Dr Steve Conway

I am currently an Associate Professor in Innovation and Deputy Head of the Marketing, Innovation, Strategy and Operations (MISO) Department within the Business School.

I have previously held a number of academic leadership roles, including Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching, Associate Dean of Internationalisation and Director of Distance Learning. I have also been programme leader for a range of programmes, such as the MBA and the EngD.

I studied management and computer science for my undergraduate degree at Aston Business School, before working for several years at Hewlett Packard in financial systems support and software development. I then returned to Aston to undertake a MBA and then a PhD, sponsored by an ESRC/SERC scholarship. I have subsequently held various academic posts at Aston Business School, the University of Leicester, and the University of Bath, rejoining the University of Leicester School of Business in October 2014.

I have held a number of external examiner roles, including at Newcastle University Business School, Cardiff Business School, Birmingham Business School and the Open University Business School.

I am interested in the nature and role of social and organisational networks in innovation and entrepreneurship. I am also interested in the graphical representation of such networks. I have a growing interest in innovation within the public and not-for-profit sectors, and in emotion related to the innovation process. I have researched, presented and published across these areas, including my co-authored book for Oxford University Press, concerning the management and shaping of innovation. I am supervising a number of PhD students in the area of innovation and entrepreneurship.

I have been principal and co-applicant on a number of successful grant applications, receiving funding from the ESRC and various EC programmes, and more recently from the British Academy / Leverhulme, the WEAHSN (West of England Academic Health Science Network), and the British Council. Recent British Council projects, for example, have involved the building of innovation capacity within emerging economies, through the delivery of innovation and entrepreneurship courses for the HE sector in Uzbekistan, and the enhancement of innovation and entrepreneurship within the craft and creative sectors in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and Vietnam.

Recent publications include:

Karaba, F., Roehrich, J., Conway, S. and Turner, J. (2022). Information Sharing in Public-Private Relationships: the Role of Boundary Objects in Contracts’, Public Management Review (early online release).

Gasparin, M., Quinn, M., Green, W., Saren, M. and Conway, S. (2022). ‘Stories of Value: Business Model Innovation Adding Value Propositions articulated by Slow Storytelling’, Journal of Business Research, 149: 101-111.

Conway, S. (2016) ‘Revealing and Mapping Networks: Potential Opportunities and Pitfalls for Book Trade History’ in Historical Networks in the Book Trade, Hinks, J. and Feely, C. (eds.), Pickering & Chatto Publishers: London.

Conway, S. (2014) ‘A Cautionary Note on Data Inputs and Visual Outputs in Social Network Analysis’, British Journal of Management, 25: 102-117.

Conway, S. (2014) 'Innovation in Service Organizations' in Wiley Encyclopedia of Management: Volume 10 – Operations Management, 3rd Edition, Lewis, M., Slack, N., and Roden, S. (eds.), Chichester, England: Wiley.

Conway, S. (2014) ‘Organizing for Innovation’ in Wiley Encyclopedia of Management: Volume 10 – Operations Management, 3rd Edition, Lewis, M., Slack, N., and Roden, S. (eds.), Chichester, England: Wiley.

Conway, S. and Jones, O. (2012) ‘Entrepreneurship Networks and the Small Business’ in Enterprise and Small Business: Principles, Policy and Practice, 3rd Edition, Carter, S. and Jones-Evans, D. (eds.), Pearson: London, pp. 338-361.

Conway, S. and Steward, F. (2009) ‘Managing and Shaping Innovation’, Oxford University Press.

I am currently supervising a number of PhD students in the broad area of innovation and entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, I do not currently have capacity to take on any additional PhD students.

My teaching is focused in the area of innovation management, and I currently teach on and module lead the following modules:

MN7045: The Strategic Management of Innovation Design and Technology (MSc)

MN7702: Value Creation Processes From Idea to Market Plan (MBA)

Help to Grow: Strategy and Innovation (ExecEd)

BSc (Combined Hons) in Management and Computer Science

MBA

PhD