Dr Bahare Afrahi

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Bahare Afrahi
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Teaching and learning
Research
Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact
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About

I'm looking after Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management Course in the Department of Strategy, Marketing, and Innovation and also lecture relevant modules. I am also a researcher in Small Business Research Centre.

I joined Kingston University in 2018 after working at the University of Essex for two years. Prior to academia I worked in the industry for a number of year, as a Fire Engineer on projects related to the safety evaluation of steel structures, and, as an entrepreneur in the tech, retail, and publishing industries. 

I received my PhD in Entrepreneurship from the University of Essex. I hold a Master of Research from the University of Liverpool, and the MBA in Marketing and Finance from Hanken School of Economics. I am also a Fellow Member of the Higher Education Academy. 

If you are interested in me supervising your Research (MSc, PhD), send a short and focused proposal and include your CV (b.afrahi@kingston.ac.uk).

Areas of expertise:

Business exit, Entrepreneurial exit, Business Exit strategies, Entrepreneurs' transition, Entrepreneurs' health and well-being, Work disengagement, Employee disengagement and engagement

Academic responsibilities

Course Director Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

Qualifications

  • PhD in Entrepreneurship (University of Essex)
  • MSc in Research Business (University of Liverpool)
  • MBA in Marketing-Finance (Hanken School of Economics)
  • Fellowship of Higher Education Academy (HEAF)

Teaching and learning

Undergraduate courses taught

Postgraduate courses taught

Research

I research and write about entrepreneurial exit decisions and different strategies that entrepreneurs pursue to leave the venture, i.e. voluntary cessation, harvesting, and stewardship exit strategies. I am also interested in health and well-being and benefits of work disengagement as a cognitive choice or as a coping mechanism. So the variables and conditions that influence entrepreneurs' feelings for their business such as, co-founders' interactions and support and diversity in entrepreneurial management teams. I am interested in the applications of Structural Equation Modelling and teach it from time to time.

Awards: 

Best Paper Award:

*2017 Best Full Paper Award in Organisational Psychology at British Academy of Management Conference. 

*2017 Best Full Paper Award from Australian Organisation of Employees' Health and Wellbeing.

Research student supervision

Publications

Jump to: Conference or Workshop Item | Thesis
Number of items: 9.

Conference or Workshop Item

Afrahi, Bahare and Blackburn, Robert (2020) Emotion and business exit. In: 80th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management; 07 - 11 Aug 2020, Held online. (Unpublished)

Afrahi, Bahare (2020) Emotional closure and entrepreneurial exit. In: 11th Annual Faculty Research Conference: Contemporary Issues in Business and Social Science Research; 22 Jun 2020, Kingston upon Thames, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Afrahi, Bahare and Blackburn, Robert (2019) Entrepreneurs exit strategies : the role of emotion. In: British Academy of Management (BAM) Conference 2019 : Building and Sustaining High Performance Organisations in Uncertain Times : Challenges and Opportunities; 03 - 05 Sep 2019, Birmingham, U.K.. ISBN 9780995641327

Afrahi, Bahare, Blenkinsopp, J., Fernandez de Aroyabe, J. C. and Karim, M. S. (2019) In defence of disengaged worker. In: 10th Annual Faculty Research Conference: Contemporary Issues in Business and Social Sciences in a period of uncertainty; 03 - 04 Jun 2019, Kingston upon Thames, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Afrahi, Bahare, Karim, Mohammed Shamsul and Fernandez de Arroyabe, Juan Carlos (2018) Entrepreneurs' emotional disengagement from business. In: British Academy of Management (BAM) Conference 2018: Driving Productivity in Uncertain and Challenging Times; 04-06 Sep 2018, Bristol, U.K.. ISBN 9780995641310

Afrahi, Bahare, Karim, M. S. and Fernandes de Arroyabe, J.C. (2018) Effect of entrepreneurs’ emotional disengagement on entrepreneurial exit strategies. In: 38th Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC); 6-9 Jun 2018, Waterford, Ireland. (Unpublished)

Afrahi, Bahare, Fernandez de Arroyabe, Juan Carlos and Karim, Mohammed Shamsul (2017) Work disengagement: a systematic review of the evidence. In: British Academy of Management (BAM) Conference 2017: Re-Connecting Management Research with the Disciplines: Shaping the Research Agenda for the Social Sciences; 05 -07 Sep 2017, Coventry, U.K.. ISBN 9780995641303

Afrahi, Bahare (2016) Entrepreneurs’ disengagement. In: British Academy of Management (BAM) 2016 Doctoral Symposium; 5 Sep 2016, Newcastle, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Thesis

Afrahi, Bahare (2019) Disengagement and entrepreneurial exit. (PhD thesis), University of Essex, .

This list was generated on Fri Nov 27 06:55:13 2020 GMT.

Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact

2020.Business BasicsLeading to Grow Programme: Delivered by 15 business schools across England this project is funded by the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as part of their Business Basics Programme. 

The programme aimed to test whether personalised, tailored support from a business school working with the business experts, an ‘Entrepreneur in Residence' (EiR), can help reduce the perceived constraints to survival and growth and increase efficiency for microbusinesses.

In addition to managing this project at Kingston I worked closely with microbusinesses (1-9 employees) who registered and acted as their Eirs.  My 121 interventions aimed at increasing awareness of digital and new technologies, demonstrate their relevance to microbusinesses. 

https://www.kingston.ac.uk/news/article/2274/28-nov-2019-kingston-business-school-launches-funded-programme-to-help-microbusinesses-use-tech-to-grow/

https://smallbusinesscharter.org/leading-to-grow-programme/

2019. International Review of the Features and Functioning of Digital Business Diagnostic Tools: Supporting SME Productivity Growth and Inclusive Entrepreneurship This study for OECD, led by Robert Blackburn with Hang Do, and Bahare Afrahi, develops case studies of digital diagnostic tools for small business owners in four countries (UK, Ireland, France, and Australia).

2019. The Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey (GUESSS): Guesss is an international research project that examines the entrepreneurial intentions and activities of students using a geographical and temporal comparison. The eighth GUESSS edition was conducted in 2019 with 50 countries; more than 1000 universities, and more than 122,000 students took part. 

2019. Productive Entrepreneurship: The project highlighted a range of effective policy approaches to developing a broad base of productive startups throughout the economy. The report provided an overview of policy approaches that have stimulated productive entrepreneurship across sectors and territories through support programmes and policy reforms delivered by the central government, directly or through entrepreneurship support institutions, subnational governments and other intermediary organisations.

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