Summary
Dr. Ehsan Khavandkar is a Lecturer (Assist. Prof.) in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Director of Postgraduate Taught Programmes in Business and Marketing at University of Hull Business School (HUBS). He joined the Marketing, Management and Business Strategy Group at Hull University Business School in September 2019, having previously taught at Loughborough University, Aston University, University of Wales (UWTSD) and Essex. Ehsan also acts as an external examiner on postgraduate taught, MBA and research programmes at other HE Institutions. At HUBS, he teaches/leads modules in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation, design thinking and business strategy, and supervises dissertations, research and industry projects.
He received his PhD in Economics of Innovation (ABS-funded) from Aston Business School, Aston University, where he also began his teaching career. Ehsan also holds a BSc in Industrial Engineering, and an MSc in Knowledge and Information Systems Management from the University of Southampton.
Ehsan has extensive experience with curriculum design and development, and program evaluation at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Since joining academia, he has been involved in designing, leading and delivering various undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and award-winning modules in the areas of entrepreneurship and enterprise management, design thinking and innovation management, digital marketing and business strategy at different HE institutions. Most recently, he led the curriculum development and implementation of a new MSc programme in `Digital Marketing and Advertising`, as well as transformation of MSc programme in `Business Management` into a `design-led enterprise development` programme.
Ehsan holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education and retains a keen interest in data-driven, game-based and authentic business teaching and learning strategies, and storytelling (video: https://bit.ly/3ypftRD). In 2022, he received the University of Hull`s “Knowledge Exchange Award” for the “Best Students Skills KE Partnership Initiative” ( http://bit.ly/4052KPt). In 2017, he also received the "Aston Teaching Excellence" award for his achievements in teaching and providing outstanding support for the learning experience of students- as voted for by students (recent students' reflections and comments on their learning experiences in his modules: Engaging with Entrepreneurial Organisations: https://bit.ly/MEQEEO2122, Business Environments: https://bit.ly/3FItLyd, Business Ecosystems and Environmental Analysis: https://bit.ly/MEQBEEA2223).
Dr. Khavandkar's research sits at the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship, economics, ST&I and agglomeration studies. Much of his recent work has focused on “co-creation and co-evolution” in innovation and knowledge ecosystems, as an avenue to engage individuals, firms, institutions and communities in sustainable, intersectoral and collaborative innovation practices in the short and long term, and on policy targeted at localities. His previous research has involved working with a range of private and third sector organisations. Dr. Khavandkar is currently interested in supervising PhD students in the following areas:
- Economics of innovation, systems of innovation, evolutionary processes and ST&I policy;
- Geography of innovation, innovation and knowledge ecosystems, and agglomeration studies;
- Regional and macro-level determinants of entrepreneurship, institutions and network externalities;
- Co-creation models, open innovation, innovation intermediaries [particularly, in/and for micro and small firms];
- Co-evolution mechanisms, collaborative and coopetition-based business models and sustainability [particularly, in/and for micro and small firms];
- Knowledge Diffusion, Intellectual capital management and dynamic capabilities;
Please feel free to contact him (e.khavandkar[@]hull.ac.uk), if you are interested in working on any of the above areas.
Before joining the academia, Dr. Khavandkar worked in industry as an industrial and management consultant for 5 years. He is member of HEA (Fellow), AoM, ECSB, ICSB, TIM, RICC and the Gate2Growth network.