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Dr Despoina Filiou

Profile summary

Professional biography

I am a Senior Lecturer in Strategy and joined the Open University in April 2020 having previously been at Manchester Metropolitan University as a Senior Lecturer and at UMIST (Manchester Business School) as an Associate Lecturer. 

I hold a PhD in Management Science from The University of Manchester (Alliance Business School), an MSc in Business Economics from UMIST and a BSc in Agricultural Science and Economics from the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Research interests

My research focuses on knowledge sourcing and exploitation across organisational boundaries and firm innovation, on strategic alliances, collaboration and open innovation.  I have published in peer reviewed journals of international standing in Innovation and Strategy, such as R&D Management, Long Range Planning, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Industry and Innovation.

I have a consistent record of securing funding for research, knowledge exchange and research capacity building.  The latest Horizon Europe (2022-2026) project is on ‘Innovations and Capacity building in Agricultural Environmental and Rural UAV Services’ (ICAERUS) (Role: Co-Investigator).  In 2019, I secured Society for the Advancement of Management Studies funding to facilitate a workshop contributing to Doctoral Student Employability.  I have successfuly completed EU funded projects: the 2015-2017 Erasmus+ Funded ‘Open-up Entrepreneurship’ (Role: Principle Investigator), and the 2008-2011 EU 7th Framework project on Public-Private Services Innovation Networks (ServPPIN; Role: Junior Researcher).

I am the Co-Director of the Strategic Management and Leadership Research Cluster.

Teaching interests

I lead the Teaching Team of the core Level 6 Strategic Management (B302) module, with over 1,500 students and I contribute to the MBA module Effective Strategic Management in Business and the Public Sector (B873).

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, have been shortlisted for the Best Teacher Award and received the Dean’s Commendation for excellence in teaching on numerous occasions.

I have an extensive experience in Learning and Teaching at MSc, MBA and BSc levels, leading on designing and delivering a range of modules on Innovation & Strategy.  I have been the MSc Management Programme Leader at Manchester Metropolitan and External Examiner for numerous universities and various programmes offered in the UK and via international partnerships (currently: University of Derby, Oxford Brookes).

I supervise Doctoral students in innovation and strategy, have led Doctoral candidates to successful completion and examined Doctoral Theses as an External (Huddersfield, Birmingham City, University of Patras, Alliance Manchester Business School) and Internal Examiner on numerous occasions.

Impact and engagement

I have served as a full member of the Scientific Committee of the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (2018-2020) and I review research grant applications for the British Council, Newton Fund.

I hold an appointment at the Editorial Review Board of Transnational Corporations Journal (UNCTAD).  I have been invited to present at Research Seminar Series, such as at HEC Management School, University of Edinburgh, University of Patras, SKEMA Business School.

Publications

Are smart cities green? The role of environmental and digital policies for Eco-innovation in China (2023-05)
Filiou, Despoina; Kesidou, Effie and Wu, Lichao
World Development, 165 (p 106212)


The Open Innovation in Science research field: a collaborative conceptualisation approach (2022)
Beck, Susanne; Bergenholtz, Carsten; Bogers, Marcel; Brasseur, Tiare-Maria; Conradsen, Marie Louise; Di Marco, Diletta; Distel, Andreas P.; Dobusch, Leonhard; Dörler, Daniel; Effert, Agnes; Fecher, Benedikt; Filiou, Despoina; Frederiksen, Lars; Gillier, Thomas; Grimpe, Christoph; Gruber, Marc; Haeussler, Carolin; Heigl, Florian; Hoisl, Karin; Hyslop, Katie; Kokshagina, Olga; LaFlamme, Marcel; Lawson, Cornelia; Lifshitz-Assaf, Hila; Lukas, Wolfgang; Nordberg, Markus; Norn, Maria Theresa; Poetz, Marion; Ponti, Marisa; Pruschak, Gernot; Pujol Priego, Laia; Radziwon, Agnieszka; Rafner, Janet; Tucci, Christopher L.; Tuertscher, Philipp; Bjørn Vedel, Jane; Velden, Theresa; Verganti, Roberto; Wareham, Jonathan; Wiggins, Andrea and Mosangzi Xu, Sunny
Industry and Innovation, 29(2) (pp. 136-185)


Examining Open Innovation in Science (OIS): what Open Innovation can and cannot offer the science of science (2021)
Beck, Susanne; LaFlamme, Marcel; Bergenholtz, Carsten; Bogers, Marcel; Brasseur, Tiare-Maria; Conradsen, Marie-Louise; Crowston, Kevin; Di Marco, Diletta; Effert, Agnes; Filiou, Despoina; Frederiksen, Lars; Gillier, Thomas; Gruber, Marc; Haeussler, Carolin; Hoisl, Karin; Kokshagina, Olga; Norn, Maria-Theresa; Poetz, Marion; Pruschak, Gernot; Pujol Priego, Laia; Radziwon, Agnieszka; Ruser, Alexander; Sauermann, Henry; Shah, Sonali K.; Suess-Reyes, Julia; Tucci, Christopher L.; Tuertscher, Philipp; Vedel, Jane Bjørn; Verganti, Roberto; Wareham, Jonathan and Xu, Sunny Mosangzi
Innovation, 25(3) (pp. 221-235)


A new perspective on open innovation: established and new technology firms in UK bio‐pharmaceuticals (2020-12-14)
Filiou, Despoina
R&D Management, 51(1) (pp. 73-86)


The role of frequent engagement in alliances in firm likelihood to patent: First wave alliances in UK bio-pharmaceuticals (2020-09-07)
Filiou, Despoina; Tusselmann, Heinz and Green, Lawrence
European Journal of Innovation Management, 23(5) (pp. 919-938)


Industry cognitive distance in alliances and firm innovation performance (2018-09-19)
Filiou, Despoina and Massini, Silvia
R&D Management, 48(4) (pp. 422-437)


R&D collaborations: Is diversity enhancing innovation performance? (2017-05)
Gkypali, Areti; Filiou, Despoina and Tsekouras, Kostas
Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 118 (pp. 143-152)


Influence of Institutional Differences on Firm Innovation from International Alliances (2016-02)
Filiou, Despoina and Golesorkhi, Sougand
Long Range Planning, 49(1) (pp. 129-144)


Industry Cognitive Distance in Alliance Portfolios and Firm Innovation Performance (2016)
Filiou, Despoina and Massini, Silvia
In : 76th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management 2016 Theme: Making Organizations Meaningful (5-9 Aug 2016, Anaheim, California)