Rate My Professor Linan Lei

Zhejiang University International Business School (ZIBS)

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5.05/4/2026

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About Linan

Dr. Linan Lei is an Assistant Professor of Innovation and Strategy, researcher, and doctoral supervisor at Zhejiang University International Business School (ZIBS). She also serves as Assistant Dean and has been Deputy Director of the International Research Center for Hidden Champions at Zhejiang University’s International Campus since March 2021. Her educational background includes a PhD in Management Science and Engineering from Zhejiang University in June 2018, an MPhil in International Business from the University of Leeds in June 2016, and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Zhejiang University’s Chu Kochen College in June 2013. Prior to her current positions, Lei was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Zhejiang University School of Management from July 2018 to June 2020.

Lei conducts research on enterprise innovation and strategic management, with a focus on innovative strategies of hidden champions, their catch-up and transcendence in manufacturing under digitalization and globalization, and managerial cognition and strategic decision-making. As principal investigator, she has received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China General Program (January 2024), National Key Research and Development Program for Young Scientists (November 2022), NSFC Young Scientists Fund (January 2021), Zhejiang Province Soft Science Project (January 2022), and Ministry of Science and Technology “Belt and Road Initiative” Fund (December 2021). Her key publications include “The Match between Structural Attributes and Content-based Orientation of Managerial Cognition: An Exploratory fsQCA Study of ‘Hidden Champions’” (Management and Organization Review, 2022), “Unfolding the resource configuration and interaction in digital servitization: an exploratory two-stage research design” (International Journal of Operations & Production Management, online), “Thinking like a specialist or a generalist—Evidence from hidden champions in China” (Asian Business & Management, 2022), “Is disruptive innovation in emerging economies different? Evidence from China” (Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 2020), and “Climate change strategies of multinational enterprises in China” (Journal of Cleaner Production, 2017). She authored the monograph Hidden Champions of Chinese Manufacturing: From Managerial Cognition to Firm Growth (Zhejiang University Press, 2019), contributed chapters to The Oxford Handbook of China Innovation (2021) and Hidden Champions in Dynamically Changing Societies (2021), and translated Hermann Simon’s Invisible Champions 2: New Era, New Trends, New Strategies (China Machine Press, 2023). Notable awards include First Prize of the 21st Zhejiang Province Outstanding Achievements in Philosophy and Social Science (2021), selection for Zhejiang Province High-Level Talents Special Support Plan (2022), Outstanding Academic Achievement Award of the Year 2022 from Zhejiang University International Joint College, and Advanced Employee of the Year 2022 at Zhejiang University. Lei teaches courses such as Strategic Management, Strategic and Innovation Management, Frontiers in Innovation Management, Industrial Organization and Innovation in China, and Innovation and Digitalization in Champion Enterprises.