Q Step Summer Research Projects 2017

Project leader / Supervisor / Lena Kruckenberg & Lata Narayanaswamy
Email /
Project Title / How social enterprises co-create innovative medical devices for low-resource settings
Project reference / LUBS-12-LK
Location of Placement / Leeds University Business School
Brief overview of project (including whether it involves quantitative or qualitative research)
Improving access to medical care in low-resource settings is key to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal for good health and well-being (SDG3). Recent research suggests, however, that the development and adoption of appropriate medical technologies depends on scientific & engineering expertise as well as on an in-depth understanding of the contexts in which they will be used. Social enterprises combining features of for-profit firms and non-profit NGOs are in a unique position to connect private enterprises, universities, government agencies and civil society organisations in ways that facilitate the development of innovative medical technologies for low-resource settings. Yet, we still know little about the activities and partnership models of social enterprises in this field. Addressing this research gap, the proposed research aims at a better understanding of the capacities, networks, partnership strategies and business models of social enterprises building innovation ecosystems for medical technologies in emerging economies.
The research will utilise a mixed-method research design. It will involve
a) the preparation of a literature review (which will be available by the end of this semester)
b) desk-based research investigating the activities of social enterprises operating in this field,
c) a small number of in-depth qualitative interviews will feed into
d) the development and implementation of an online survey, followed by
e) an analysis of the data collected (descriptive statistics).
Links to external organisation/s (if relevant)
We are currently in the process of establishing links to external organisations which may be deepened at the interview stage (in particular with networks and associations that could assist us with the administration of the online survey). As many of these organisations are likely to be based abroad, the placement holder will engage with them via email/skype. If there should be a face-to-face meeting being held with a British or visiting organisation at the time of the placement, the placement holder will be invited to take part as a full member of the research team.
Nature of tasks to be pursued by the placement holder (and quantitative/qualitative research skills to be developed)
The placement holder will work as a member of the research team and provide research assistance as well as pursue his or her own defined project. Depending on the abilities and personal interests of the placement holder, and the timing of the placement, the following tasks could be pursued:
1. Desk-based research: identification of additional partner organisations in the field (transferable skills include web-based searches, development of an engagement strategy, understanding of sampling strategies)
2. Interviews: preparing, taking part in and conducting qualitative interviews via the telephone or skype (transferrable skills: development of an interview schedule, interview techniques)
3. Interviews: transcription and analysis of a small number of qualitative interviews (use of transcription tools, analytical methods)
4. Development of a questionnaire(formulating and testing questions for a questionnaire)
5. Implementation of online survey (use of online platforms to administer surveys, strategies for recruiting research participants, sampling strategies)
6.Descriptive statistics: Processing and preliminary analysis of survey data using SPSS and/or excel (descriptive statistics)
Nature of contact with/support for placement holder from staff member
The placement holder will be supervised by Dr Lena Kruckenberg(University Academic Fellow in Innovation Management in LUBS) and Dr Lata Narayanaswamy (Lecturer in International Development based in POLIS). There will be a minimum of two meetings per week. At least one of the supervisors will be available at all times. Both supervisors have a track record in conducting research with organisations involved in international development cooperation and have experience in working with researcher assistants. They both feel confident that this project will make for a useful and exciting learning opportunity for a student interested in academic research.