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
Qian (Cecilia) Gu is an Associate Professor at J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of strategy, international business, and entrepreneurship. Her research advances the understanding of how emerging-market firms navigate fast-evolving institutional environments, such as global competition, government intervention, and technological advancements, and how their strategic decisions influence firm performance. In particular, Cecilia focuses on the Venture Capital (VC) industry and family-owned businesses. 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 seven times as the GSU IIB Professor of the Year Award. She is 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
- Gu, Q., Wang, Y.Q., & Zhang, J.M. Forthcoming. Foreignness as a double-edged sword for the internationalization of cultural goods: Deep learning-based semiotic analysis of Hollywood movies in China. Journal of International Business Studies.
- Zhang, J.M., Gu, Q. (equal authorship) 2024. Unraveling the puzzling risk-return relationship: Distinctive roles of government involvement in venture capital investment, 45(11): 2307-2339. Strategic Management Journal.
- Shen, W., Gu, Q., & Lu, L-H. 2024. Do family owners hold nonfamily CEOs more accountable than family CEOs for firm performance? A dynamic perspective. Family Business Review, 37(3): 320-395.
- Gu, Q., Wang, S., & Bai, T. 2024. Revealed and reserved: A compensating approach of voluntary disclosure by family multinationals. Journal of International Business Studies, 55: 914-933.
- Xu, L., Chen, S., Gu, Q. & Hansen, H. 2024. Diversification over time: A dynamic approach of diversification in the U.S. venture capital industry. International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 23(2): 171-197.
- 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. 2023. Horizontal FDI and internal R&D of local firms in emerging economies: A competition perspective. Management and Organization Review¸19: 981-1004.
- 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. (Lead article)
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.