Talk on 'Entrepreneurship in Practice: Qualitative Insights from Central Asia for Conceptual Innovation and Applied Business Research'

Cambridge Central Asia Forum and the British Management University (BMU) Tashkent invite you to a talk on

'Entrepreneurship in Practice: Qualitative Insights from Central Asia for Conceptual Innovation and Applied Business Research'

by

Philipp Schroeder, Nazarbayev University, Astana & British Management University (BMU) Tashkent 

Date: 22 May

Time: 11am-1pm (UK time)

Online Zoom registration link: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/ZDSon0AhSgij2RyUU0Umew 

In person in Tashkent, Uzbekistan: Room 510, British Management University Tashkent, 35 Mirza Bobur Street, Tashkent

Abstract: This talk argues for the positive dual use of knowledge, where qualitative research serves both academic and applied purposes in entrepreneurship studies and practice. Drawing on long-term fieldwork in Central Asia, the talk moves from 'opportunity structures' as a concept for the patterned diagnosis of entrepreneurial action toward finer-grained engagement with situated venture practice. This will be illustrated through ethnographic cases on 'entrepreneurial curating' for balancing attractiveness and approachability, 'valorization alignment' during entrepreneurial pitch production, and 'trust fatigue' as a learned stance towards new initiatives or products. The talk then outlines how applied qualitative research can support entrepreneurs across Central Asia through a variety of outputs — including user experience, local perception, impact, and organizational studies — all of which enable entrepreneurs to develop a more data-driven culture and evidence-based decision-making

Speaker Bio: Prof. Dr. Philipp Schroeder is a Central Asia specialist with 20 years of experience in research, evaluation, and policy advice. He is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan, Visiting Professor at BMU and an affiliate researcher at the International Security and Development Centre (ISDC) in Berlin, Germany, as well as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. His academic and applied research contributions focus on entrepreneurship, mobility, youth, trans locality, education, gender, identity, integration, nutrition and social behaviour change, particularly in Central Asia, using qualitative and mixed-methods approaches.