Professor in Entrepreneurship

Over a 40-year career I have researched, advised, published and taught on the topic of entrepreneurship at Bedfordshire, London South Bank, Cranfield and Warwick Universities and was Director of 3i European Enterprise Research Centre.

I am a chartered accountant. I also started and ran my own firm. At Cranfield, I launched the Graduate Enterprise Programme in England, which was offered at numerous Universities and forms the model upon which most University entrepreneurship courses are now based. At the Open University Business School, I developed the multi-media Small Business Programme which was screened on BBC2.

I have worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs, small firms and their advisors, including the partners of Grant Thornton and BDO Stoy Hayward, 3i, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Lloyds Banks and advised and consulted at various levels of government in the UK and overseas. I have worked with partners in GP practices around the country and Head Teachers in secondary schools in Bedfordshire to help them develop their strategies.

Qualifications

• BA (Hons) Economics - Durham University
• MSc Business - Warwick University
• FCA Fellow - Institute of Chartered Accountants

Teaching Expertise

• Entrepreneurship and small business development
• Corporate entrepreneurship, innovation and strategy

Current Research Interests

• Corporate entrepreneurship

External Roles

• Fellow (former President) - Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE)

Previous Roles

• Dean - University of Bedfordshire Business School
• Head of School - London South Bank University Business School
• Founding Director - Design for Learning Ltd
• Visiting Professor - Open University Business School
• Director - 3i European Enterprise Research Centre
• Professor of Small Business Development and Head of Department - Cranfield School of Management
• Visiting Fellow - Harvard Business School, USA
• Lecturer - Warwick University Business School
• Chartered Accountant - Arthur Andersen & Co, UK

Publications

Over a 40-year career I have authored some two dozen books and hundreds of journal articles and research reports. My latest books:

• Entrepreneurship and Small Business: Start-up, Growth and Maturity, 3rd edition, 2011 (Palgrave-Macmillan). This is the best-selling entrepreneurship textbook in the UK, praised for its authoritative blend of theory and practice and described as a 'joy to read' and as 'indispensable for any student of entrepreneurship'.
• Corporate Entrepreneurship: Innovation and strategy in large organizations, 3rd edition, 2013 (Palgrave-Macmillan). This sells world-wide and is one of the few UK books to sell well in the USA. Praised as a 'definitive guide' that 'combines a profound understanding of theory with practical guidance', it shows how strategies for encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation might be embedded in larger organisations through the concept of 'architecture' – leadership, culture and structure.
• New Venture Creation, due for publication by Palgrave-Macmillan in 2014.

Contact Details

T: 01234 793136
E: paul.burns@beds.ac.uk