Background

Background:

Karen voted as #Standout 35 Women in FinTech Powerlist awarded by Innovate Finance* focuses her research on FinTech (financial technology) within the Digital Economy and examining the Future of Work.

Within the digital economy, the FinTech industry is one of the major growth industries in the UK. Such companies create new, cheaper and faster financial services, utilising the latest technologies―cloud, mobile and blockchain. To succeed, underpinning the use of technology is a prerequisite of how to gain customers trust when the financial industry mortgage crisis almost a decade ago resides in consumers memories. FinTech organisations need to gain trust while technologies are rapidly changing, in addition, hacking and data breach events are a continuous feature in the news. Karen and Prof Aad van Moorsel (Computer Science) were awarded a £1.2m EPSRC Research grant to work with Atom Bank (Durham) on optimising FinTech services. ‘FinTrust’ examines the issue of trust in FinTech organisations, identifying the generic research challenges and establishing fundamental research results.  A particular focus centres on increased automation through the use of machine learning algorithms, in short, trust engineering where the use of algorithms present challenges to consumer trust via the new services. Likewise, co-leads the FinTrust team in exploring identity verification for ‘Financial Inclusion’ funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/Turing Institute. Karen speaks at various events on FinTech including Dynamo conferences, Strathclyde FinTech Symposium and currently forms part of the Dynamo FinTech Steering Group collaborating with FinTech North to develop the NE FinTech ecosystem bringing, practitioners, government, financial regulators and academics together to engage in knowledge exchange and promote events. Karen forms part of The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems, (“The IEEE Global Initiative”) establishing ethical and social implementations for intelligent and autonomous systems and technologies inspiring the creation of Standards (IEEE P7000™ series and beyond). Karen is a founding member of the movement for Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR)―a fusion of ethical considerations at the individual and societal level, with recognition that technological change can spawn both utopian and dystopian futures. CDR seeks to find the balance and guide our progress toward an equitable digital society, that works for us all.

Linked to the above initiatives is exploring business agility and the Future of Work to bring an ‘agile’ of growth mindset into the university and the local ecosystem to prepare future generations for the challenges in digital transformation and beyond. This aspect of Karen’s research develops the three dimensions of complexity theory applied to Agile/Scrum methodologies (Maylor et al., 2013, 2015). Accounting for different scaling, adaptability and complexity configurations, this stream of research deepens knowledge of the factors practitioners/managers face when addressing the differing levels of complexity and yet, professional training remains focused on addressing structural complexity i.e., planning and tasks involved in projects―lacking agility thus, first struggle with the reported problematic socio-political and emergent complexity (i.e. Brexit) to maximise organisations potential including FinTechs. Karen utilises analytical skills in qualitative, quantitative and ‘fuzzy set’ Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to examining complex strategic configurations.

Karen is an enthusiastic teacher, nominated for an outstanding contribution to teaching award and integrates her research within the digital ‘Future of Work’ sector to inform her modules, particularly focusing on embedding ‘agile’ skills to undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students. Karen currently supervises six postgraduate students who are conducting research into project management, entrepreneurship, FinTech and Ethical Artificial Intelligence. 

Karen has received in excess of £1m in research funding.

Integral to the NE FinTech Ecosystem a report was published in conjunction with FinTech North December 2019 see:

https://www.whitecapconsulting.co.uk/articles/new-report-highlights-growth-potential-for-fintech-in-the-north-east/

 

*Innovate Finance is the independent industry body that represents and advances the global FinTech community in the UK. (see: https://www.innovatefinance.com/about/)

Bibliographic links

Academia.edu: https://newcastle.academia.edu/KarenElliott

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karen_Elliott9

Publons: https://publons.com/author/1421939/dr-karen-elliott#profile

SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2888872

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=NZdXsO8AAAAJ&hl=en

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-elliott-3b692725/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/elliott_kekite

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2455-0475

 

Roles and Responsibilities:

Previously Degree Programme Director (DPD): Groningen Dual Award Programme, Newcastle University Business School;

Member of Centre for Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Enterprise (KITE) Research Group;

A peer reviewer for the EPSRC/UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Nodes (TAS) Fund;

Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies.

PhD Students:

Mrs Claire Heron

Mrs Aditi Adikahri

Mr Tom Shanks

Mr Naif Aldwais

Mr Haoran Su

Mr Shaker Alkaabneh

 

 

 

Research

Research Interests

Digital Economy - FinTech, Cyber Security, Programme and Project Management, Complexity Theory, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), Agile/Scrum Methodologies, Organizational Ecology, Organisational Behaviour and Behavioural Psychology (Trust).

Current Work

Academia.edu: https://newcastle.academia.edu/KarenElliott

Publons: https://publons.com/author/1421939/dr-karen-elliott#profile

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karen_Elliott9

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=NZdXsO8AAAAJ&hl=en

SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2888872

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-elliott-3b692725/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/elliott_kekite

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2455-0475

Research Roles

Member, Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Enterprise (KITE) Research Group
Member, NUBS Research & Ethics Committee

Postgraduate Supervision

Daniel Lee (PhD, due to graduate July 2021)
Clare Heron (PhD (PT), due to graduate July 2019))

Esteem Indicators

2018 (2016) - KEYNOTE of ‘Fintech Week’ panel regarding the future of financial technologies – Strathclyde University requested by the Financial Sector in Scotland with the Technology and Innovation Department (02/09/2016 and 21/09/2018).

2017 - ‘Unruly Innovation’, After Money Symposium, University of Edinburgh Business School.

 

2014 - Université Catholique de Louvain - An fsQCA analysis of Cognitive Organization Theory (COT): organization inertia and change cascades in Police Forces across the EU – UCL, Belgium, upon invitation by Professor Benoît Rihoux, COMPASSS – QCA Organization.

 

Expert panels/consultancy:

2018 - Expert Panel Member – ‘The future of challenger banks’, Dynamo Conference 18 Urban Sciences Building, Newcastle University.

 

2018 - ESRC expert consultant – provided advice for ESRC Report ‘Fintech and the future of financial services’ prepared by Professor Alistair Milne, Loughborough University.

 

2016 - Expert Member of Research Methods Development (RMD) Consortium (2014), upon invitation of Prof. Todd Alessandri, D’Amore Business & Strategy Group, Northeastern University, Boston, MA. This involves a series of webinars to a panel of experts covering the subjects of Publishing; Research Design; Teaching/Networking; Contribution to knowledge and ‘Methods matter–the future’.

 

External Examiner: PhD, University of Antwerp (BEL).

 

Referee:
Academy of Management (AOM); Policing: an International Journal of Police Strategies & Management; Human Resource Development International (HRDI) Journal; The Open Psychology Journal; International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research; The European Journal of Finance; Journal of Asian Business & Management.

 

Editorial Board Member: Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies

 

External Examiner: PhD, University of Antwerp (BEL).

 

Funding

EPSRC Fund with Computer Science Faculty, 1/18, £1.2m

Social Entrepreneurship Impact ESRC, 06/17-06/18, £8k

FinTech network development (with Durham University), £7.5k, 06/17-06/18, £3k 

HaSS Learning and Teaching fund (2018-190), Agile/Scrum Professional Training pilot for student education and industry readiness, £3k.

Industrial Relevance

Karen is a qualified practitioner in PRINCE2, Management of Risk (MoR), Change Management, Management of Value (MoV) and Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), representative for PMI NE Chapter and APM for the Business School.  Her work is informed by collaboration with industry practitioner on a regional, national and international level.

Keywords

FinTech; Cyber Security; Future of Work; Agile/Scrum; Complexity; QCA; Programme, Project, Risk and Change Management; Business Strategy and Processes.

 

 

Teaching

NBS8062 – Research Methods (ABC, ICE and eBIS programmes)

NBS8494 – Programme and Project Management (MBA)

NBS8234 – Programme and Project Management (eBIS)

NBS8328 – International Project Management (International Management Practitioner)

 

Publications

• Inkster B, Digital Mental Health Data Insights Group, Elliott K. Early Warning Signs of a Mental Health Tsunami: A Coordinated Response to Gather Initial Data Insights From Multiple Digital Services Providers. Frontiers in Digital Health 2021, 2, 578902.
• Aitken M, Toreini E, Carmichael P, Coopamootoo K, Elliott K, van Moorsel A. Establishing a social licence for Financial Technology: Reflections on the role of the private sector in pursuing ethical data practices. Big Data and Society 2020, 7(1), 1-15.
• Aitken M, Ng M, Toreini E, van Moorsel A, Coopamootoo KPL, Elliott K. Keeping it Human: A Focus Group Study of Public Attitudes Towards AI in Banking. Computer Security. ESORICS 2020, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12580, 21-38.
• Ng M, Coopamootoo KP, Toreini E, Aitken M, Elliott K, vanMoorsel A. Simulating the Effects of Social Presence on Trust, Privacy Concerns & Usage Intentions in Automated Bots for Finance. In: IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy Workshops (EuroS&PW). 2020, Genoa, Italy: IEEE.
• Toreini E, Aitken M, Coopamootoo K, Elliott K, Zelaya CG, van Moorsel A. The relationship between trust in AI and trustworthy machine learning technologies. In: FAT* '20: 2020 Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency. 2020, Atlanta, GA, USA: ACM.
• Elliott K, Patacconi A, Swierzbinski J, Williams J. Knowledge Protection in Firms: A Conceptual Framework and Evidence from HP Labs. European Management Review 2019, 16(1), 179-193.
• Elliott K. Adapt-ability, Agility and three dimensions of complexity. In: 19th International Conference on Agile Software Development. 2018, Porto University, Portugal.
• Elliott K, Cambre B, Newbery R. Intangible behaviours in University spin out activities: a configurational approach. In: 34th EGOS Conference. 2018, Tallinn, Estonia.
• Wilson J, Elliott K. Making time for an entrepreneurial cuddle: understanding the value of interpersonal relationships in supporting nascent social entrepreneurs. ESRC; Durham University Business School; Newcastle University Business School; Social Enterprise Acumen, 2018.
• Wilson J, Elliott K. Making time for an entrepreneurial cuddle: Understanding the value of interpersonal relationships in supporting nascent social entrepreneurs. In: SEWF 2018 Academic Symposium. 2018, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK.
• Hughes P, Hodgkinson IR, Elliott K, Hughes M. Strategy, operations, and profitability: the role of resource orchestration. International Journal of Operations and Production Management 2018, 38(4), 1125-1143.
• Elliott K, Massacci F, Ngo C-N, Williams J. Unruly Innovation: Distributed Ledgers, Blockchains and the Protection of Transactional Rents. Rochester, NY, USA: Technovation/Social Science Research Network (SSRN), 2018. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2888872.
• van den Oord A, Elliott K, van Witteloostuijn A, Barlage M, Polos L, Rogiest S. A Cognitive Organization Theory of Organizational Change: Measuring Organizational Texture, Audience Appeal, and Leadership Engagement. Journal of Organizational Change Management 2017, 30(6), 903-922.
• Brookes M, Elliott K, Pretorius D, Williams J. Complexities of adaptation and change for community-based agencies in South Africa: investigating the introduction of new development models for inclusive growth. In: 9th International Social Innovation Research Conference (ISIRC). 2017, Melbourne, Australia.
• Wilson J, Elliott K. Relationships Matter: examining the effectiveness of building relationship quality when supporting social entrepreneurs in business start-up. In: 9th International Social Innovation Research Conference (ISIRC). 2017, Melbourne, Australia.
• Elliott K, Massacci F, Williams J. Action, Inaction, Trust and Cybersecurity's Common Property Problem. IEEE Security & Privacy 2016, 14(1), 82-86.
• Horton KE, Jacobs G, Bayerl PS, Rothengatter M, Elliott K, Gasco M, Giljohann S, Rus C. A balancing act: How to avoid professional disidentification when faced with stakeholder critique. In: 75th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Best Paper. 2015, Vancouver. Submitted.
• van den Oord A, Elliott K, van Witteloostuijn A, Polos L, Rogiest S, Barlage M. A cognitive organization theory (COT) of organizational change: Measuring organizational texture, audience appeal, and leadership engagement. In: Organizational Ecology Conference. 2014, Barcelona, Spain.
• van den Oord A, Elliott K, van Witteloostuijn A. An fsQCA analysis of Cognitive Organization Theory (COT): organization inertia and change cascades in Police Forces across the EU. In: Institute of Work Psychology International Conference. 2014, Sheffield University: Institue of Work Psychology.
• Bayerl PS, Horton KE, Jacobs G, Rogiest S, Reguli Z, Gruschinske M, Constanzo P, Stojanovski T, Vonas G, Gasco M, Elliott K. Perspectives on the police profession: an international investigation. Policing: an International Journal of Police Strategies and Management 2014, 37(4), 728-745.
• van den Oord A, Elliott K, van Witteloostuijn A. An fsQCA analysis of Cognitive Organization Theory (COT): organization inertia and change cascades in Police Forces across the EU. In: QCA Expert Conference Workshop. 2013, Zurich, Switzerland. Submitted.
• Stone IE, Elliott K, Lamb J. Integrating Impact Assessment with the Business Process: A Case Study of BE Group. In: Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) 34th annual conference. 2011, Sheffield. Submitted.
• Macnaughton RJ, Collins PJ, White M, Elliott K, Soukas A, Purves G, Kellett P, Coleman SM. Designing for Health: Architecture, Art and Design at the James Cook University Hospital. London: NHS Estates, 2007. Centre for Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine (Durham University).