Projects per year
Personal profile
Academic Biography
Dr Xiaoxian Zhu specialises in talent management and international HRM in high-tech industries. She is the research lead and is leading doctoral programmes at Teesside University Business School. Dr Zhu is an academic member of CIPD and a subject examiner of international examining bodies. For her academic performance in this field, she has a good record of high quality public presentations in the UK and internationally, publications and research funding. She is a Distinguished Professor at Xi'an International University and a Visiting Professor at Zhejiang University of Technology, China.
Xiaoxian has taught in HRM and Business Management at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels at universities in the UK and overseas. She has held roles of principal lecturer (International) and programme leader of MBA, MA HRM and DBA at TUBS. She has also served some leading UK universities for online MBA and MSc HRM programmes. Prior to her academic career, she was a marketing executive at a multinational automotive company in FT Global 500.
Summary of Research Interests
- Talent Management; AI impacts on Future of Work
- Skills development and employability; Knowledge management
- International HRM and cross-cultural studies; High-Tech sector, Regional development
Research Projects & External Funding
- 'Tees Valley Collaborative Skills Development', European Structural & Investment Funds (ESIF), Research Lead, 2020-2023
- 'Creative Fuse North East’, AHRC. Co-Investigator. 2016-2018
- ‘Emergency Medical Response Evaluation’, ILG. Co-Investigator. 2016
- ‘Prime Minister Initiative 2 (PMI2) British Council Project on Regional Economic Development and University Educational partnership between UK and China’. LeedsMet-ZJUT. With Prof. J. Shutt and Prof. P. Iles. Funded by British Council. 2010-2013.
- ‘Fun Door: An open door for your better future career’ Project. CEEMAN 2012 Global Challenge Future Competition. Finalist. With Tingting Jiang. Grand Summit Funded by CEEMAN and UNESCO.
- ‘Talent Management and Employability in High-Tech Industries in Hangzhou, China’. As part of PhD, working with Prof P. Iles, Prof G. Aouad. Awarded Postgraduate Research Funding, University of Salford, 2010/2011 and 2011/2012.
- ‘Talent Management and HRD in high-tech’. Research Funding. Centre of Organisational Behaviour and Leadership Research, University of Salford, 2010/2011 and 2011/2012.
- ‘Organisational Transformation and Innovative Development in Industrial Leading Enterprises in Zhejiang, China’. With Prof H. Cheng and Prof. J. Shutt. Funded by Zhejiang Province Government and High Education Key Research Centres. 2011-2013.
PhD and Research Opportunities
Dr Zhu currently welcomes PhD students in Talent Management/International HRM, Skills and Employability, cross-cultural management, in particular, AI impacts at workplace/employment (HRM/Talent Management/Employability focused).
Funded (scholarship) PhD opporunities are as follows (application deadline: 15-February-2021):
https://www.tees.ac.uk/sections/research/funding_details.cfm?fundingID=108
https://www.tees.ac.uk/sections/research/funding_details.cfm?fundingID=107
Current PhD and DBA students supervised by Xiaoxian are conducting the following research projects:
- Talent Management and Human capital development (in Turkey; in China; in Libya; in the UK)
- Talent Development in the public sector (in Nigeria)
- Decision Making, Comparative Studies (UK and China)
- Gender issues, Female Entrepreneurship (UK; China)
Doctorate Supervision to Completions:
- Gary Norris (DBA, 2017)
- Alistair Bowden (PhD, 2018)
- Gillian Danby (DBA, 2018)
- Sayed Alawi (DBA, 2019)
- Muhammad Nazir (PhD, 2019)
- Anil Kumar (PhD, 2020)
- Euphemia Okoye (PhD, 2020)
Enterprise Interest and Activities
Non-Executive Advisory Board: Summit
Dr Zhu is interested in how talent management (talent attraction, talent development and talent retention) can help to improve organisational effectiveness and productivity. Currently, she is working on a project 'redefining leadership under pandemic'.
Dr Zhu welcomes any organisations to get in touch for CPDs and collaborative research project in this area.
Learning and Teaching Interests and Activities
FHEA, Certified online academic facilitator.
Modules (20/21):
- Learning and Development (L7)
- Human Resource Planning (L7)
- Research Methods for Doctorate Students (Doctoral)
- Applying Management and Organisational Studies (Doctoral)
- Advanced Independent Work (Doctoral)
External Roles and Professional Activities
- Academic Member CIPD, Committee Member CIPD Tees Valley
- Academic Advisory Board: Overseas Returnees Centre
- Association of Business Executive
- PhD external examiner, Sunderland University, 2016-2019
- Distinguished Professor: Xi'an International University, China
External positions
External Examiner, Northumbria University
Feb 2019 → 30 Dec 2022External Examiner, University of Greenwich
1 Sep 2018 → 30 Dec 2022Distinguished Professor, Xi'an International University
13 Apr 2018 → …External Validation Advisor, Coventry University
Jul 2016 → Jun 2017Fingerprint
Network
Projects
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Tees Valley Collaborative Skills Development, European Structural & Investment Funds (ESIF)
1/12/20 → 30/06/23
Project: Research
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Emergency Medical Response Evaluation
Lloyd, A., Hall, A., Zhu, X. & Crow, R.
1/06/16 → 31/08/16
Project: Research
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Creative Fuse North East
Archer, G., Ciesielska, G., McKeown, S., Paterson, S., Reid, P., Stockton, M. & Zhu, X.
1/05/16 → 31/10/18
Project: Research
Research Output
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Systematic Review of Usability Engineering Management Studies for the Aging Population -UEM4Agin
Ashraf, A., Zhu, X., Liu, J. & Rauf, Q., 5 Apr 2020, In: International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research (IJSBAR). 50, 2, p. 190-214Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile55 Downloads (Pure) -
The Impacts of Air Pollution on Mental Health: Evidence from the Chinese University Students
Zu, D., Zhai, K., Qiu, Y., Pei, P., Zhu, X. & Han, D., 16 Sep 2020, In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health..Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
The Role of Anchor Institutes in Creating Value for SMEs: Insights from North East of England Owner-Managers
McCauley-Smith, C., Smith, S., Nantunda, L. & Zhu, X., 15 Dec 2020, In: Studies in Higher Education.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Cyber consumer decision-making styles: a qualitative approach
LOW, T., Zhu, X., Swainston, K. & Taylor, J., 10 Jul 2019, (Accepted/In press).Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract › peer-review
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Employee Engagement in China
Zhu, X., 2019, (Accepted/In press) Employee Engagement in Contemporary Organisations. Turner, P. (ed.). Palgrave MacmillanResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Press / Media
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Why SMEs face extra talent identification challenges
24/08/18
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research
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