Biography
Paulo holds a joint appointment between the Department of Engineering Science and the Saïd Business School, and his primary fields of expertise are entrepreneurship, sustainable development, systems change, and innovation management.
He formerly served as Postdoctoral Researcher at the Skoll Centre (University of Oxford) and as an Assistant Professor at Durham University.
Outside academia, he worked as an entrepreneur and as a consultant to large companies, governments, and intergovernmental organisations. He received his PhD from the University of Cambridge, as a Gates Scholar.
Most Recent Publications
Social entrepreneurs as ecosystem catalysts: the dynamics of forming and withdrawing from a self-sustaining ecosystem
Social entrepreneurs as ecosystem catalysts: the dynamics of forming and withdrawing from a self-sustaining ecosystem
Why managers should be more like hackers
Why managers should be more like hackers
The Four Workarounds: Strategies from the World's Scrappiest Organizations for Tackling Complex Problems
The Four Workarounds: Strategies from the World's Scrappiest Organizations for Tackling Complex Problems
Prototyping, experimentation, and piloting in the business model context
Prototyping, experimentation, and piloting in the business model context
Plurality in understandings of innovation, sociotechnical progress and sustainable development: An analysis of OECD expert narratives.
Plurality in understandings of innovation, sociotechnical progress and sustainable development: An analysis of OECD expert narratives.
Research Interests
Paulo's research covers the mechanics of entrepreneurship and innovation, often through a ‘systems lens’ and with a special focus on large-scale sustainability challenges (e.g. poverty, climate change, circular economy).
Paulo engages with practitioners through action research, and he is particularly interested in exploring innovative solutions in situations where information is limited, resources are scarce, and stakes are high.
Current Projects
Paulo's research projects are clustered into three core research questions:
- How can entrepreneurs catalyse changes to promptly address the SDGs?
- How do social impact organizations conceive and pursue 'systems change'?
- How to best accelerate ventures of vulnerable entrepreneurs and provide an ecosystem where they can flourish?
Most Recent Publications
Social entrepreneurs as ecosystem catalysts: the dynamics of forming and withdrawing from a self-sustaining ecosystem
Social entrepreneurs as ecosystem catalysts: the dynamics of forming and withdrawing from a self-sustaining ecosystem
Why managers should be more like hackers
Why managers should be more like hackers
The Four Workarounds: Strategies from the World's Scrappiest Organizations for Tackling Complex Problems
The Four Workarounds: Strategies from the World's Scrappiest Organizations for Tackling Complex Problems
Prototyping, experimentation, and piloting in the business model context
Prototyping, experimentation, and piloting in the business model context
Plurality in understandings of innovation, sociotechnical progress and sustainable development: An analysis of OECD expert narratives.
Plurality in understandings of innovation, sociotechnical progress and sustainable development: An analysis of OECD expert narratives.
DPhil Opportunities
I am particularly looking for a prospective DPhil student interested in accelerators, incubators, makerspaces and other intermediaries that nurture entrepreneurial activity to address the SDGs (e.g., UNDP Accelerator Labs).
I am also interested in supervising students that want to explore new research projects that relate to my broad research interests.
Most Recent Publications
Social entrepreneurs as ecosystem catalysts: the dynamics of forming and withdrawing from a self-sustaining ecosystem
Social entrepreneurs as ecosystem catalysts: the dynamics of forming and withdrawing from a self-sustaining ecosystem
Why managers should be more like hackers
Why managers should be more like hackers
The Four Workarounds: Strategies from the World's Scrappiest Organizations for Tackling Complex Problems
The Four Workarounds: Strategies from the World's Scrappiest Organizations for Tackling Complex Problems
Prototyping, experimentation, and piloting in the business model context
Prototyping, experimentation, and piloting in the business model context
Plurality in understandings of innovation, sociotechnical progress and sustainable development: An analysis of OECD expert narratives.
Plurality in understandings of innovation, sociotechnical progress and sustainable development: An analysis of OECD expert narratives.
