Dr. Zhang holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from China’s Peking University, and an MBA and a Ph.D. from the Australian National University. She is the authour of two book, High-Tech Entrepreneurship in Asia: Innovation, Industry & Institutional Dynamics in Mobile Payments, Edward Elgar, 2007 (330pp. + xv), and China 2.0: The Transformation of an Emerging Superpower… and the New Opportunities, John Wiley & Sons, 2010 (302pp. + xxviii), which was listed by Business+Strategy as one of the Best Business Books 2010 on China.
Dr Zhang's research interests include:
- high-tech entrepreneurship in Asia (e.g., venture capital investment in high-growth ventures, business model innovation, and institutional entrepreneurship)
- digital economy in China (e.g., platforms, network externalities, social media development)
- disruptive/emerging technologies (e.g., mobile payments, fintech, clean-energy and bio-pharmaceutics)
- technological catch-up of latecomer firms/sectors/nations (e.g., China's telecommunication manufacturing sector)
- emerging market multinational firms (e.g., China's Huawei)
- talent circulation (e.g., career performance of Chinese returnees in China)
- innovation systems (e.g., national/regional/sectoral innovation systems)
- knowledge acquisition/sharing within and across organizations (e.g., leader/team member's goal orientation and knowledge sharing)
Before becoming an academic Dr Zhang had rich experience in business, including co-founding China’s first market research firm in Beijing/Hong Kong and working in blue-chip corporations (IBM and Ericsson) in the Greater China region.
Global Influence
Dr. Zhang has been recognized as an expert on innovation and high-tech entrepreneurship in China. Apart from presenting her research at international conferences, she is regularly invited to attend globally influential events as a speaker. Her recent engagements include:
- Panel speaker in the entrepreneurship stream at the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) in Manila, Philippines (2015) http://www.hpair.org/speaker/
- Keynote speaker, debating with three prominent scholars at the DRUID Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark (2014). A video of the debate is in the link: https://vimeo.com/98925171.
- Panel speaker in the entrepreneurship stream at the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) in Tokyo, Japan (2014). (Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was a keynote speaker at the conference.)
- Specialist presenter at the Management Conference of MCC in Budapest, Hungary (2014).
Teaching
Dr. Zhang currently teaches Leadership and Change Management in the postgraduate program at UNSW Canberra.
