Professor Lynn Martin

Lynn was appointed Academic Advisor for X-forces Enterprise, a high-growth organisation providing enterprise training and support for all of the armed forces in the UK in May 2018.

A previous president and current Fellow of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, she has also been a Fellow of the Economics and Social Science Research Council and a board member for Prowess and the CABS Small Business Charter Mark.

She is also a non-executive director for two start-ups and a mentor for three high-growth technology firms.

Lynn's primary research interest involves identity work in technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship, with recent publications exploring gender and identity in innovation and entrepreneurship.

She has presented her work at numerous academic conferences, winning best paper awards at ISBE and BAM conferences, and has variously served as Conference Chair and Track Chair. She has presented her research as a keynote speaker in India, China, and Europe.

Lynn also has experience in consulting and research projects for various public and private organisations, including European funds, three research councils, and private sector sources such as the Goldman Sachs Foundation.

Her recent research for the International Olympic Studies Centre (Geneva), Erasmus, and Women in Science and Engineering Education reflects issues related to entrepreneurship and to female leadership in STEM innovation.

She is also a member of the ESRC Peer Review College, a reviewer for research bids overseas, e.g., in Eire and Australia, and currently an external examiner for UCL and the University of Limerick.

• Identity work in innovation and entrepreneurship
• Innovation in small firms and high growth firms through technology
• Gender in entrepreneurship and innovation leadership

• Gender, innovation and entrepreneurship
• Leadership and management in small and large firm entrepreneurship
• Culture, trust and open innovation
• Sensemaking and identity

PhD supervision experience

• Six current students
• 14 successful completions – ten PhD, four DBA
• 69 viva examinations as external or internal examiner
• 21 viva examinations as Chair

In previous roles:

• Associate Dean for Teaching, Learning and Assessment
• Director of Doctoral programmes
• Research Centre Director
• Course and Module leadership experience in the areas of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Business Leadership and Management.

• Doctoral Thesis (PhD) in Human Capital Formation in Small Firms, University of Warwick

Memberships:

• Member, Faculty of Business & Law Centre for Research on the Organization of Work and Consumption (CROWC)
• Member, British Academy of Management, Institute of Small Business & Entrepreneurship
• Chief Fellow, Global Economic Oversight Committee, Washington
• Fellow, Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship
• Scientific Council Member of The European Equitie group capital investment in women's business based in Paris, to explore and review levels of equity funding in Europe for women and overseas preparation of case studies for successful women

Editorial Boards:

• International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research
• International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
• Technology and Society

Current projects

Knowledge Transfer Partnership  Supporting the charity UK - Antarctic Heritage Trust – to develop sustainable routes to share Antarctic stories with wider audiences (virtual reality).

Principal investigator for a research project funded by Amazon UK to explore enablers for women in STEM innovation, Inspiring Women in Innovation working in partnership with the Women in Science and Engineering initiative; May 2018-February 2019, with colleagues Dr Lucy Wright, Dr Estela Fernandez-Sabiote, Dr Congmin Peng and Dr Elisa Alt.

Principal investigator for an International Olympic Committee project to explore how the Olympics can support enterprise, especially in deprived areas– Youth entrepreneurship as a legacy for Olympic Cities (London and Rio de Janeiro) May 2018-May 2019, with Dr Mike Duignan, Coventry University.

Principal investigator for UK enterprise ecosystem research as part of the TETM EU funded Erasmus project, exploring excellence in start up support with national leaders in incubation and accelerators

Previous projects

The leadership of initiatives generating c £30 million+ to achieve faculty and university aims, from the private sector, e.g., the Goldman Sachs Foundation, European research and structural funds, research councils, and regional capital funding. Examples of these since include, as Principal Investigator:

AHRC, 'Gut Feeling' in Designing and Developing New Products in Small Creative Companies, AHRC award to Manchester Metropolitan University and Lynn M Martin PI, AH/L013614/1, £39,375

EPSRC, Rural Hybrid Energy Enterprise Systems, EP/J000361/1 £225,000

ESRC, Developing a cost-benefit and social value framework in micro-provider contexts; third sector and university partnership. ESRC award to Manchester Metropolitan University and Lynn M Martin,  ES/I030239/1, £23,165

ESRC, Sharing and building university and business perspectives of how to enable high growth in small firms, ESRC award to Manchester Metropolitan University and Lynn M Martin, ES/K000780/1, £60,809

ESRC, Developing a business process approach to evaluate opportunities at Groundwork; energy efficiency, a case study in knowledge commercialisation, ESRC award to Manchester Metropolitan University and Lynn M Martin, £12,686

Zaman, T., Shahwan, R., Suwan, R., Martin, L. M. (2026) 'When Uncertainty Never Ends: Rethinking the Entrepreneurial Mindset in Prolonged Crisis', International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. Accepted 4 September 2026.

Martin, L. M., Zayadin, R., Ibbotson, P. and Baines, S. (2026) 'Iterative Sustainable Opportunity Development in Established SMEs; a recursive process model', International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-05-2025-0559

Zayadin, R., Yousafzi, S. and Martin, L. M. (2026) 'Oscillatory Entrepreneurial Identity Formation; legitimacy work in university commercialisation programmes', International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-06-2025-0789

Martin, L. M., Zayadin, R., Ibbotson, P. and Baines, S. (2026) 'Belonging Beyond the Organisation: Situated Learning and Identity in Liminal Boundary Roles', Management Learning. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/13505076261433177

Martin, L. M., Wamalwa, S. and Abdelhabrim, H. (2025) 'An institutional context for migrant entrepreneurship – the UK'. In: Margaça, C. and Walmsley A. (Eds.) (2025) Migrant entrepreneurship, Immigrant Entrepreneurship, Religion, and Ethnicity Cases from Europe, Africa, and Asia. Abingdon: Routledge.

Rezaei, A., Martin, L. and Kamali, A. R. (2024) 'Contribution of female inventors to technological collaboration between high-tech firms and university in close proximity: Effect of innovative firm's characteristics', Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 9(4), 100594.

Martin, L. M., Rezaei. A. and Abdelrahim, H. (2024) 'Applying an institutional approach to digital innovation'. In: Svark, J. and Dabic, M. (Eds.) (2024) Digital Entrepreneurship in Science, Technology and Innovation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 332-352.

Maley, J. F., Dabic, M.., Neher, A., Wuersch, L., Martin, L. M. and Kiessling, T. (2024) 'Performance management in a rapidly changing world: implications for talent management', Management Decision, 62(10), pp. 3085-3108.