Richard Blundel is a Senior Lecturer in Enterprise Development at The Open University Business School. Richard has chaired the OU’s undergraduate module, Investigating Entrepreneurial Opportunities (B322) and is currently chair of the MBA elective, BB846 Entrepreneurship: Experience and Perspective . He edits the Quarterly Survey of Small Business in Britain in conjunction with Emeritus Professor Colin Gray.
Most of his research has been in the field of organisation studies, with a particular focus on entrepreneurial growth processes, innovation and organisational communication. In recent years, he has developed an interest in the role of entrepreneurial agency and innovation in sustainability transitions. He is a trustee and board member of the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) and chair of ISBE’s conference track, ‘Social, Environmental and Ethical Enterprise’. He is involved in several research projects related to entrepreneurship and the natural environment, and is a member of the Sustainable Transitions Research Network and the Sustainable Development Research Network. Richard is the author (with Professor Nigel Lockett, University of Leeds) of Exploring Entrepreneurship: Practices and Perspectives (Oxford University Press: 2011), which combines a practical focus on the challenges of new venture creation with a focused review of the latest research evidence (sample chapter available here). He is also co-author (with Kate Ippolito and David Donnnarumma) of Effective Organisational Communication: Perspectives, Principles and Practices (4e) (FT Prentice Hall, 2013). He has published in a number of international journals, including Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Enterprise & Society and Industry & Innovation, and has recently reviewed books for Business History and the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research. Richard led the independent monitoring and evaluation team team for a Defra-funded ‘Greener Living Fund’ project (2009-2010), which involved four trades unions working on pro-environmental behaviour change. He is also a member of the ABLE-Ghana initiative (2010-2011), collaborating with colleagues from five Ghanaian universities on employability and entrepreneurial learning issues.
Research publications
