Ms Nataliya Kocheva
Faculties, departments and locations
- Faculty of Business and Social Sciences
- Department of Accounting, Finance and Informatics
- ΞΆΓάΘ¦ Business School
- ΞΆΓάΘ¦ Hill
Lecturer in Operations and Project Management; Course Director of Business Management and Digital Innovation
- Email:
- [email protected]
About
Before transitioning to the commercial sector, I had a distinguished career as a professional athlete, achieving both national and international success. Among my accomplishments is a bronze medal at the 1989 World Handball Championships.
Over the past 20 years, I have worked as a consultant and market researcher in Bulgaria and the UK, collaborating with many professional organisations, including for-profit and non-profit sports clubs and institutions.
Since 2019, I have been teaching as a Higher Education Lecturer at ΞΆΓάΘ¦, contributing to several departments. My teaching portfolio includes modules such as Entrepreneurship in SMEs, International Business and Trade, International Business Operations, and Project Management.
Currently, I am pursuing a PhD focused on exploring the relationship between elite football clubs and their academies.
Qualifications
- BSc (Hons) Business Management, ΞΆΓάΘ¦
- MSc International Business Management with Project Management, ΞΆΓάΘ¦
- MRes Business and Management ΞΆΓάΘ¦
- Prince2 PM and Agile DSDM
- Causal DAG HarvardX
- (In progress) PhD Business Management
Domains
Undergraduate modules
- BB5109 Contemporary Project Management (Module Leader)
- BS5202 Entrepreneurship (Module Leader)
- BS6205 International Entrepreneurship in SMEs (Module Leader)
Postgraduate modules
- BA7041 Fintech, Funding and Strategy
- BB7028 Qualitative Research Method (visiting)
Achievement: Academic Impact Awards 2024-Nominated for The Most Innovative Teacher award
Course director
Courses taught
My research interests span two primary domains: elite football and the application of emerging technologies in business decision-making.
In the context of football, I focus on the business and organisational aspects of professional clubs, particularly the relationship between elite teams and their academies, as well as how strategic and operational decisions influence performance and development.
Separately, I am also exploring the use of causal AI and strategic foresight as tools for improving decision-making in complex business environments. This line of inquiry aims to understand how organisations can use data-driven causal reasoning and long-term scenario planning to anticipate change, evaluate the impact of strategic choices, and enhance overall performance and resilience.
Research topic
Investigating the connection between the elite football club and their academy.
Supervisors
- Prof. Alex Hill
- Dr. Ki-Soon Hwang
Research funds
- Kocheva, N and Fitkov-Nories, E. (2024) KU Research Grant Application Pump-priming awarded. Empowering the Future with Causal AI: The way forward transforming energy consumption and cost for local council.
Qualifications
- MRes Business and Management
- (In progress) PhD Investigating the connection between the elite football club and their academy.
I have extensive experience as a professional athlete, coach, and market researcher, having worked in both Bulgaria and the UK with a wide range of organisations including sports associations, elite sports clubs, schools, and businesses.
Over the past 20 years, I have consulted for a variety of for-profit organisationsβ€”ranging from SMEs to companies in sectors such as agriculture, logistics, and HVACβ€”as well as non-profit and professional sports entities, including national sports bodies, schools, London boroughs, and elite clubs in both countries. In these roles, I have worked closely with diverse stakeholders, focusing on strategic development and enhancing operational performance across different organisational contexts.
Qualifications and expertise
- Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy
- Causal DAG Diagrams HarvardX
- The Elements of AI UoH
Course Director: Business Management and Digital Innovation
Publications
Leveraging AI for strategic foresight : unveiling future horizons
Fitkov-Norris, Elena and Kocheva, Nataliya (2025). In: Crawford, Megan M., (eds.) and Wright, George, (eds.), Improving and enhancing scenario planning : futures thinking. Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp 285-304
Beyond the crystal ball : unveiling the power of causal and generative AI for strategic foresight
Fitkov-Norris, Elena and Kocheva, Nataliya(2024). In: OR 2024 : Data, Learning, and Optimization, 3-6 Sept 2024 :Munich, Germany
From laborious to lucid : best practice for using generative AI for thematic and sentiment analysis
Kocheva, Nataliya and Fitkov-Norris, Elena(2024). In: FBSS Research Conference, 21 Jun 2024 :ΞΆΓάΘ¦ upon Thames, U.K.
Leveraging AI for strategic foresight : unveiling future horizons
Fitkov-Norris, Elena and Kocheva, Nataliya(2024). In: FBSS Research Conference 2024, 21 Jun 2024 :ΞΆΓάΘ¦ upon Thames, London, U.K.
The dream assessment :β€―be bold, be creative and take risks!
Kocheva, Nataliya and Yilmaz, Aybige(2024). In: Festival of Learning 2024, 20 Jun 2024 :ΞΆΓάΘ¦ upon Thames, U.K.
Are we there yet? Thematic analysis, NLP, and machine learning for research
Fitkov-Norris, Elena and Kocheva, Nataliya(2023). In: 22nd European Conference on Research Methodology for Business and Management Studies (ECRM 2023), 6 Sep 2023 :Lisboa, Portugal
Causal AI as a tool for enhancing strategic foresight
Fitkov-Norris, Elena and Kocheva, Nataliya(2023). In: Scenario Planning and Foresight 2023 : Advancing Theory and Improving Practice, 10-11 Jul 2023 :Coventry, U.K.
Are we there yet? Thematic analysis, NLP and Machine Learning for academic research : a comparative review
Fitkov-Norris, Elena, Kocheva, Nataliya and Bhimireddy, Nishanth(2023). In: FBSS Research Conference 2023, 30 June 2023 :ΞΆΓάΘ¦ upon Thames, U.K.
Kocheva, Nataliya and Sakellariou, Evy(2023). In: Festival of Learning 2023, 22 Jun 2023 :ΞΆΓάΘ¦ upon Thames, U.K.