Sarah Jack

Sarah Jack is the Jacob and Marcus Wallenberg Professor of Innovative and Sustainable Business Development at the Department of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology and leads the Jacob and Marcus Wallenberg Centre for Innovative and Sustainable Business Development. Sarah’s primary interests relate to social aspects of entrepreneurship, where she draws on social capital and social network theory to extend understanding about the relationship between the entrepreneur and the social context in which they are embedded, using qualitative techniques. Her work is of a theoretical, conceptual and policy nature. Current interests also include social innovation, sustainable business development and entrepreneurship within a historical context.

Sarah’s current research projects include SIMRA (Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas, a Euro5.5mn Horizon 2020 project led by Professor Maria Nijnik, James Hutton Institute) leading work on Innovation Actions through the delivery of social innovation on the ground, and Recirculate (a £7mn global challenge project aimed at building capacity within Africa to solve the continent’s water crisis, led by Professor Nigel Paul, Lancaster University). Previous projects include engagement with the Wave 2 Growth Hub project, a £32mn project funded through the UK’s Regional Growth Fund aimed at developing growth hubs tailored to the needs of local SMEs.

Sarah’s research outputs have been published in highly rated international journals such as the Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Management Studies, Academy of Management Learning and Education, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Journal of Management Inquiry, Technovation and Regional Studies. She serves as an Editor for Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Associate Editor for Entrepreneurship and Regional Development and is an editorial board member for the Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. She also holds a leadership role with the ENT Division of the Academy of Management (AoM).