Stephen Roper

  • Professor of Enterprise, and Director of the Centre for SMEs

BA (Durham), MPhil (Oxford), PhD (London School of Economics)

Room D1.23 (Social Studies Building)
Warwick Business School
The University of Warwick
Coventry
CV4 7AL
United Kingdom

Web(Opens in a new window)Personal website
Telephone+44 24 7652 2501
email

Biography

Stephen Roper joined WBS in the Enterprise Teaching Group and Centre for SMEs in January 2008. Prior to joining WBS, Stephen was Professor of Business Innovation at Aston Business School and before that he was Assistant Director of the Northern Ireland Economic Research Centre, Belfast.

Alongside his post here at WBS, Stephen is a Director of InnovationLab (Ireland) Ltd an academic spin-out company which focuses on innovation policy and related issues. Stephen is also a member of the ESRC Strategic Priorities Board and the UK Committee of the Regional Science Association. He is a consulting editor of the International Journal of Small Business.

Stephens major research interests are in enterprise growth and development, diversity and business performance, innovation, regional development, and industrial policy evaluation. Previous projects have been supported by the Economic and Social Research Council, the EU, the British Academy, and the Royal Irish Academy as well as a number of government departments in the UK, Ireland, US and Israel.

Stephen has consulted on aspects of innovation and enterprise policy for a wide range of organizations including the OECD, the DTI, the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, the UK governments Small Business Service, East Midlands Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands, the Scottish Executive, Invest Northern Ireland, Forfas (Dublin), Enterprise Ireland, Northern Bank, InterTradeIreland, the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (Belfast), and the Department of Education and Learning (Belfast).

At WBS Stephen teaches a second year module  International Perspectives on Enterprise and a third year module  Innovation and high-tech enterprise. He also leads MBA modules in Innovation and Creativity and Innovation and Alternative Energy Technologies.

Research interests

Enterprise growth and development, diversity and business performance, innovation, regional development, and industrial policy evaluation.

Selected research projects

  • Investigating the impact of creative industry supply chains on innovation: A controlled experiment: Aston University, September 2009 - February 2011.
  • Study on non-legislative initiatives for companies to promote gender equality at the workplace: Default Sponsor, December 2008 - July 2010.
  • Measuring Firm - Level Innovation Performance in Six Areas of the UK Economy: National Endowment of Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), February 2009 - September 2009.
  • Taking Risks in the Face of Uncertainty: The Impact of Perceived Uncertainty on Small and Medium Sized Firms (SME's) Investments in Green Innovation: British Academy, January 2008 - September 2008.
  • The Drivers of Productivity in the West Midlands: Advantage West Midlands, March 2006 - July 2006.
  • Evaluation of SFA and SFIE in England: Department of Trade and Industry, March 2006 - July 2006.
  • The Scottish Innovation System: Review & Application of Policy: Scottish Executive, February 2006 - July 2006.
  • Search for Spillovers: Invest Northern Ireland, January 2004 - June 2006.
  • Enterprise and Innovation in the West Midlands: Mercia Institute for Enterprise, June 2003 - June 2006.
  • UNITE  University Knowledge Into Enterprise Network: ESRC, March 2006 - June 2006.
  • Knowledge Coordination, Innovation and Business Performance: ESRC, October 2004 - December 2005.
  • Supermodularity and Complementarity in the Organization of Innovation: ESRC, October 2004 - December 2005.
  • Clusters and Business Enterprise: Mercia Institute TE3 Initiative, June 2005 - November 2005.
  • Mapping the Scottish Innovation System: Scottish Executive, April 2005 - October 2005.
  • Womens Enterprise in the West Midlands: Mercia Institute TE3 Initiative, May 2005 - October 2005.
  • Dimensions of Enterprise: Case Studies of West Midlands New Technology Based Firms: Mercia Institute TE3 Initiative, September 2004 - August 2005.
  • All Island Business Model: InterTradeIreland, June 2003 - June 2005.
  • Evaluation of Business Links Impact: Department of Trade and Industry, September 2004 - June 2005.
  • Innovation Survey and Case Studies: Invest NI, October 2002 - June 2003.
  • Methodology for Evaluating Regional Impact of R&D Assistance: IDB, January 2002 - October 2002.
  • A Comparison of Trade and Related Data Sources Between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland: InterTradeIreland, January 2002 - July 2002.
  • Development of a Performance Information Framework for Innovation: Invest NI, May 2002 - June 2002.
  • Economic and Social Impact of Volunteering in the Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland: Faculty Grant, October 2000 - June 2002.
  • Econometric Modelling of Impact of Business Links: Small Business Service, DTI, October 2000 - March 2002.
  • Effectiveness of Selective Financial Assistance for Industry in Northern Ireland: OFM/DFM, January 2002 - March 2002.
  • Closing the Productivity Gap: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, September 2001 - October 2001.
  • ICT Comparison of Israel, Finland and Ireland: OECD, October 2001 - October 2001.
  • Competitiveness in the All-island Economy - North and South: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, August 2001 - August 2001.
  • Innovation Strategy for Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Economic Council, October 2000 - December 2000.
  • Knowledge Transfers from Multinational Plants in the Republic of Ireland: Royal Irish Academy, October 1999 - May 2000.
  • Innovation Audit and Formulation of Innovation Strategy for Small Firms in Co Tyrone: District Councils consortium Into the West and Initiative Economic Consultants, January 2000 - April 2000.
  • Benchmark Survey of Innovation and Best Practice Adoption in Irish Manufacturing Firms: Industrial Research and Technology Unit, October 1999 - February 2000.
  • Competitive Analysis Model Project (Practical Trials: European Union and Development Agencies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, January 1997 - December 1999.
  • Innovation in Scottish and German Manufacturing: Scottish Enterprise - Scottish Office, September 1998 - March 1999.
  • Impact Assessment of Compete: Industrial Research and Technology Unit, January 1999 - March 1999.
  • Rationale for Provision of Management Training and Development Schemes: Northern Ireland Training and Employment Agency, September 1998 - September 1998.
  • Rationale for Provision of Management Training and Development Schemes: Northern Ireland Training and Employment Agency, September 1998 - September 1998.
  • Comparison of Innovation Policy in the UK, Israel and Ireland: British Council and Israeli Ministry of Science, May 1998 - August 1998.
  • Organisational and Strategic Innovation in Irish Small Firms: ESRC Innovative Initiative, October 1995 - June 1997.
  • Detailed Investigation of the Effect of Technology Grants: Industrial Research and Technology Unit, March 1997 - June 1997.
  • Competitive Analysis Model Project: European Union and Development Agencies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, December 1994 - December 1996.
  • The New Competition in Ireland: Department of Economic Development, June 1996 - September 1996.
  • Innovation, Skills and Company Competitiveness: EU KONVER initiative, October 1994 - May 1996.
  • Skill Levels and Company Competitiveness  Northern Ireland and Italy: Northern Ireland Training and Employment Agency, June 1994 - October 1994.
  • Skill Levels and Company Competitiveness  Northern Ireland and Germany: Northern Ireland Training and Employment Agency and the ifo-institute, Munich, October 1992 - May 1993.
  • A Longitudinal Study of Innovation and Company Performance: Social Science Research Council of the Royal Irish Academy, November 1996 - date.
  • Assisting Business Competitiveness - Boosting Innovation in Small Companies: EU Leonardo Project, November 2001 - date.
  • Evaluation of Impact of Enterprise Ireland Support for Industry: Enterprise Ireland, October 2001 - date.

Only selected externally-funded projects are listed here.

Teaching activity this year

Masters Portfolio

Undergraduate

Warwick MBA

Publications

Journal articles

Book chapters

[5 publications listed, promoted only]
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