Dr David Littlewood

PhD MA BSc (Hons)

Management School

Research Development Director for Entrepreneurship, Strategy and International Business

Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management

David.Littlewood@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 3493

Room E017, Sheffield University Management School

Full contact details

Dr David Littlewood
Management School
Room E017
Sheffield University Management School
Conduit Road
Sheffield
S10 1FL

Profile

I joined Sheffield University Management School in 2015 to work as a Lecturer in Strategic Management.

In 2018, I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management. I teach on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Prior to this, I was a Lecturer in Reputation and Responsibility at the Henley Business School, the University of Reading, where I also taught on undergraduate and postgraduate MSc and MBA programmes.

I completed my PhD at the University of Sheffield in the Geography Department, with my research examining relationships between CSR and development in the context of the mining industry in Namibia.

I was then employed as a post-doctoral research fellow at Queen’s University Belfast Management School, working on the Trickle Out Africa Project, which examined social and environmental enterprises in East and Southern Africa and their role in sustainable development and poverty alleviation.

I am a frequent speaker at international conferences and have been widely published in international peer reviewed journals, as well as contributing to various books and conference proceedings.

I am active internationally engaging in research collaborations with scholars in the USA, Europe, Asia and Africa, and practitioners.

Research interests

My interests lie in the business and society domain, and relate more specifically to: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); sustainability, green business and environmental entrepreneurship; organisation stakeholder relationships; social entrepreneurship and innovation; the informal economy.

By geography my work focusses on the developing world and particularly Sub-Saharan Africa. I am involved in several international research projects, including: the Trickle Out Africa Project; the International Comparative Social Enterprise Models (ICSEM) project and the GREY Project.

I am a Fellow of the Sheffield Institute for International Development (SIID), a member of the Centre for Regional Economic and Enterprise Development (CREED), and the Cluster for Research on the Informal Sector and Policy (CRISP).

I am also an affiliate of the John Madejski Centre for Reputation, Henley Business School, the University of Reading. I also sit on the Editorial Board of the journal Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management (CSREM), and recently co-guest edited a special issue of the Social Enterprise Journal on ‘Social enterprise and networks’.

I also sit on the Editorial Board of the journal Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, and the Editorial Advisory Board of the Social Enterprise Journal.

Publications

Journal articles

Littlewood DC & Khan Z (2018) Insights from a systematic review of literature on social enterprise and networks: Where, how and what next?. Social Enterprise Journal, 14(4), 390-409. View this article in WRRO
Littlewood DC, Rodgers P & Williams C (2018) Experiences, causes, and measures to tackle institutional incongruence and informal economic activity in South-East Europe. Current Sociology. View this article in WRRO
Littlewood DC, Decelis R, Hillenbrand C & Holt D (2018) Examining the Drivers and Outcomes of Corporate Commitment to Climate Change Action in European High Emitting Industry. Business Strategy and the Environment. View this article in WRRO
Littlewood DC & Kiyumbu W (2018) “Hub” organisations in Kenya: What are they? What do they do? And what is their potential?. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 131, 276-285. View this article in WRRO
Littlewood DC, Rogers P & Junhong Y (2018) “The price is different depending on whether you want a receipt or not”: Examining the Purchasing of Goods and Services from the Informal Economy in South-East Europe. The Service Industries Journal, 38(11-12), 688-707. View this article in WRRO
Littlewood DC & Holt D (2018) Social Entrepreneurship in South Africa: Exploring the Influence of Environment. Business and Society, 57(3), 525-561. View this article in WRRO
Littlewood DC & Holt D (2018) Social enterprise resilience in sub-Saharan Africa. Business Strategy and Development. View this article in WRRO
Holt D & Littlewood DC (2017) Waste Livelihoods Amongst the Poor – Through the Lens of Bricolage. Business Strategy and the Environment, 26(2), 253-264. View this article in WRRO
Holt D & Littlewood DC (2015) Identifying, Mapping, and Monitoring the Impact of Hybrid Firms. California Management Review, 57(3), 107-125.
Littlewood DC (2015) Corporate social responsibility, mining and sustainable development in Namibia: Critical reflections through a relational lens. Development Southern Africa, 32(2), 240-257. View this article in WRRO
Rivera-Santos M, Holt D, Littlewood D & Kolk A (2015) Social Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa. Academy of Management Perspectives, 29, 72-91. View this article in WRRO
Littlewood D & Holt D (2015) Conceptualizing Resilience & Social Entrepreneurship Relationships in Complex & Chaotic Environments. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2015(1), 11738-11738.
Holt D & Littlewood D (2014) Financial services for the poor within the formal/informal nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2014(1), 10985-10985.
Littlewood D (2014) ‘Cursed’ Communities? Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Company Towns and the Mining Industry in Namibia. Journal of Business Ethics, 120(1), 39-63. View this article in WRRO
Holt D & Littlewood D (2013) The Jua Kali and the Mali-Mali: The Informal/Formal Nexus amongst Kenyan Micro Enterprises. Academy of Management Proceedings, 1(1), aomafr.2012.015-aomafr.2012.015.
Littlewood D & Holt D (2013) Impact evaluation of a Kenyan ecobusiness: a pilot framework. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2013(1), 10701-10701.

Chapters

Ciambotti G, Littlewood D, Sottini A & Nkatha E (2020) Building and scaling social enterprise business models for BoP markets in Kenya In Muthuri J, Arnold M, Stefan G & Ximena F (Ed.), Base of the Pyramid Markets in Africa: Innovation and Challenges to Sustainability
Littlewood DC & Holt D (2018) How social enterprises can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – A conceptual framework In Apostolopoulos N, Al-Dajani H, Holt D, Jones P & Newbery R (Ed.), Entrepreneurship and the Sustainable Development Goals (pp. 33-46). Emerald View this article in WRRO
Littlewood DC & Holt D (2018) Social Entrepreneurship and CSR Theory: Insights, Application and Value In Spence LJ, Frynas GJ, Muthuri JG & Navare JA (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Small Business Social Responsibility: Global Perspectives (pp. 292-319). Edward Elgar Publishing View this article in WRRO
Littlewood DC & Holt D (2015) The informal economy as a route to market in Sub-Saharan Africa – observations amongst Kenyan informal economy entrepreneurs In Nwankwo S & Nwankwo K (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Business in Africa
Littlewood D & Holt D (2015) Social and Environmental Enterprises in Africa: Context, Convergence and Characteristics, The Business of Social and Environmental Innovation (pp. 27-47). Springer International Publishing
Holt D & Littlewood D (2014) Informal economy entrepreneurs from sub-Saharan Africa: Observations from Kenya, The Routledge Companion to Business in Africa (pp. 198-216).
Littlewood D & Holt D (2014) Addressing Rural Social Exclusion in the Developing World: Exploring the Role of African Social Purpose Ventures, Exploring Rural Enterprise: New Perspectives on Research, Policy & Practice (pp. 105-131). Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Littlewood D & Russon J-A () CSR, mining and development in Namibia, Development-Oriented Corporate Social Responsibility Volume 1: Multinational Co (pp. 116-133). Greenleaf Publishing Limited
Littlewood D () Corporate Responsibilities In Kobayashi A & Maharaj B (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, 2e
Littlewood DC & Holt D () Hybrid Organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa: Insights for Research, Policy and Practice In Billis D & Rochester C (Ed.), International Handbook on Hybrid Organisations Edward Elgar View this article in WRRO
Holt D & Littlewood DC () Social Entrepreneurship and Africapitalism–Exploring the Connections In Amaeshi K, Idemudia I & Okupe A (Ed.), Africapitalism: Rethinking the Role of Business in Africa Cambridge University Press
Mayasari D, Littlewood D & Kedir A () Women’s entrepreneurship in the context of a matriarchal society in Indonesia In McAdam M & Cunningham J (Ed.), Women and Global Entrepreneurship: Contextualising Everyday Experiences

Conference proceedings papers

Sottini A, Littlewood D & Ciambotti G (2020) Building Sustainable Business Models in the BoP: Evidence from Social Enterprises in East Africa. Academy of Management Proceedings
Littlewood D (2019) Informal entrepreneurship in Windhoek Namibia: A configurational perspective. Academy of Management Proceedings
Garnelo-Gomez I, Money K & Littlewood D (2019) “I Live Sustainably”: Exploring Sustainable Living Narratives Through Identity and Motivation. Academy of Management Proceedings

Website content

Littlewood DC, Holt D, Kolk A & Rivera-Santos M (2015) African data can bring fresh insights to management and social entrepreneurship studies. Retrieved from http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2015/12/14/african-data-can-bring-fresh-insights-to-management-and-social-entrepreneurship-studies/ View this article in WRRO

Research group

I currently supervise six PhD students at Sheffield University Management School:

Naeem Albihany (Joint second supervisor, start date October 2014)
Valentina Varbanova (2nd supervisor, start date October 2015)
Bala Auwalu (Joint 1st supervisor, start date October 2016)
Dian Eka Mayasari (Joint 1st supervisor, start date February 2017)
Zara Seini (Joint 1st supervisor, start date April 2017)
Shinell Smith (Joint 1st supervisor, start date October 2018)

Recent completed PhD students:

Irene Garnelo Gómez. ‘I Live Sustainably’: Exploring sustainable narratives through the lens of identity expression and motivational drives (Second supervisor). Henley Business School, University of Reading Scholarship.

I would be interested in supervising PhD or postgraduate taught students in the areas of:

Social entrepreneurship, social innovation and hybrid organisation
CSR in both the developed and developing country context
The informal economy
Business and society relationships, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa"
Social entrepreneurship, social innovation and hybrid organisations

Grants

Social entrepreneurship in South Africa: Internationalisation, Institutional Work, and Partnerships for Sustainable
- Awarding body: Development Higher Education Funding Council for England, Global Challenges Research Fund
- £2370
- January - September 2019
The Role of Innovation Hubs in Promoting Social Entrepreneurship in Kenya University of Sheffield, GLOSS Research Associate Scheme
- £2300
- April – September 2016
- Co-researcher Ms Wilkister Kiyumbu (GLOSS Research Associate)
Motivations, Agglomeration and the Formal/Informal Economy Nexus – A Study of Informal Economy Entrepreneurship in Windhoek, Namibia
- Sheffield University Management School Research Stimulation Fund
- £2500
- October 2015- September 2016
Scholarship to study an MA Human Geography Research and for a PhD
- ESRC 1+3 Studentship, University of Sheffield Department of Geography
- £64,000+/-
- September 2005- August 2010
- PhD supervisors: Dr Deborah Sporton and Dr Chasca Twyman

Teaching activities

Responsibility and sustainability are key themes that I embed across all of my teaching. I see my role as a facilitator of student learning and a positive student experience, and seek to help students to develop as critical and reflective thinkers and responsible future business leaders.

I am an advocate of collaborate group based learning, and encourage active student involvement in the classroom.

I also believe in research-led teaching, providing opportunities for student inquiry, and drawing upon current research and thinking in the field including my own research on CSR, social entrepreneurship, and wider relationships between business and society.

I contribute to teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the area of strategy. I lecture on the undergraduate module MGT231 Business Strategy, and I am module leader for the postgraduate module MGT6047 Strategic Management.

I believe in reflective teaching practice and continuing professional development. I am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Professional activities

Since joining Sheffield University Management School, I have served in several administrative roles including Lead Undergraduate Admissions Tutor (MIES Division), and MIES Divisional Director of Impact, Innovation and Engagement.
Guest Editor for Special Issue the Social Enterprise Journal – Social Enterprise and Networks
9th International Social Innovation Research Conference. Stream co-chair - Social innovation, hybridity and networks.
Marie Curie Fellow - Seconded to the GREY Research Project. September 2016 - February 2017
2015 RETF funded Best Research Output Prize for the Henley Business School
Winner Best Paper in Social, Environmental and Ethical Enterprise Track, ISBE 37th Annual Conference, Manchester 2014
Winner Best Full Paper, Sustainable and Responsible Business, British Academy of Management Conference 2014, Belfast 9-11th September.
Editorial board of the journal Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management (CSREM)
Editorial Advisory Board of the Social Enterprise Journal
Winner Best Paper Social, Environmental and Ethical Enterprise Track, and shortlisted Best Paper Rural Enterprise Track, ISBE Conference 2013, Cardiff UK.