Dr Rachel Doern

Much of Rachel’s research examines the cognitions, emotions and behaviours of entrepreneurs in adverse conditions.

Staff details

Position

Reader in Entrepreneurship

School

Creative Management

Subject

Business, Management, Marketing

Email

r.doern (@gold.ac.uk)

Dr Rachel Doern joined the Institute of Management Studies at Goldsmiths in January 2014. She previously worked at Royal Holloway University of London, and the Universities of St. Andrews and Essex. She has a PhD in Management, an MSc in International Marketing, a BComm in Marketing and a BA in Economics and Psychology.

Rachel has received external funding from organisations including the British Academy and the EY Foundation. Much of her research examines the cognitions, emotions and behaviours of entrepreneurs in adverse conditions and is inter-disciplinary in nature; drawing on micro-sociological and psychological approaches to understanding resilience and vulnerability, and how entrepreneurs interact with different stakeholders as they develop their businesses, particularly during times of crisis. She is especially interested in how entrepreneurs navigate difficult situations, contexts and emotions. Recent research projects also look at entrepreneurial diversity, and different entrepreneurial identities and communities. She welcomes PhD applications from students interested in studying any of these topics.

Rachel is Senior Tutor and on the Senior Management Team in the Institute of Management Studies (IMS) at Goldsmiths. Previous admin roles in the IMS have included Programme Director for the BSc in Management and Entrepreneurship and the BSc in Management (with Entrepreneurship, Economics or Marketing), Undergraduate (UG) Chair of Exams Board and Admissions Officer for UG programmes in Management. She was also the Founding Director of the MSc in Entrepreneurship at Royal Holloway.

Rachel is currently Book Reviews Editor for the International Small Business Journal and was previously a Consulting Editor for the same journal from 2013-2020. She is on the Editorial Review Board of the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research and was Co-Editor of a Special Issue for the journal Entrepreneurship and Regional Development on Entrepreneurship and Crises: Business as Usual?

Recent talks:

2021. How small businesses are fighting their way through the pandemic, Diversity in Business Group at the Certified Public Accountants Group, Webinar, Australia European Division, CPA Australia, April.

2020. Crisis management planning and resilience for SMEs during COVID-19 pandemic. Workshop (online), DEK Business Growth programme - providing training and workshops for staff and owners of SMEs to help them develop their skills and experience, Enterprise Centre at Goldsmiths, June. https://www.deklondon.com/

2020. Small business and entrepreneurship in times of crisis, Panel/Webinar, IPA-Deakin SME Research Centre at the Deakin Business School and the Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research at the QUT Business School, May.

2020. Organizations in crisis: How to navigate a new normal, Diversity in Business Group at the Certified Public Accountants Group, Webinar, Australia European Division, CPA Australia, May.

2020. Mentor/Schmentor: How chef-owners separate from mentors and redefine their relationships, Seminar, University of Calgary, Calgary Canada, February.

2019. The role of gender in the final phases of the mentor-protégé relationship: A study of how elite chef-owners separate and redefine their relationships with their culinary mentors as they leave to open their own restaurants. Seminar, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim Norway.

2019. How to be more resilient as a creative professional in a precarious environment. Keynote Lecture, Creative backslash: From precarious individuals to resilient organisations (Conference). Belgrade Serbia.

2018. A framework for small business recovery following a crisis. Seminar, University of Surrey.

2017. Small business adaptation and resilience following adversity: The experience of small businesses during the London Riots. Seminar, De Montfort University Leicester.

2017. How do small businesses and their owner-managers adapt to a crisis? The case of the London riots, Seminar, University of Burgos.

2017. Build Resilience: Make your organisation crisis prepared, not crisis prone, Talk for Knowledge Brief (to members of the public and private sector), London.

2014. Doern, R. ‘Where's my shop?’ Understanding the impact of the London riots on small businesses and owner-managers. Seminar, Kingston Business School, University of Kingston.

2013. Small business resilience in a post-riot context. Resilience and Infrastructures Theme, Resilience Workshop, Royal Holloway, University of London.

2012. An exploratory study of responses to and recovery from the London riots. August 2011: From the perspective of small business owner-managers. Seminar for research students of the Honours Academy at Radboud University Nijmegen, Royal Holloway, University of London.

2012. Cross-cultural research: Reflections on conducting research abroad. PhD Day School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London.

2011. Entrepreneurship in adverse conditions. Seminar for staff of the Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

2011. Undertaking cross-cultural research. Seminar for research students of the Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

2011. The experience of Russian entrepreneurs: Small business survival and growth, Russian Society Lecture, Royal Holloway, University of London.

2011. Feeling powerless: Barriers to entrepreneurial action in Russia, Centre for Comparative Economics’ Seminar Series, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, UCL.

2010. Barriers, blockages and dead-ends: the growing pains of Russian small businesses, Centre for Comparative Economics’ Seminar Series, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, University of London.

2010. Tips for writing up your PhD. PhD Day School of Management, Royal Holloway.

2010. Workshop on qualitative research methods in entrepreneurship. British Academy of Management Conference, Sheffield (with O. Jones & W. Lam).

2009. Cognitive and affective representations of barriers to growth: Some accounts from owner-managers in Russia, School of Management Seminar Series, Royal Holloway.

2007. Understanding barriers to small business growth: Examples from Russia. Scottish Entrepreneurship Research Seminar, Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, University of Strathclyde.

Web Series:

The Professor and the CEO: Roadmap to the New Abnormal - This webinar series (with Ben Gillam, CEO of Thirdway Interiors, a commercial office design and workplace consultancy) was created to bring together research and practice to help entrepreneurs, small business owners, CEOs and managers navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to hosting a live series every couple of weeks with a practitioner audience, the series is available on YouTube.

Series 1 (2020)

Highlights

Watch the series online

An SMEs journey through the pandemic (ep 1)

Decision-making in times of uncertainty (ep 2)

Leadership styles, wellbeing and resilience (ep 3)

Detecting vulnerabilities and preparing for crisis (ep 4)

Containing a crisis and thinking about business recovery (ep 5)

Reconsidering the workplace in times of COVID-19 (ep 6)

Flexibility and improvisation in response to crisis (ep 7)

Rethinking values during a crisis (ep 8)

Sustainability in and beyond a crisis (ep 9)