Vitor Braga
Integrated Researcher
Vitor Braga is an Associate Professor at the School of Technology and Management (ESTG) – Porto Polytechnic (IPP) and a founding member of the Centre for Innovation and Research in Business Sciences and Information Systems (CIICESI).
At the moment, I am the Director of the Business Sciences Department and the Director of CIICESI. My academic background lies in the intersection between economics, business and entrepreneurial processes. I have a bachelor degree in Economics (1999), a Master of Science in Industrial Economics (2002), and a Ph.D. in Business Sciences (2008) from Middlesex University - London, UK, where I also completed a PgCert in Research Methods.
In 1999, I joined the School of Technology and Management, as a founder staff member, allowing me to accompany its development since the first day. This process has been a challenge that allowed me to be involved with all new processes within ESTG, and to contribute to its development, definition of the strategy and the creation of the current staff team.
During my academic and scientific career, I have focused on different aspects of entrepreneurial processes, namely those related to entrepreneurial and social innovation, international entrepreneurship, family business entrepreneurship and inter-firm collaboration. These themes deserved both a qualitative and quantitative approach, to explore the phenomena from different perspectives.
In particular, I have been applying the foundations of Economic Geography to the study of different aspects of entrepreneurial behaviour, based on the assumption that incorporating insights from one discipline into the study of others (yet related) yields new ideas allowing an interdisciplinary approach. In addition, I have also been combining the foundations of the New Economic Geography and Institutional Economics to business aspects leading to increasing competitiveness of places and firms.
My scientific journey started to explore the agglomeration of economic activity and clusters. The following step was to examine the dynamics of entrepreneurial interaction within these clusters, and hence, my PhD topic explored the informal inter-firm relationships amongst SMEs within these clusters. One of the main unexpected outcomes of my PhD dissertation was the strong presence of family within business becoming one of key aspects of my subsequent research. As the entrepreneurial process was central to my research, entrepreneurship and its dimensions integrated the core of my research since then.
The location of CIICESI, in a highly industrialised area, where specialisation of production occurs around small but very close cities, my research has been able to be transferred to the community by means of my research findings. In some cases, I was also able to transfer such knowledge through projects with both locsal authorities and business associations.
My research has been based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, as means to triangulate the data, but more importantly, to offer a multi-perspective to the same research problems. More recently, I have been employing fuzzy-methods approaches that allow the transformation qualitative data to a more reduced and summarised set off findings.
In my editor roles, I have always sought for attracting similar methodological approaches, and to apply them to the evolutionary paradigms of real-world business, adapting my research to the evolving business environment processes. Therefore, the study of innovation processes was not only fundamental, but also the required evolution of my research to reply to the current existing challenges in the industry. Consequently, currently I have been incorporating both digitalisation and sustainability in the study of innovation and entrepreneurial processes.
My research has been able to the policy informative, but also produced outputs to the industry, which, in a different perspective are also crucial to be incorporated in the courses I teach. Moreover, I also believe that such a eclectic approach is an important aspect of the research team within CIICESI, where we are looking for inter-disciplinary approaches to topics that can be transferred to the industry. I have been developing efforts to inspire the team in both incorporating these combined topic and methodologies approach, and to encourage them to both individually and as a group to engage with industrial and international actors.
At the moment, I am the Director of the Business Sciences Department and the Director of CIICESI. My academic background lies in the intersection between economics, business and entrepreneurial processes. I have a bachelor degree in Economics (1999), a Master of Science in Industrial Economics (2002), and a Ph.D. in Business Sciences (2008) from Middlesex University - London, UK, where I also completed a PgCert in Research Methods.
In 1999, I joined the School of Technology and Management, as a founder staff member, allowing me to accompany its development since the first day. This process has been a challenge that allowed me to be involved with all new processes within ESTG, and to contribute to its development, definition of the strategy and the creation of the current staff team.
During my academic and scientific career, I have focused on different aspects of entrepreneurial processes, namely those related to entrepreneurial and social innovation, international entrepreneurship, family business entrepreneurship and inter-firm collaboration. These themes deserved both a qualitative and quantitative approach, to explore the phenomena from different perspectives.
In particular, I have been applying the foundations of Economic Geography to the study of different aspects of entrepreneurial behaviour, based on the assumption that incorporating insights from one discipline into the study of others (yet related) yields new ideas allowing an interdisciplinary approach. In addition, I have also been combining the foundations of the New Economic Geography and Institutional Economics to business aspects leading to increasing competitiveness of places and firms.
My scientific journey started to explore the agglomeration of economic activity and clusters. The following step was to examine the dynamics of entrepreneurial interaction within these clusters, and hence, my PhD topic explored the informal inter-firm relationships amongst SMEs within these clusters. One of the main unexpected outcomes of my PhD dissertation was the strong presence of family within business becoming one of key aspects of my subsequent research. As the entrepreneurial process was central to my research, entrepreneurship and its dimensions integrated the core of my research since then.
The location of CIICESI, in a highly industrialised area, where specialisation of production occurs around small but very close cities, my research has been able to be transferred to the community by means of my research findings. In some cases, I was also able to transfer such knowledge through projects with both locsal authorities and business associations.
My research has been based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, as means to triangulate the data, but more importantly, to offer a multi-perspective to the same research problems. More recently, I have been employing fuzzy-methods approaches that allow the transformation qualitative data to a more reduced and summarised set off findings.
In my editor roles, I have always sought for attracting similar methodological approaches, and to apply them to the evolutionary paradigms of real-world business, adapting my research to the evolving business environment processes. Therefore, the study of innovation processes was not only fundamental, but also the required evolution of my research to reply to the current existing challenges in the industry. Consequently, currently I have been incorporating both digitalisation and sustainability in the study of innovation and entrepreneurial processes.
My research has been able to the policy informative, but also produced outputs to the industry, which, in a different perspective are also crucial to be incorporated in the courses I teach. Moreover, I also believe that such a eclectic approach is an important aspect of the research team within CIICESI, where we are looking for inter-disciplinary approaches to topics that can be transferred to the industry. I have been developing efforts to inspire the team in both incorporating these combined topic and methodologies approach, and to encourage them to both individually and as a group to engage with industrial and international actors.
Scopus Author ID
http://www.scopus.com/inward/authorDetails.url?authorID=44961091400&partnerID=MN8TOARS
AuthenticusID
https://www.authenticus.pt/R-000-P87
Ciência ID
http://www.cienciavitae.pt//E518-9C76-B69D
ResearcherID
https://publons.com/researcher/W-3289-2019
SciProfiles
https://sciprofiles.com/profile/1045618
Projects
Project
Leading Institution
Coordination
Project
PREV/HED - Prevention of sexual violence and harassment in higher education
[2023-1-FR01-KA220-HED-000152633] October/2023 — September/2026
Leading Institution
Association Les Militants des Savoirs
Coordination
Vítor Braga
Project
Internationalization of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn and increase in the recognition of Polish higher education in Europe
[PPI_APM_2019_1_00081] November/2019 — June/2022
Leading Institution
University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn
Coordination
Vítor Braga
Project
IACOBUS
April/2022 — May/2022
Leading Institution
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
Coordination
Vitor Braga
Project
Tâmega e Sousa - QUALIFY AND BRAND ON
[NORTE-02-0853-FEDER-000127] July/2017 — February/2022
Leading Institution
Comunidade Intermunicipal do Tâmega e Sousa
Coordination
Carla Pereira
Project
UNIFORS - UNIversities for Future wORk Skills 2020
[2018-1-PL01-KA203-050809] November/2018 — February/2021
Leading Institution
University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn
Coordination
Maria Teresa Barros
Project
IACOBUS
Leading Institution
Universidade de Vigo
Coordination
Vítor Braga
Publications
Publication
Type
Year
Publication
Vanessa Ratten; Vitor Braga. Internationalization Through Digital Empowerment for Women Filigree Jewelry Artisan Entrepreneurs in Portugal. Thunderbird International Business Review. 2024.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2024
View Publication
Publication
Eliana Costa e Silva; Raquel Francisco; Sandra P. Sousa; Vítor Braga. Outsourcing Optimization in Footwear Industry: The Case of a Portuguese Company. 2024.
Type
Book Chapter
Year
2024
View Publication
Publication
Vanessa Ratten; Paul Jones; Vitor Braga. Artificial intelligence in international business. Thunderbird International Business Review. 2024.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2024
View Publication
Publication
Telma Mendes; Vitor Braga; Carina Silva. One for all, all for one: an analysis towards the speed of internationalization in clustered and non-clustered family firms. Journal of Family Business Management. 2024.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2024
View Publication
Publication
Marisa R. Ferreira; Vítor Braga; María Isabel Sánchez-Hernández; Joana Gomes. Framing the fourth sector – dystopia or future contours?. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing. 2024.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2024
View Publication
Publication
Luis Moreira; Anderson Rei Galvão; Vitor Braga; Alexandra Braga; Jaime Teixeira. Sustainability as a Gateway to Textile International Markets: The Portuguese Case. Sustainability. 2023.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2023
View Publication
Publication
Telma Mendes; Vítor Braga; Carina Silva; Vanessa Ratten. Taking a closer look at the regionally clustered firms: How can ambidexterity explain the link between management, entrepreneurship, and innovation in a post-industrialized world?. The Journal of Technology Transfer. 2023.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2023
View Publication
Publication
Oliveira, A.; Braga, V.; Costa e Silva, E.. When hotels go abroad: the internationalisation of the Portuguese hospitality. European Journal of International Management. 2023.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2023
View Publication
Publication
Mendes, Telma; Silva, Carina; Braga, Vitor. Exploring the interplay between fintech adoption, circular economy practices, and sustainability performance: Assessing the role of access to funding in international SMEs. Ciência 2023 - Encontro com a Ciência e a Tecnologia em Portugal. 2023.
Type
Conference Poster
Year
2023
View Publication
Publication
Telma Mendes; Miguel González-Loureiro; Vítor Braga; Carina Silva. Looking back and looking forward: A multidisciplinary review of the speed of internationalization and future research directions. XXXII ACEDE International Conference. 2023.
Type
Conference Paper
Year
2023
View Publication
Publication
Aidin Salamzadeh; Samira Mortazavi; Morteza Hadizadeh; Vitor Braga. Examining the effect of business model innovation on crisis management: the mediating role of entrepreneurial capability, resilience and business performance. Innovation & Management Review. 2023.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2023
View Publication
Publication
Marlene Rodrigues; Bruno Barbosa Sousa; José Baptista Costa; Vítor Braga. Industry 4.0. 2023.
Type
Book Chapter
Year
2023
View Publication
Publication
Telma Mendes; Vítor Braga; Carina Silva; Alexandra Braga. The speed of internationalization in regionally clustered family firms: a deeper understanding of innovation activities and cluster affiliation. Review of Regional Research. 2023.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2023
View Publication
Publication
Mendes, T; Braga, V; Correia, A; Silva, C. Linking corporate social responsibility, cooperation and innovation: the triple bottom line perspective. INNOVATION & MANAGEMENT REVIEW. 2023.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2023
View Publication
Publication
Tânia Martins; Alexandra Braga; Marisa R. Ferreira; Vitor Braga. Start today and finish yesterday—Social innovation as a contribution to the community. Global Business and Organizational Excellence. 2023.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2023
View Publication
Publication
Soraia Cruz; Marisa Roriz Ferreira; Ana Borges; Beatriz Casais. Barriers to volunteering in the field of intellectual disability: a cluster analysis. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing. 2023.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2023
View Publication
Publication
Diana Machado; Vítor Braga; Aldina Correia; Alexandra Braga; Carina Silva. How female entrepreneurship may boost business innovation and internationalization. Global Business and Organizational Excellence. 2023.
Type
Journal Article
Year
2023
View Publication
Publication
Leitão, J; Ratten, V; Braga, V; Antunes, R. The Role of Tourism Entrepreneurship in the Iberian Peninsula. Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management. 2022.
Type
Book Chapter
Year
2022
View Publication
Publication
Ratten, V; Braga, V. Stakeholder Entrepreneurship. 2022.
Type
Book
Year
2022
View Publication
Publication
Ratten V.; Leitão J.; Braga V.. The Role of Entrepreneurship in Latin America and Iberia. Contributions to Management Science. 2022.
Type
Book Chapter
Year
2022
View Publication