Dr Marta Fernandez De Arroyabe Arranz

Biography

Marta F. Arroyabe is a reader and deputy head of the Strategy Operations and Entrepreneurship (SOE) Group at Essex Business School. She is associate editor of the Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies. Marta is also a member of the Bank of England and HM Treasury’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Academic Advisory Group and a member of the Easter Cyber Resilience Centre’s Advisory Group, where she advises on issues around the digitalisation and cybersecurity of UK small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Previously, she held the undergraduate programme director and the Q-step lead positions at the SOE group. Marta’s research focuses on four primary areas: innovation, digitalisation & cybersecurity, environmental management, and entrepreneurship. In the area of innovation, her research aims to understand the development and implementation of innovation in firms and explores firms’ innovation decisions and strategies. In digitalisation and cybersecurity, her research investigates the intersection of IT security, digital transformation, and cybersecurity resilience in SMEs. Her research investigates the digitalisation dynamics in SMEs, emphasising the multifaceted nature of drivers, interactions, and the overall decision-making process within the evolving landscape of Industry 4.0. Her research also delves into the strategic decision-making behind cybersecurity investments in SMEs and provides an understanding of how cybersecurity challenges, capabilities and organisations’ external environment intersect with the broader landscape of digital transformation and strategic decision-making within SMEs, aiming to shed light on practical aspects that can enhance resilience and decision-making in the face of evolving cyber threats. In the area of environmental management, she primarily focuses on two topics, eco-innovation and circular economy, where she studies business responses to improving environmental performance and to increasing societal concerns for the environment. Her research explores the development of eco-innovation and circular economy business models in firms and the impact of these on firms’ performance. Finally, in the area of entrepreneurship, her research primarily focuses on entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial intention. Her work aims to understand to which extent entrepreneurial education in higher education institutions (such as universities) spurs students' entrepreneurial intention and fosters entrepreneurial activity. She has published her work in “Journal of Business Research”, "R&D Management", “Technovation”, “Studies in Higher Education”, “British Journal of Management”, “European Journal of Innovation Management”, “Technology Analysis and Strategic Management”, “Journal of Cleaner Production”, “Technological Forecasting and Social Change”, "Journal of Computer Information Systems" or "Computers and Security". Marta has successfully attracted external funding through several grants: ESRC Digital Security by Design Social Science Hub+ (Discribe) for a project on “The impact of cyber security on the adoption of new digital technologies in UK’s SMEs” (£168,519.90), Leverhulme Trust International Fellowship for the project on “Evaluating the effects of R&D tax credits on the market for corporate control” (£45,924.00), BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants for the project “The implementation of circular economy models in UK small and medium enterprises: a pilot study of East England & London” (£9,883.20), Society for the Advancement of Management Studies (SAMS) for the organisation of a workshop on “Innovation, Technology and R&D Management” (Project’s award: £3,430). She is also an investigator on the project “Accelerating Women’s Enterprise” from the European Commission (EU INTERREG, £146,298+ 125,971.72€). She is participating in the Cyber Security Academic Startup Accelerator Programme (Innovate UK), where is co-leading the project CyberSecurityAId. Marta is a permanent member of the scientific committee of the International Conference on University, Enterprise, and Society (UES) and an extramural research fellow at the University of Luxembourg. She is an EUREKA expert and a reviewer for the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Marta is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and an external examiner to the University of Glasgow. She is also a member of the Peer Review College of the British Academy of Management. Marta has received the EBS Teaching Leadership Award in 2022, Best Reviewer Award at Industry and Innovation Journal in 2022, and has been nominated for the Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award for three consecutive years at the University of Essex. She has also received the Best Developmental Paper Award at the 2023 British Academy of Management conference (HRM track). Marta is currently a visiting researcher at Copenhagen Business School (Denmark) and the University of Luxembourg (Luxembourg).

Qualifications

• Senior Fellow (D3) Higher Education Academy,

• Certified Management & Business Educator Chartered Association of Business Schools,

• PhD in Management University of Luxembourg,

• PhD in Management United Nations University – Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology,

• Research Master in Economics and Financial Research Maastricht University,

Appointments

University of Essex

• Deputy Head of Group, Strategy, Operations and Entrepreneurship Group, University of Essex (1/9/2021 - present)

• Undergraduate Programme Director, Strategy, Operations and Entrepreneurship Group, University of Essex (1/6/2019 - 30/4/2022)

• Q-step lead, Strategy, Operations and Entrepreneurship Group, University of Essex (1/7/2019 - 31/8/2022)

Other academic

• Central Bank Digital Currency Academic Advisory Group, Bank of England (1/12/2023 - present)

• Advisory Group, Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre (1/1/2024 - present)

• Associate Editor, Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies (1/9/2021 - present)

• Peer Review College Members, British Academy of Management (24/2/2023 - present)

• External Examiner, University of Glasgow (25/5/2022 - present)

• Expert, Eureka network programmes, Eureka Association (16/1/2023 - present)

• Reviewer, Swiss National Science Foundation (1/1/2023 - present)

• Extramural research fellow, University of Luxembourg (1/1/2022 - present)