Qian (Cecilia) Gu
Associate Professor Institute of International Business- Education
- Ph.D., National University of Singapore
- Specializations
- corporate strategy
- international business
- emerging economies
- venture capital investment
- family business
- Biography
Dr. Qian (Cecilia) Gu’s research interests lie at the intersection of strategy, international business, and entrepreneurship. Emerging market firms face rising opportunities from market liberalization and significant challenges from institutional interruptions and conflicting ideologies. They are vulnerable to divergent demands from multiple stakeholders and face important tradeoffs in their strategic decisions. Her research advances the understanding of how emerging market firms address evolving stakeholder demands and global competition, and how these strategic choices affect firm performance. In particular, Cecilia focuses on the Venture Capital (VC) industry and family-owned businesses in the greater China area. She takes an interdisciplinary approach, and the quality of her research is evidenced by her publishing in the top journals in the disciplines of strategy, international business, and entrepreneurship: Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management, Organization Science, Personnel Psychology, and Strategic Management Journal, among others.
Cecilia has taught undergraduate, MBA, EMBA, Master of International Business, DBA, and Ph.D. on topics of corporate strategy and international business. She serves as the Associate Editor of the Global Strategy Journal, and the Senior Editor of the Management and Organization Research and the Quarterly Management Journal. She also serves on the Editorial Boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of World Business, and Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal.
Cecilia was recognized as the Best 40 Under 40 Business Professors by Poets & Quants in 2020. She received the John H. Dunning Fellowship from the University of Reading in 2022, an award to “individuals ranked among the world’s leading scholars in International Business.” She has been elected six times as the GSU IIB Professor of the Year Award. She was also a recipient of the SMS Best Reviewer Award, MOR Best Reviewer Award, and IACMR Li Ning Dissertation Proposal Award. She was a runner-up for the AOM Douglas Nigh Award, the AOM HKUST Best Paper in Global Strategy Award, and the IACMR Best Macro Paper Award.
- Publications
- Zhang, J., & Gu, Q. (Equal authorship) Conditional acceptance. Unraveling the puzzling risk–return relationship: Distinctive roles of government involvement in venture capital investment. Strategic Management Journal.
- Shen, W., Gu, Q., & Lu, L-H. Conditional acceptance. Do family owners hold nonfamily CEOs more accountable than family CCEOs for firm performance? A dynamic perspective. Family Business Review.
- Hu., S., Gu, Q., & Xia, J. 2023. Problemistic search of the embedded firm: The joint effect of performance and network position on venture capital firms’ risk taking. Organization Science, 33(5): 1889-1908.
- Xia, J., Gu, Q., Jiang, M., Zhou, Y. Forthcoming. Horizontal FDI and Internal R&D of Local Firms in Emerging Economies: A Coopetition Perspective. Management and Organization Review.
- Ozkan, K., Khan, H., Deligonul, S., Yeniyurt, S., Gu, Q., Cavusgil, E., & Xu, S. 2022. Race for market share gains: How emerging market and advanced economy MNEs perform in each other’s turf. Journal of Business Research, 150: 208-222.
- Zhang, J., & Gu, Q. 2021. Curse or blessing? Contingent effects of geographic distance on startup-VC partnership performance with China’s high-speed railway development. Journal of Business Venturing, 36(4): 1-22.
- Wang, S., Gu, Q., Von Glinow, M.A., & Hirsch, P. (first two authors equal authorship). 2020. Cultural industries in international business research: Progress and prospect. Journal of International Business Studies, 51: 665-692.
- Gu, Q., Lu, J.W., & Chung, C-N. 2019. Incentive or disincentive? A socioemotional wealth explanation of new industry entry in family business groups. Journal of Management, 45(2): 645-672.
--- Republished in City Business Magazine in 2020 - Nifadkar, S.S., Wu, W., & Gu, Q. 2019. Supervisor’s work-related and nonwork information sharing: Integrating research on information sharing, information seeking, and trust using self-disclosure theory. Personnel Psychology, 72(2): 241-269.
- Xu, D., Lu, J.W., & Gu, Q. 2014. Organizational forms and multi-population dynamics: Economic transition in China. Administrative Science Quarterly, 59(3): 517-547.
--- Republished in Chinese Management Insights in 2016 - Gu, Q., & Lu, X.H. 2014. Unraveling the mechanisms of reputation and alliance formation: A study of venture capital syndication in China. Strategic Management Journal, 35:739-750.
- Gu, Q., & Lu, J.W. (equal authorship) 2011. Effects of inward investment on outward investment: Venture capital industry worldwide 1985-2007. Journal of International Business Studies, 42(2): 263-284.
- Gu, Q., Shen, W. & Lu, L-H. 2020. Is CEO turnover sensitive to firm performance? An informativeness perspective. Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings.
- Xia, J., Gu, Q., Jiang, M-S., & Lin, Z. 2018. How do local firms respond to foreign direct investment through international R&D? Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings.
- Gu, Q., & Lu, L-H. 2013. Exploring the performance implication of multi-agency problems among public family businesses. Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings.
- Gu, Q., & Lu, J.W. 2009. The linkage between inward investment and outward investment in the venture capital industry. Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings.