Lecturer in Strategic Management

Dr. Xinrui Zhang became a member of the University of Bedfordshire faculty in 2023, serving as a Lecturer in Strategic Management. She earned her PhD in Entrepreneurship Management from Zhejiang University in China. During her PhD study from 2021-2022, she was a visiting researcher at Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires (INSEAD), France campus. Her research delves into family businesses with a focus on their propensity for short-term practices, such as corporate misconduct and strategic change. Dr. Zhang employs a mix of institutional and cognitive frameworks alongside quantitative methods to explore critical issues faced by family-run firms and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Qualifications

• PhD in Entrepreneurship Management, Zhejiang University (with scholarship)
• BSc in Business Management, Shandong University (with honors)

Teaching Expertise

• Strategic Management
• Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management
• Corporate Governance and Sustainability
• Intercultural Business Competence

Research Interests

• Family Business
• Entrepreneurship
• Transgenerational Entrepreneurship
• Strategic Change
• Corporate Finance
• Institutional Theories
• Attention-based View of the Firm

Projects

• Research on the Microfoundations of Long-Term Orientation and Its Influence on Transgenerational Entrepreneurship in Family Firms. General Project (7207020325) funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Co-applicant. 2020-2024.

Publications

• Zhang, X., Fang, H., Dou, J., & Chrisman, J. J. (2022). Endogeneity issues in family business research: Current status and future recommendations. Family Business Review, 35(1), 91-116.
• Zhang, X., Dou, J., & Fang, H. (2021). Family firms and regional development: Evidence from China. In Basco, R., Stough, R., & Suwala, L. (Eds.). Family Business and Regional Development (pp. 210-234). London: Routledge.
• Dou, J., Zhang, X.*, Li, S., & Chen., Z. (2020). How do the successors’ training patterns affect the succession performance of family business: Mediation of successors’ recognition. Journal of Chongqing University (Social Science Edition), 26, 54-70. (In Chinese)
• Zhang, X., Dou, J., & Chen, Z. (2020). A visual overview of key developments of international family business research in the past three decades. Science of Science and Management of S.&T., 41, 159-182. (In Chinese)
• Chen, Z., Ma, P., Zhang, X., & Min, Y. (2017). Cognitive cohesion, family commitment and organizational creativity. South China Journal of Economics, 8, 8-28. (In Chinese)
• Zhang, X., & Luo, X. (2023). Family Business and Corporate Fraud in a Transitional Economy. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2023, No. 1, p. 16331). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.
• Zhang, X. (2022). Underperformance duration and strategic change: An attention-based view of the firm. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2022, No. 1, p. 11325). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.
• Dou, J., Zhang, G., Zhang, X., Li, H. (2022). Warm hundreds of millions of families with Chinese excellent culture: Organizational culture development of FOTILE, GC-21-002, The Global Platform of China Cases.

Contact Details

E: Xinrui.Zhang@beds.ac.uk

T: +44 (0)7776539957