Dr. Qian (Cecilia) Gu’s research interests lie at the intersection of strategy, international business, and entrepreneurship. Her research advances the understanding of how emerging market firms address evolving and potentially divergent stakeholder demands, and how their strategic choices affect firm performance. In particular, she focuses on the Venture Capital (VC) industry and family-owned businesses. She has published in top journals, such as 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 advised and taught courses for undergraduates, MBA, EMBA, Master of International Business, DBA, and Ph.D. programs on topics of corporate strategy and international business. She currently serves as Associate Editor of Global Strategy Journal, and Senior Editor of Management and Organization Research and Quarterly Management Journal. She also serves on the Editorial Boards of Academy of Management Journal, Journal of World Business, and Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal.

Cecilia was recognized with the John H. Dunning Fellowship from the University of Reading in 2022 and the Best 40 Under 40 Business Professors by Poets & Quants in 2020. 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.