Rate My Professor Stephanie Scott

Dr. Stephanie Scott is an Associate Professor in Innovation and Strategic Management in the Department of Management and Marketing at Durham University Business School. She earned her PhD in Management from Durham University Business School, recognized as the Outstanding Thesis of 2017. She also holds a Master of Science in Management (International Business) with merit-level honours, a Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business, a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, and is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. Before entering academia, she gained professional experience in supply chain functions within the food and beverage industry and as a marketing operations executive in the online gaming industry. Her research specializations encompass innovation networks, behaviours, and processes; formal and informal relational governance mechanisms; business model designs; enabling and constraining factors of coupled process open innovation network performance; and the transfer of highly specialised technical knowledge in new product development contexts. Precisely stated research interests include social and relational capital; networks and innovation; institutions and research policy; open innovation and strategic partnerships; knowledge management and psychology of learning; university-business strategy planning; and new product development. She supervises research projects at undergraduate, MBA, MSc, DBA, and PhD levels and delivers teaching on strategic innovation.

Among her accolades are the 2017 Outstanding Thesis Award and 2015 Dean's Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Teaching from Durham University Business School, as well as the 2016 Outstanding Contribution to Life from Ustinov College, Durham University. Key publications include 'A microfoundational network theory of rural entrepreneurial ecosystems: establishing the link between structure and behaviours' (Small Business Economics, 2026), 'Fostering an environment for social entrepreneurship: a comparative analysis across economic development levels' (Review of Managerial Science, 2026), 'The SME R&D intensity and product innovation relationship: the mediating role of quality management' (R&D Management, 2025), 'Inside out: The interplay between institutions and digital technologies for SMEs performance' (Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 2024), 'Let the games begin: The relationship between video gaming and entrepreneurial mindsets' (Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 2022), 'Towards a Network-based View of Effective Entrepreneurial Ecosystems' (Review of Managerial Science, 2022), 'Technology Adoption Factors in the Digitization of Popular Culture: Analyzing the Online Gambling Market' (Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2019), and 'Developing relationships in innovation clusters' (Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 2019). She serves as an Editorial Board Member for the World Open Innovation Conference at UC Berkeley, a Governor at Monkseaton High School in North Tyneside, and a member of the Regional Transport Plan Steering Group for Northeast UK. Scott has delivered invited public lectures, such as Career Advice for Women in the Ustinov Success Series, and her research impacts multinational organizations, SMEs, local and national policymakers through dissemination on innovation ecosystems and strategic management practices.