Skip to content

Dr Richard Blundel

Staff photo

Senior Lecturer in Enterprise Development

Dr Richard Blundel is a member of The Open University's Centre for Innovation, Knowledge and Enterprise.

You can email Dr Richard Blundel directly; but for media enquiries please contact a member of The Open University's Media Relations team.

Staff profile

See below for Dr Richard Blundel's:

Biography

Richard joined The Open University from Brunel University in July 2009.  He studied at the London School of Economics (BSc (Econ)), Bradford University (MBA) and The University of Birmingham (PhD).  Prior to taking up an academic career, he worked for two large local and central government organisations, a specialist marketing research consultancy and a diversified multinational firm. Richard is an associate of the inter-faculty Centre for Innovation, Knowledge and Development (IKD) and editor of the Quarterly Survey of Small Business in Britain in conjunction with Emeritus Professor Colin Gray.  He is a board member of the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE), chairs ISBE's conference track, 'Social, Environmental and Ethical Enterprise', and is deputy chair of  the 'Social and Sustainable Enterprise Network'.

Teaching interests

Richard's main teaching interests are in entrepreneurship and innovation.  He chairs the new MBA elective module B846: Entrepreneurship: Experience and Perspective and was previously chair of B322: Investigating Entrepreneurial Opportunities. He is also contributing to a new Open University module, T3ab: Design and Innovation for a Changing World. Richard is co-author (with Professor Nigel Lockett, University of Leeds) of Exploring Entrepreneurship: Practices and Perspectives (Oxford University Press: 2011).  He has also written (with Kate Ippolito, Royal College of Physicians), Effective Organisational Communication: Perspectives, Principles and Practices (3rd edition) (FT Prentice Hall, 2008). A new edition is currently in preparation, with Kate Ippolito and David Donnarumma.

Research interests

Richard's research has been in the fields of organisation studies, entrepreneurship and innovation. He has published articles in international journals including Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Enterprise & Society and Industry & Innovation, and has written reviews for Business History, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, the Journal of Management Studies and the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research. His published work includes studies of network relationships and growth processes amongst artisanal food producers and manufacturing firms. In recent years, he has developed an interest in the role of entrepreneurial agency in sustainability transitions (Blundel and Monaghan 2009, 2011) and in the drivers of socially responsible enterprise (Blundel, Spence and Zerbinati 2010).  Two co-authored book chapters are in press: 'Promoting environmentally sustainable enterprises: some policy options.' In: Robert Blackburn and Michael Schaper (eds.) Government, SMEs and Entrepreneurship Development: Policy, Practice and Challenges. (Gower, 2012), and 'Enterprise education for small artisanal businesses: A case study of Sokoban Wood Village, Ghana.' In: Mai Thi Thanh Thai and Ekaterina Turkina (eds.) Entrepreneurship in the Informal Economy: Models, Approaches and Perspectives for Economic Development. (Routledge, 2012). He is also working with Sarah Underwood, Fergus Lyon and Alan Murray on an edited book Social and Sustainable Enterprise: Changing the Nature of Business, Volume 2 in the series 'Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship Research' (Emerald, 2012).

Impact and engagement

Research findings from the Quarterly Survey of Small Firms in Britain attract regular media coverage and are drawn on by industrial organisations, policy makers and researchers.  The work is supported by ACCA, Barclays Business and sponsors of special topics.  The  research team also undertakes commissioned studies for organisations such as the Professional Oversight Board for Accountants (POBA) and the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA).  Quarterly Survey findings are reported in the business and financial media, and have been used to inform external events such as the 'Small Business, Big Society' virtual summit (November 2011).  Survey findings are also used at a European level, where they are aggregated into the UEAPME's EU Craft and SME Barometer.  In February 2012, Richard interviewed entrepreneur, investor and former 'Dragon', Richard Farleigh as part of an OU collaboration with the BBC's The Bottom Line.

External contributions

Richard is a board member of the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) and chair of ISBE's conference track, 'Social, Environmental and Ethical Enterprise'.  He is also a member of ACCA's UK SME Forum. In recent years, he has been involved in organising, with Professor Colin Gray, a one day Leadership Academy event, 'Entrepreneurial Leading Out of Recession' (28th January 2010), and with Dr Anja Schaefer and Dr Jackie Fry, the ISBE SSEN event, 'Where next for sustainable enterprise?: policy and research perspectives (20th September 2011).  Richard has an active interest in local sustainability initiatives, including the UK's Superhomes project and the Great British Refurb. In 2010 he co-presented a short OpenLearn podcast with Dr Tina Fawcett, discussing their family's experience of retrofitting a traditional Edwardian house to achieve a 60%+ reduction in energy demand and associated carbon emissions.

International collaborations

Richard has been a member of the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills funded ABLE-Ghana initiative (2010-2011), collaborating with colleagues from five Ghanaian universities on employability and entrepreneurial learning issues. He is also a member of the Sustainable Transitions Research Network, an international community of researchers and policy-makers engaged in socio-technical transitions studies.

Areas of expertise

  • entrepreneurship
  • innovation
  • environmental sustainability
  • small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)
  • commercial and social enterprise
  • organisational communication

Research student supervision

Publications

Book
Blundel, RK, Lockett, N  (2011)  'Exploring Entrepreneurship: Practices and Perspectives', Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 464. Abstract
Blundel, RK, Ippolito, K  (2008)  'Effective Organisational Communication: Perspectives, principles and practices', Financial Times, Harlow, Pearson Education Limited, pp. 448. Abstract
Blundel, RK  (2004)  'Effective Organisational Communication: perspectives, principles and practices, 2nd edition', Harlow, FT Prentice Hall.
Book Chapter
Blundel, RK, Spence, LJ, Zerbinati, S  (2010)  'Entrepreneurial social responsibility: scoping the territory.', Ethics in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: a global commentary, Dordrecht, NL, Springer, pp. 123-145. Abstract
Blundel, RK  (2007)  'Critical realism: a suitable vehicle for entrepreneurship research?', Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Entrepreneurship, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, pp. 49-74. Abstract
Conference Paper
Blundel, RK, Spence, LJ, Lyon, F  (2010)  'The evolution and growth dynamics of social enterprises: historical and contextual perspectives', The 33rd Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Annual Conference (ISBE): Social, Environmental and Ethical Enterprise track., London. Abstract
Blundel, RK  (2010)  'Social, Environmental and Ethical Enterprise', Enterprising Matters, August.
Blundel, RK, Spence, LJ  (2009)  'Entrepreneurial dynamics and social responsibility: mapping an expanded intellectual territory', Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 32nd International Conference: Social, Environmental and Ethical Enterprise Track, Liverpool, UK. Abstract
Blundel, RK, Monaghan, A  (2009)  'Ships passing in the night?: re-thinking the relationship between entrepreneurial agency and purposive transitions', First European Conference on Sustainability Transitions: ‘Dynamics & Governance of Transitions to Sustainability’, Amsterdam. Abstract
Blundel, RK, Spence, LJ, Zerbinati, S  (2008)  'From CSR to ESR?: exploring the entrepreneurial dimensions of corporate social responsibility', The International Society of Business, Economics and Ethics (ISBEE) World Congress, Cape Town, South Africa.
Blundel, RK  (2008)  'Will there be blood?: entrepreneurial judgement and strategic choice in Chandlerian and revisionist narratives of industrialisation', Association of Business Historians Conference, University of Birmingham, UK. Abstract
Blundel, RK, Fawcett, T  (2006)  'Critical perspectives on climate change and organisations: the historical contribution', Association of Business Historians Conference, Queen Mary, University of London, 16 - 17 June.
Clark, PA, Maielli, G, Blundel, RK  (2006)  'The limits to universalism in OLKC: national cultural repertoires, intangible specialization and Penrosian learning', International Conference on Organisational Learning, Knowledge and Capabilities, University of Warwick, 20 - 22 March.
Blundel, RK  (2005)  'Penrose, critical realism and the evolution of business knowledge: a methodological reappraisal', British Academy of Management Conference, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, 13 - 15 September.
Blundel, RK  (2005)  'Little ships: the transformation of small boat building in England, 1925- 1975', Association of Business Historians Conference. University of Glasgow, 27 - 28 May.
Blundel, RK, Clark, PA  (2004)  'Blurred boundaries and contingently finite zones of manouevre: modifying the Penrosian framework', Shifting Boundaries: Governance, Competence and Economic Organisation in the Knowledge Economy, Bristol, 2 -3 September.
Blundel, RK, Thatcher, M  (2003)  'Explaining differential responses to globalization: the case of volume yacht manufacturing in four European clusters', Conference on Clusters, Industrial Districts and Firms: The Challenge of Globalization (Conference in honour of Professor Sebastiano Brusco), University of Modena, Italy, 12 -13 September.
Blundel, RK  (2003)  'Applying multi-level analysis to small business growth processes: a review of analytically structured narrative and network mapping techniques', Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development Conference, University of Surrey, 3 -4 April.
Blundel, RK  (2003)  'Entrepreneurship research in a multi-level perspective: combining analytically structured narrative with network mapping sequences', Interdisciplinary European Conference on Entrepreneurship Research (IECER), University of Regensburg, Germany, 13 - 14 February.
Blundel, RK  (2002)  'Reproducing artisanal knowledge in the new economy: a case study of English farmhouse cheese making 1850-2000', Danish Research Unit for Industrial Dynamics (DRUID) Summer Conference. Elsinore, 6 - 8 June.
Blumberg, B, Blundel, RK, Staber, U  (2002)  'Exploring the impact of initial resource endowments on entrepreneurial network connectivity and dynamics', European Group for Organizational Studies 18th Colloquium, Barcelona, 4 - 6 July.
Blundel, RK  (2001)  'Entrepreneurial agency in business networks: an exploration of process', European Group for Organizational Studies 17th Colloquium, Lyon, 5 - 7 July.
Blundel, RK  (2001)  'Artisanal knowledge and network evolution: a tale of two regional cheese makers, 1950-2000', Managing Knowledge: Conversations and Critiques, University of Leicester.
Journal Article
Clark, PA, Blundel, RK  (2007)  'Penrose, critical realism and the evolution of business knowledge: a methodological appraisal', Management and Organizational History, vol. 2, issue 1, pp. 45-62.
Blundel, RK, Tregear, A  (2006)  'Artisans and ‘factories': the interpenetration of craft and industry in English cheese-making, c1650-1950', Enterprise and Society, vol. 7, issue 4, pp. 01/01/35.
Blundel, RK  (2006)  'Technological capabilities, networks and institutions: a multi-level analysis of competitive innovation in British sailing', Industry and Innovation, vol. 13, issue 3, pp. 313-334.
Blundel, RK  (2006)  'Managing "collisions" between entrepreneurial networks and industrial supply chains: a modified Penrosian perspective', International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, vol. 2, issue 1, pp. 82-97.
Blundel, RK, Thatcher, M  (2005)  'Explaining cluster responses to globalization: the case of volume yacht manufacturing in Europe', Entrepreneurship & Regional Development: an international journal, vol. 17, issue 6, pp. 405-429.
Blundel, RK  (2002)  'Network evolution and the growth of artisanal firms: a tale of two regional cheesemakers', Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, vol. 14, issue 1, pp. 01/01/30.
Blundel, RK, Hingley, M  (2001)  'Exploring growth in vertical relationships: small-medium firms supplying multiple food retailers', Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 8, issue 3, pp. 245-266.
Miscellaneous
Blundel, RK, Ramirez, M, Nye, S  (2010)  'Climate Solidarity: A Review of Methodologies to Monitor and Evaluate Workplace Engagement', London, Defra. Abstract
Report
Blundel, RK, Smith, D  (2001)  'Business networking: SMEs and inter-firm collaboration: a review of the literature', Research Report, issue RR003/01, Sheffield, Small Business Service.
Blundel, RK, Smith, D  (2001)  'Business networking: SMEs and inter-firm collaboration: research-based case studies', Sheffield, Small Business Service.