Henley student wins Best Doctoral Paper Award

Henley PhD Student Jill Juergensen was judged as the winner of the Michael Z Brooke Best Doctoral Paper Award 2021 at the 48^th Academy of International Business UK & Ireland Chapter Conference for the paper entitled “Stuck in the middle? Exploring internationalization and innovation in German SMEs “.

The prize is named after the late Michael Z Brooke, a Fellow of the Academy of International Business and the Founder of the AIB's UK Chapter in 1973. The paper she presented as part of the Doctoral Colloquium showcased her doctoral research, which she conducts under the supervision of Professor Rajneesh Narula and Associate Professor Irina Surdu. In her work, she investigates the dynamic interdependence between firm-level innovation and internationalisation in German SMEs. Methodologically, she combines quantitative and qualitative research methods, appreciating their complementary nature. Specifically, the main empirical paper she presented uses panel data from the European Community Innovation Survey to examine whether and how German exporters can ‘learn’ to become more innovative through their foreign operations.

Jill Juergensen said:

"Since I started my PhD journey in September 2018, I have been lucky to be able to combine my research interests in innovation, technology and globalisation with my German background. I have hugely benefitted from the knowledge and support of my two supervisors, Rajneesh Narula and Irina Surdu, and feel very honoured and proud to have received this award and to be recognised for this work."