Professor Boris Urban

Courses and Disciplines taught at WBS:
Entrepreneurship; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship.

Other Teaching Experience:
Strategic Management; Organisational Behaviour. 

Research Interests:
Entrepreneurial behaviour, cognitions and motivations; entrepreneurial ecosystems with a focus on firms and institutions; social enterprises and social outcomes.

Industry and Professional Experience:
Boris Urban created new ventures, operated both as a franchisor and as franchisee, and worked for MNCs, with broad exposure to strategic and general management functions. Through training and consulting, he has delivered solutions to local and international corporate clients in the private and NGO sectors (e.g. Liberty, Daimler, Glencore, Vodacom and Namibian Tourism). 

Recent Publications and Scholarly Contributions: 

More than 100 articles in academic journals with 3000 citations and h-index of 33. Editor and co-author of a series of books on entrepreneurship published by Oxford University Press and Springer.

Urban, B., & Townsend, S. A. (2021). TymeBank: Digital disruption in SA’s banking sector. Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies, 11(2), 1-32.

Urban, B., & Maphumulo, M. W. (2021). The moderating effects of entrepreneurial orientation on technological opportunism and innovation performance. European Journal of Innovation Management, No. ahead-of-print. (https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-12-2020-0509)

Urban, B., & Maswabi, L. (2021). Determining the mediating effects of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on the relationship between organizational antecedents and entrepreneurial orientation. Managing Global Transitions: International Research Journal, 19(2), 145–166.

Urban, B. (2020). Wealth inequality and entrepreneurial activity in South Africa. International Journal of Sustainable Economy, 12(2), 117-139.

Urban, B. (2020). Entrepreneurial alertness, self-efficacy and social entrepreneurship intentions. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 27(3), 489-507.

Urban, B., & Dlamini, Z. (2020). Intersections between policy and institutions: A focus on enterprise growth in Swaziland. Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, 9(3), 253-275.

Urban, B., & Chantson, J. (2019). Academic entrepreneurship in South Africa: Testing for entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Technology Transfer, 44(3), 948-980.

Other Scholarly Contributions: 

NRF rated and mentioned as highly cited Wits researcher based on Web of Science (ISI journals) rankings (2013 to 2017).

NRF Specialist Committee member.

Editorial board member of several journals, including: SAJEMS, SAJESBM, JCM, Acta Commercii, Journal of Social Business and the Journal of Social Entrepreneurship.

Awards:

Awarded several honours, including the Juta and Sasol prize for academic honours, the MANEX award for Best Researcher at WBS (2012-2016), Top Researcher award at Wits CLM Faculty (2013-2019), the Research and Knowledge Exchange (RAKE 2014) award from the UK-based Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and the Emerald Literati Award (2018).

International Experience: 

Collaborative multi-country, multi-year and multi-level Entrepreneurship Education Project and Networks for Inclusive Growth through Social Entrepreneurship; ESRC & British Council Newton & NRF Project: Development through enterprise – inclusive and sustainable future through entrepreneurial initiatives and cross-sector partnerships; Participated in EY G20 Entrepreneurship Monitor Report, Sunday Times Directors Event, SME Summit, LeaderEx, and MIT Global Start-ups panels.

Recent Media: 

Urban B. (2021). A positive spin-off from COVID: A rise in the level of impact investments. Business Day.

Urban B. (2021). Entrepreneurs are in a ‘perfect storm’ as the effects of the pandemic persist. Business Day.

Urban B. (2021). Entrepreneurs can help bring about change by putting people ahead of profits. Business Day.

Urban B. (2020). The role of entrepreneurial action in economic recovery. Daily Maverick. (https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-05-29-the-role-of-entrepreneurial-action-in-economic-recovery/)

Urban B. (2020). Four strategies for firms to survive Covid-19 (one is a winner). Business Day. (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2020-04-15-four-strategies-for-firms-to-survive-covid-19-one-is-a-winner/)