Qualifications & Memberships
Research Interests
Dr Paul Knott is a Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management. As well as teaching into the B.Com, M.Com and MBA programmes, he undertakes research and publication in strategic management, strategy-as-practice, and innovation management. The central theme of his research is the relationship between strategy tools, techniques and ideas and practitioner cognition and action. Current focus areas around this central theme include:
Strategy tools, cognition and action – how strategy practitioners take in and interpret information and methods, and how this affects their decisions and actions. For example, the 2015 paper ‘Does VRIO help managers evaluate a firm’s resources?’ (Management Decision 53:8, 1806-1822).
Strategy development processes – a practice perspective on how these operate in different contexts, including formal strategic planning in large multi-business firms (with Chatchai Thnarudee), and networks of firms in the distinctive informal sector in Ghana (with William Darbi).
Development of new high-technology ventures – including use of innovation tools and techniques, team learning, and outcomes (with Anton de Waal). For example, the 2013 paper ‘Innovation tool adoption and adaptation in small technology-based firms’ (International Journal of Innovation Management 17:3).
Although now a strategic management specialist, earlier he qualified as an engineer and gained experience in the UK aerospace industry.
Recent Publications
- Darbi WPK. and Knott P. (2021) The positive development role of informal economic activity: The case of informal printing firms in Ghana. Business Strategy and Development 4(4): 449-464. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bsd2.170.
- Walsh C., Collins J. and Knott P. (2021) The Driving Mindsets of Innovation: Curiosity, Creativity and Clarity. Journal of Business Strategy http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JBS-08-2020-0176.
- Knott P. and Thnarudee C. (2020) Strategic planning as inter-unit coordination: An in depth case study in Thailand. Asia Pacific Journal of Management http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10490-020-09726-w.
- Walsh C., Knott P. and Collins J. (2020) Emotional energy and opportunity confidence. Journal of Business Venturing Insights 13 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2019.e00155.
- de Waal GA. and Knott P. (2019) Drivers of thoroughness of NPD tool use in small high-tech firms. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management - JET-M 53: 19-32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jengtecman.2019.05.002.