Objective Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) form the backbone of the European economies in terms of employment, job creation, innovation and ability to add economic value. Because of that, SMEs have received much attention from scholars seeking to understand determinants of their competitiveness as well as from policy-makers at national and European levels aiming to provide support measures to facilitate their growth. It is well understood that SMEs command fewer resources and are more volatile than their large counterparts, and therefore need to pursue different trajectories to compete. What is less well known is whether and how SMEs harness the potential of their boards of directors to improve value-creation thus strengthening their competitiveness. This fellowship aims to advance knowledge by investigating how boards in SMEs contribute to value-creation within a service-dominant logic, taking into account the heterogeneity of SMEs as well as country-specific factors. By bringing together perspectives from multiple disciplines such as strategic management, marketing, organisational behaviour and psychology, and adopting a mixed methods research design that is close to and captures the complexity of the phenomenon, the results from the project will generate novel yet rigorous insights into the strategic dimensions of SME governance. A set of carefully designed user engagement and outreach activities will ensure that this new knowledge is transmitted into practice and available to a wider public audience. With the help of subject-related, methodological, and professional training and secondments, this fellowship provides a unique opportunity for Dr Yar Hamidi to advance his knowledge in a subject area he is passionate about as well as creating a sound platform from which to develop his scholarly career. Fields of science social sciencessociologygovernancenatural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdatabasessocial sciencespsychologysocial scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementemploymentsocial scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementcommerce Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2016 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2016 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF Coordinator UNIVERSITY OF WOLVERHAMPTON Net EU contribution € 195 454,80 Address Wulfruna street WV1 1LY Wolverhampton United Kingdom See on map Region West Midlands (England) West Midlands Wolverhampton Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00