
A water-abundant urbanism? The new urban water profiles of Beijing and Tianjin
This project explores water flows and use in the water-scarce northern Chinese megacities Beijing and Tianjin.
Many entrepreneurs in the creative economy fail despite claiming to have done extensive market research, but why? This collaborative research project aims to find out the answer.
The key research questions in this project are:
The creative economy encompasses advertising, architecture, the arts and antique market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film, interactive leisure software, music, performing arts, publishing, software, television, and radio. The creative economy presupposes entrepreneurial success, and it has become common-place to talk about “market validation,” “customer development”, and “pivots” among creative economy entrepreneurs—suggesting that a market orientation focus yields superior outcomes (such as start-up success, which in this study’s focus) compared with earlier (more internally, entrepreneur-focused) approaches to entrepreneurship.
Yet, despite the widespread acceptance of the virtues of a “market orientation”, especially in the broader circles of entrepreneurship, failure rates for new ventures in the creative economy remain very high. How can this be explained; are there unique circumstances in the creative economy stifling the application of customer-oriented market research by entrepreneurs; can it be that ‘creativity and ‘research’ do not go together well? This research aims at a multi-disciplinary, multi-method understanding of how creative-economy entrepreneurs and corporate innovators use (and omit) market research in the creative economy.
What did you do before you started your PhD?
Before starting my PhD, I completed my Bachelor's Degree in Economics back in Greece at The University of Patras and my Master's Degree in Business Analytics: Operational Research and Risk Analysis at Alliance Manchester Business School at The University of Manchester. After that, I worked as a Research Assistant at Cushman & Wakefield Global Commercial Real Estate Firm and as a Data Analyst-Consultant at a small start-up in Manchester.
What are the challenges of your research role?
The main challenge that I have come to face during my research journey mainly revolves around the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the pandemic, things cannot go on as "normal ", and therefore I have learned to adapt my research to the current situation.
What is the best part of your research role?
Having the opportunity to gain knowledge and implement creative research ideas from a supervisory Team from two world-class institutions (The University of Manchester and The University of Melbourne) provides me with the appropriate tools to not only contribute to the premier marketing field but to also help me become a better researcher overall.
Where do you wish to go after your PhD? Do you want to enter industry or continue doing more research?
I am currently interested in keeping both options available to me. I believe that a combination of academia and industry work could help me gain, apart from knowledge, the experience to know the right, long-term path for me.
This project explores water flows and use in the water-scarce northern Chinese megacities Beijing and Tianjin.
This project will explore current and emerging patterns in practices of cleanliness, hygiene, sanitation in Beijing and Tianjin.
This project will investigate 3D printing to produce fluoropolymers with nanomaterials that impart different electrostatic interactions to produce increased piezoelectricity.
This project explores how to develop efficient technologies to separate H2 from H2/CH4 pipeline mixtures at low temperatures.