Scott Gordon

Dr Scott Gordon

Entrepreneurship Lecturer

Adelaide Business School

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.


Scott is the PhD program director and lecturer in entrepreneurship at the Entrepreneurship Commercialisation & Innovation Centre (ECIC), The University of Adelaide. He has diverse multi-disciplinary experience, having conducted basic and applied research across physical, biological and social sciences. Originally trained in Electrical Engineering he spent more than a decade as a practicing professional engineer with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) developing innovative technologies for underwater acoustic remote sensing and mapping of seabed habitats.

Since 2005 Scott has been actively engaged as an entrepreneurship scholar and academic. He holds a BEng, a MBA with First Class Honours and a PhD in Management, for which he received an Outstanding Doctoral Thesis citation. Prior to joining ECIC in January 2015 he held the position of research fellow with the Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research (ACE) at Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

Scott's teaching interests lie at the intersection of entrepreneurship, innovation and strategy. His research explores the complex relationships between conceptual discovery and behavioural exploitation dimensions of entrepreneurial action, and the temporal nature of organisational emergence.

Scott's current research interests include:

  • Nascent entrepreneurship: early start-up process (see video), entrepreneurial behaviour
  • Organisational emergence: organisation - ecosystem interactions, firm resourcing strategies
  • Entrepreneurial attitude: entrepreneurial mindset & opportunity attitude
  • Research methods: novel quantitative techniques for studying behaviors, processes & networks

Steffens, P. & Gordon, S.R. (2022-23) South Australian Business Longitudinal Analytic Data Environment and Innovation Districts Survey. Cat 2: SA Department of Premier & Cabinet $200000

Giancaspro, M., Villios, S., Graves, C., Steffens, P. & Gordon, S. (2021-22) An Investigation into How Crisis Events Affect Small Business and Family Enterprises and which Factors (Internal and External) Stem Decline, Help Recovery and Promote the Development of Resilience. Cat 2: Department of Treasury, Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman $18000

Graves, C., Steffens, P., Villios, S., Giancaspro, M. & Gordon, S. (2021) An Investigation into the Performance of the MSME Sector in South Australia and the Utility of Government Programs Aimed at Supporting the Sector. Cat 2: SA Department of Premier & Cabinet, SA Department for Innovation and Skills $36000

Steffens, P. & Gordon, S.R. (2021) Consultation to address and carry out the co-development of an innovation precinct data frame. Cat 2: SA Department of Premier & Cabinet $10000

Steffens, P. & Gordon, S.R. (2019) High growth firms in South Australia: Efforts to extract greater insights and value from state held data sets. Cat 2: SA Department of Premier & Cabinet, SA Department for Innovation and Skills $15000

Gordon, S.R., Davidsson, P. Steffens, P. & Lau, A. (2013) Comprehensive Australian study of entrepreneurial emergence: Outcomes. Cat 2: Department of Industry $80000

Davidsson P., Gordon, S.R. & Steffens, P. (2012) Business Creation in Australia. Cat 2: Department of Industry $50000

My teaching interests lie at the intersection of entrepreneurship, innovation and strategy. I teach masters and undergraduate level courses across the following areas (current teaching in bold):

  • Navigating Commercialisation Pathways [Masters]
  • New Venture Creation [Masters]
  • Entrepreneurship Research in Practice [Masters]
  • Opportunity Assessment
  • Research Methods
  • Strategic Management
  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2022 Principal Supervisor Understanding the nature of Acquired Optimism, its antecedents and its consequences on the Entrepreneurs in the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Jyoti Khisha
    2020 Co-Supervisor Influence of Entrepreneurs’ self-esteem on the temporal processes of post-venture emotional response, sense-making and venturing behaviour Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Dinusha Costa
  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2018 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Opportunity Attitude – Extending Entrepreneurial Opportunity Evaluation Beyond Cognition Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Binyam Zewde Alemayehu
  • Other Supervision Activities

    Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
    2014 - 2014 Co-Supervisor Let’s go abroad! The impact of international potentials, entrepreneurial motivations and firm stages on new venture internationalisation Queensland University of Technology - Honours Full Time Jan Henreik
  • Position: Entrepreneurship Lecturer
  • Phone: 83137493
  • Email: scott.gordon@adelaide.edu.au
  • Fax: 83137512
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Nexus 10, floor 9
  • Org Unit: Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation, and Innovation Centre

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