Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Strategy
Ekene's research centres on early stage startups and entrepreneurship mainly within the growing commercial space industry. He is also interested in technology innovations that drive growth and sustainability.
Ekene joined ARU in April 2021. He got his PhD in 2018 from Glasgow Caledonian University. His doctoral thesis explored the impact of big data on problem solving for the creation of smart cities. Prior to joining ARU, he taught at universities such as University of Central Lancashire and Glasgow Caledonian University, where he led and taught on a range of modules at undergraduate and postgraduate level. He also has some experience in management consulting and has worked in Big4 firms such as Deloitte and KPMG. He is also an Associate Editor in New Space: The Journal of Space Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Research interests
New space - space commercialisation and entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship - early stage startups
Technology and innovation management - smart cities, open innovation and problem solving
History and philosophy of science and technology
Areas of research supervision
Entrepreneurship - early stage startups
Technology and innovation management
Teaching
Undergraduate - play and create, prototype and testing, the reflective and empathetic entrepreneur
Postgraduate - entrepreneurial action
Qualifications
PhD Management, Glasgow Caledonian University
MSc Management, University of Glasgow
BA (Hons) History, University of Benin
Memberships, editorial boards
Associate Editor, New Space: The Journal of Space Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Member, Academy of Management
Member, British Academy of Management
External Examiner, University of Glasgow
Selected recent publications
Okwechime, E. and Johnson, D. (2021), "Book review", A Galaxy of Her Own: Amazing Stories of Women in Space. Journal of Management History, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 598-600. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMH-05-2021-0029
Okwechime E., Duncan P.B., Edgar D.A., Magnaghi E., Veglianti E. (2021) Smart Cities: A Response to Wicked Problems. In: Magnaghi E., Flambard V., Mancini D., Jacques J., Gouvy N. (eds) Organizing Smart Buildings and Cities. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 36. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60607-7_2
Okwechime E., Duncan P.B., Edgar D.A., Magnaghi E., Veglianti E. (2021) Big Data: An Introduction to Data-Driven Decision Making. In: Magnaghi E., Flambard V., Mancini D., Jacques J., Gouvy N. (eds) Organizing Smart Buildings and Cities. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 36. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60607-7_3
Okwechime, E., Duncan, P.B & Edgar, D.A. (2018). Big data and smart cities: a public sector organizational learning perspective. Information Systems and e-Business Management, 16(3), 601-625.
Slavova, M. & Okwechime, E. (2016). African smart cities: strategies for agenda 2063. Africa Journal of Management, (2) 2, 210–229.
Recent presentations and conferences
Johnson, D. & Okwechime, E. (2017). Corporate venture adventures in the UK Public Sector: the role of entrepreneurial leadership in organisation learning. Public Service Innovation Conference (PUBSIC), Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Lillehammer, Norway. November 2017.