durham University Business School invites applications from prospective PhD candidates with outstanding academic achievement and research potential. The successful candidate will be part of a research team, led by Dr Jeffrey Hughes (Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Durham University), investigating strategic social entrepreneurship practice across multiple levels of analysis. Findings of this research will contribute to the ‘Smart and Scale’ initiative at Durham University Business School, which is an interdisciplinary impact-driven research programme in smart and scale-up activities, designed to support small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) innovation, resilience, and economic development in the North-East of England.

Research Project Description

Social entrepreneurship is an impactful phenomenon that has garnered increasing scholarly attention over the past decade. During a period where societal wants have centred on businesses pursuing objectives that go beyond mere profit maximisation, social entrepreneurship represents an avenue for social and economic goals to co-exist. This broadening of enterprise objectives represents a significant opportunity for impactful research at the nexus of strategy and entrepreneurship.

Despite establishing a rich research tradition, social entrepreneurship’s inherent complexity and interdisciplinary nature has resulted in a somewhat fragmented body of scholarship. An identified characteristic of the social entrepreneurship literature pertains to a tendency for existing studies to focus on one level of analysis, i.e., individual (micro), organisational (meso), or institutional (macro). Yet, social entrepreneurship is inherently a multi-level phenomenon. Consequently, holistic understandings of the realised activity of social entrepreneurship by focal actors between and across levels in various contexts are lacking. The objective of this study is to add to the limited stock of such knowledge through integrating the strategy and social entrepreneurship research traditions.

Accordingly, the successful candidate will work in a research team under the supervision of Dr Jeffrey Hughes (Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Durham University) and Dr David Johnson (Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Durham University). Specifically, the successful candidate will investigate the practice of strategic social entrepreneurship using a qualitative, case-based approach. A strategy as practice lens will be employed to study strategic social entrepreneurship across multiple levels (micro, meso, and macro), focussing on practices (routinised behaviours), praxis (realised activity) and practitioners (individual and groups of practitioners both internal and external to social enterprises). This will involve working with a diverse range of stakeholders in the academic and entrepreneurship ecosystems. As such, evidence of collecting and analysing qualitative data, and demonstrable experience of working with a wide range of stakeholders, are important requirements.

This research project forms part of the ‘Smart and Scale’ initiative at Durham University Business School, which is an interdisciplinary impact-driven research programme in smart and scale-up activities, designed to support SME innovation, resilience, and economic development in the North-East of England.

PhD Programme in Management (with Integrated Studies), Department of Management and Marketing, Durham University Business School

Durham University Business School is one of an elite group worldwide to carry three internationally recognised accreditations by EQUIS, AACSB, and AMBA for the quality of our research, teaching, and environment. We are also a member of the European Doctoral Programmes Association in Management and Business Administration. The entrepreneurship research group leads these PhD projects within the Management & Marketing Department. Our PhD in Management and Marketing (With Integrated Studies) offers access to our vibrant academic community, cutting-edge knowledge, skills development at the doctoral level, and learning and support from internationally renowned researchers to progress successfully in their PhD studies.

Further information: https://www.durham.ac.uk/business/programmes/phd/marketing-and-management/

Funding

Applications for this funding are open to UK students only. The successful applicant will have the cost of home tuition fees covered for the full duration of their studies. The scholarship also includes a tax-free stipend, set at £17,668 per year (as per UKRI). This stipend is paid to the student directly and monthly to cover living costs.

Contact

For an informal discussion about this opportunity, please contact Dr Jeffrey Hughes (Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Durham University) at jeffrey.hughes@durham.ac.uk.

How to Apply

The deadline for submitting applications to the PhD programme is Friday 23rd June for a start in September/October 2023. In the first instance, it is expected that candidates will contact Dr Jeffrey Hughes, Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship (jeffrey.hughes@durham.ac.uk), no later than 7th June 2023 with CV, awards, transcripts, and a statement (2-pages maximum) of your suitability for this scholarship, including a brief explanation of your research interests and how these interests align with the research project.

Following this, the project team will consider your application and suitability. You will then be invited to formally apply in advance of the 23rd June deadline. For the application, you will need to provide a research proposal that builds upon the project description above.

If you require further information about the application process, please get in touch with the Department's PhD Programme Office (business.phd.mgmt-mktg@durham.ac.uk).