Professor Dominic Chalmers
- Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Management)
telephone:
0141 330 7317
email:
Dominic.Chalmers@gla.systa-s.com
Biography
Dominic Chalmers is Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, where he also serves as Associate Director for Engagement and Knowledge Exchange. His research sits at the intersection of entrepreneurship, digital technology, and artificial intelligence, with publications in leading Financial Times 50-ranked journals, including Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Management Studies, Organisation Studies, and Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice in addition to Academy of Management Perspectives. Dominic serves on the editorial review boards of Entrepreneurship, Theory and Practice and the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research.
Dominic is currently co-editing a forthcoming special issue of the Journal of Management Studies on the Dark Side of Digital Communication (2025–2027) and co-editing a special issue of Technological Forecasting and Social Change on “Agentic AI and the Future of Leadership” (submissions due January 2027). He has extensive international teaching experience, delivering executive education and MBA teaching in Singapore, Malaysia, Oman, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and the UK, and currently teaches on the ASBS MBA.
Dominic’s research has attracted substantial competitive funding from UK and European sources. He is principal investigator on a €1.2m European Union EIT HEI Initiative project to support data-driven entrepreneurship across a consortium of European universities, and on an Innovate UK TechLocal AI Professional Practice Studio grant (PI, £372,500). He was co-investigator on a €4.5 million Horizon 2020 project examining the legitimisation of new technologies with colleagues in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden; on the £1.875m ESRC Future Finance project; and on the Innovate UK Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL), which received the Scottish Financial Technology Innovation Award in 2025.
Research interests
Dominic is a member of the School's Entrepreneurship, Development and Political Economy research cluster and on the leadership team for college-wide Social and Digital Change Group
Areas of expertise:
- Entrepreneurship
- Artificial intelligence and new venture processes
- Platforms & digital entrepreneurship
- Social innovation and institutions
- Research methods
Grants
- Innovate UK - AI Productivity and Growth Studio (£372,000) (Principal Investigator)
- Innovate UK - Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (£0.5m) (co-investigator).
- ESRC - Future Finance (£1.8m) (co-investigator)
- EU EIT - Accelerate-EEE (€1.2m) (principal investigator)
- Scottish Funding Council - Scale-up consortium (£35,000)(co-investigator)
- Scottish Government - Regional Recovery Funds (£36,000)(principal investigator)
- ASPECT - How can the Social Sciences Support Fintech Innovation (£12,000) (principal investigator)
-
EU Horizon 2020 - Legitimation of Newness and Its Impact on EU Agenda for Change (€4.5 million) (co-investigator)
- Iberdrola Sandbox Project 2017 (£200,000) (co-investigator)
- Entrepreneurial Tracking – towards a better understanding of entrepreneurial growth’ (2016) with MacKenzie, N (PI) and Matthews, R. Report to Scottish Enterprise (£40,000)
- Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher (2013) - (£5000) Feasibility Study for Scottish Centre for Social Innovation (principal investigator)
Supervision
Dominic is interested in supervising students researching the following topics:
- Digital entrepreneurship
- Political economy of new technology
- Social innovation
Teaching
Interests
- New venture creation
- Ideation
- Research methods
- Innovation
Courses currently taught
- Social and community entrepreneurship
- Digital entrepreneurship
- Business models in finance
Additional information
Conference presentations (peer reviewed)
- Matthews, R, Chalmers, D (2018) What is Opportunity Exploitation? Competing Perspectives in Entrepreneurship Theory, Academy of Management, Chicago
- Chalmers, D., Matthews, R., Dodd, S., Arshed, N. (2018) The Collaborative Economy Through an Everyday Entrepreneurship Lens: A Review & Research Agenda, Academy of Management, Chicago
- Matthews, R. & Chalmers, D. (2016), Entrepreneurial Selling Practices: A Systematic Review and Reconceptualisation of the Literature, Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Los Angeles, CA: Academy of Management, p. 1-54 54 p.
- Matthews, R., Chalmers, D. (2016) Entrepreneurial Selling Practices, Paper presented at VU University - 1st Annual Workshop on Entrepreneurship as Practice, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Chalmers, D (2015) The Plasticity of the Socially Entrepreneurial Identity, Paper presented at New York University - Stern Conference on Social Entrepreneurship, New York , United States.
- Chalmers, D., & Shaw, E. 2014. Missing the Point? Finding the Contextual Detail in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Scholarship. Paper presented at the Academy of Management, Philadelphia, PA.
- Matthews, R., Chalmers, D., & Arshed, N. 2014. Absorptive capacity in practice: Preliminary evidence from the addition of a senior team member, Academy of Management. Philadelphia, PA.
- Chalmers, D. (2013). Uncovering the social: relational asymmetries in processes of social entrepreneurship. Paper presented at New York University - Stern Conference on Social Entrepreneurship, New York , United States.
- Matthews, R., Chalmers, D., Arshed, N (2013) Integrating New Recruits into Entrepreneurial Management Teams: An Absorptive Capacity Perspective, RENT conference 2013, Vilneus, Lithuania (forthcoming)
- Chalmers, D.M., Balan-Vnuk, E. (2012) Exploring the Innovative Capabilities of Socially Entrepreneurial Organizations, EGOS Conference 2012, Helsinki, Finland
- Balan-Vnuk, E, Chalmers, D.M. (2012) Risking More Than Money? Entrepreneurial Orientation in the Nonprofit Context, Babson Kaufmann Conference, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- Chalmers, D.M., Balan-Vnuk, E. (2012) Entrepreneurial Social Ventures: Microfoundations of Internal and External Absorptive Capacity Routines, ISEI Conference, Venice, Italy
- Chalmers, D (2011). Why Social Innovators Should Embrace the ‘Open’ Paradigm, 3rd EMES International Research Conference on Social Enterprise, 4-7th July, Roskilde, Denmark.
Policy work and other publications
- MacKenzie, N; Chalmers, D, Matthews, R (2016) Tracking the Performance of High-Growth Entrepreneurs, A report for Scottish Enterprise.
- Finlay, P; Chalmers, D; Lindsay, C; MacBryde, J; Pascoe-Deslauriers, R; Wilson, J; Mathews, R; (2015) Innovating Works... improving work & workplaces: Workplace innovation in small to medium sized enterprises in Scotland, Scottish Centre for Employment Research
- Chalmers, D; Coburn, J (2013), Scottish Centre for Social Innovation (Feasibility Study funded by SFC Innovation Voucher).
- Chalmers, D (2011). Why Social Innovators Should Embrace the ‘Open’ Paradigm, Adapted version of academic paper published in the European Union Social Innovation Magazine
- Bennie, M, Chalmers, D et al. (2010). Robotics Within the Medicines Supply Chain in NHS Boards, Glasgow, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences and the Strathclyde Business School in collaboration with the NHS Scotland
- Bennie, M, Chalmers, D et al. (2010). NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Acute Pharmacy Redesign Program Analysis. Glasgow, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences and the Strathclyde Business School in collaboration with the NHS Scotland
