معرفی
Sara Ekberg is a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the Department of Management, Griffith University's Business School. She is also a member of the Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing. Her academic work focuses on how organizations of various sizes overcome challenges across different contexts.
Dr. Ekberg has an impressive educational background with dual PhDs. Her academic qualifications include:
- PhD in Business Administration from Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden (May 2012 - October 2017)
- PhD in Communication, Media and Journalism from Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia (October 2014 - January 2018)
Sara's research interests center around organizational challenges and responses across different contexts. Her primary focus is on how organizations of various sizes overcome challenges. She has conducted studies ranging from the challenges of starting a new business, to the difficulties micro firms encounter as they develop and grow, and how large mature news corporations navigate disruptive technologies. Her current research focuses specifically on the challenges of starting and growing new ventures, with particular interest in startup ecosystems and how to improve support systems for entrepreneurs. She has also conducted significant research on how restaurants, cafes and bars impacted by COVID-19 attempt to recover and survive the pandemic.
Her publication record demonstrates a clear trajectory from media industry transformation to broader entrepreneurship and organizational challenges. Early work focused on digital disruption in news organizations, while more recent publications address entrepreneurial training in universities, business model innovation during crises, and institutional voids in emerging markets. Her research shows a consistent thread of examining how organizations adapt to significant challenges through innovation, strategic thinking, and network development.
Dr. Ekberg has received notable recognition for her scholarly work:
- Oskar Sillén Award for the best doctoral thesis in Business Administration in Sweden during 2017
As an educator, Sara has considerable experience teaching courses in entrepreneurship, strategic management and qualitative methods. She has successfully supervised multiple doctoral students both as principal and associate supervisor, with research topics spanning from urban to rural migration insights to the role of culture on entrepreneurs' mental health and wellbeing. Her grant funding record is impressive, including:
- Clinical Entrepreneurship Change Agents Program (Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, QLD) - $365,000 (Dec 2022 - Apr 2025)
- Making the Future Change Agents Today (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - Australia-Japan Foundation) - $30,000 (Nov 2021 - Nov 2022)
- Empowering Griffith educators to adopt enterprising pedagogies (PVC - Education) - $44,644 (Jan 2019 - Dec 2021)
Dr. Ekberg is actively involved in the Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing at Griffith University, where she collaborates with other researchers on projects related to organizational development, entrepreneurship, and wellbeing. Her work with colleagues like Birdthistle, Senyard, and others demonstrates a strong collaborative approach to research that bridges academic theory with practical business applications.
