FEB alumnus Albert Waterman wins Qeld award

Albert Waterman has won the Qeld scholarship award for his master’s thesis titled ‘Parasitic Agglomerations? Informal Competition in Agglomerations’. Waterman recently obtained his master’s degree in Business Administration at the Faculty of Economics and Business.

Waterman, currently a consultant at the company Vertx, graduated from the Master in Business Administration with the profile Strategic Innovation Management last year. For his master’s thesis, supervised by assistant professor Daniël Speldekamp, he received a final grade of 9.0/10.

Waterman examined the complex relationship between agglomeration economies and innovation performance at Small- and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in 23 developing countries. His research not only offers insight into the obstacles to innovation, but also aims to provide actionable insights that can help SMEs navigate the challenging environment of agglomeration economies.

Qeld scholarship award

Qeld was impressed with Waterman’s drive to address the innovation gap and understand its impact on developing countries. Qeld is a financial organization that offers flexible loans for entrepreneurs, SMEs and other types of smaller scale companies. Because Qeld believes that entrepreneurs and small business deserve more attention and research, the organization has initiated the Qeld Scholarship award.

The scholarship is awarded yearly to the best research article or dissertation that highlights and addresses issues related to entrepreneurship and running small businesses. Waterman’s deep dive into the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in less economically advantaged regions was highly appreciated by the award jury, consisting of employees of Qred (Qeld's parent company). Any student studying at a Dutch higher education institute who carries out research related to business administration and/or entrepreneurship can apply for the Qeld scholarship.