Executive Board

Members

Prof. Davide Castellani
Chair AIB-UKI executive board

Davide is a Professor of International Business and Strategy at the Henley Business School, University of Reading (UK) and a Visiting Professor at the University of Urbino Italy). He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Ancona (Italy) and a MSc in Economics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain). Prior to joining Henley, Davide held positions at the University of Urbino and University of Perugia and has been a Research Professor at the University of Lund (Sweden) and Halle Institute for Economic Research (Germany) and Research Fellow of Centro Studi Luca d’Agliano (Italy).
His research is at the intersection of International Business, International Economics, Economic Geography and Innovation Studies, and focuses on the determinants of the firms’ internationalisation choices, and their impact on innovation, technology and economic performances of firms, regions and countries. In particular, he has published extensively on the effect of different forms of internationalisation on employment and productivity growth and on the determinants of location choices of multinational enterprises. Davide is in the top 5% most cited economists worldwide, according to the RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) network, and his research has been published in top-ranked international journals, such as, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Economics, Oxford Economic Papers, Papers in Regional Studies, Regional Studies, Research Policy, Small Business Economics, The Review of World Economics, The World Economy. Over the past two decades, Davide has been involved in several collaborative research projects funded by national and international bodies, and acted as an advisor to the European Commission, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (UK) and London Economics (UK).

Prof. Mario Kafouros
Secretary

Mario Kafouros is a Professor of International Business and Innovation at Alliance Manchester Business School, and he is also Associate Editor of the journal of International Business Review (IBR). He holds degrees from different countries in business & economics and electronic engineer as well as a PhD in global innovation. He has extensive industrial and academic experience in the field of innovation and international business as well as extensive experience in senior leadership roles in Universities and research centres.
 He is the former Head of the International Business Department at Leeds University Business School, UK (2012-2016) and he has served as Director of Research and as member of the University of Leeds Cross-Faculty Impact Committee. He was also one of the three professors responsible for the previous REF submission of the entire Faculty and he is once again responsible for the forthcoming REF exercise. He is elected Secretary of the Academy of International Business and sits on its Executive Committee in the UK and Ireland. He is appointed adviser to the Commonwealth, a member of the Faculty Research Committee and a member of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Peer Review College.
He is supervising / has supervised 11 PhD students. His research has been published in leading international journals such as Journal of Management (JoM), Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS), Journal of Management Studies (JMS), Research Policy, Organization Studies, Human Relations, Journal of Product Innovation Management (JPIM), British Journal of Management (BJM) and Journal of World Business (JWB). 

Prof. Xiaohui Liu
​​Treasurer

Xiaohui Liu is Professor of International Business at Birmingham Business School, the University of Birmingham. Previously, she held the same title at the School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University. Her main research interests include knowledge spillovers, human mobility, innovation and the internationalisation strategies of firms from emerging economies. She has published widely in various journals, including Strategic Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, Research Policy, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Organization Studies, Journal of World Business, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal and International Business Review.

Xiaohui’s research has been funded by the ESRC, the Leverhulme Trust, the British Academy and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. She has won Best Competitive Paper awards from the Academy of International Business (UK) and International Association for Chinese Management Research. She is advisory editor of Research Policy and serves on the editorial board of Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, International Business Review, Asian Business & Management and the Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies. She is general secretary of the Chinese Economic Association (UK) and a member of ESRC Peer Review College.

Xiaohui has extensive teaching experience and has taught research-led courses at undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA levels on International Management and Strategic Management.

Dr. Vikrant Shirodkar
Communications Officer

Vikrant Shirodkar is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in International Business at the University of Sussex Business School, UK. His primary research interest is on the nonmarket (political and social) strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs). He is also interested in the strategic drivers of MNEs' performance, particularly, when MNEs operate within the context of emerging markets. Vikrant's prior research has appeared in leading journals such as the British Journal of Management, International Business Review, Management International Review, Journal of International Management, European Management Journal, Journal of Business Research and the Journal of Business Ethics. He has been an active member of the Academy of International Business since 2009.  

Vikrant's research has been funded by the European Union (H2020). He has also won awards such as the Best paper (Danny Van Den Bulcke Overall Best Paper) at the European International Business Academy conference and Best paper award under the category ‘Research in International Business and Finance’ at the Academy of International Business UK and Ireland chapter conference.

Vikrant has taught various modules related to International Business. He also supervises Research Projects for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying International Business and Management courses. Besides Sussex, he has also taught at the Imperial College London, University of Kent, Brunel University London and University of Bradford.

Dr. Sinéad Monaghan
Membership Officer

Dr. Sinéad Monaghan is an Associate Professor of International Business and Global Strategy at Trinity College Dublin. Her research focuses on firm internationalization, exploring rapid multinationalization, global scaling and subnational institutions. Her work has been published in Journal of International Business Studies, British Journal of Management and Journal of Business Research. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of International Business Studies and Journal of World Business. Sinéad is co-director of the Trinity Center for Digital Business and leads the Trinity MBA Scaling Project. Prior to joining Trinity, Sinéad was Assistant Professor of International Business at Rutgers Business School (USA), having previously held a visiting position in University College Dublin and a post-doctoral scholarship at the University of Limerick. Sinéad is the IE-Scholar Regional Ambassador for the UK and Ireland.

Dr. Surender Munjal
Doctoral Programme Convenor

Dr Surender Munjal is the convenor of doctoral colloquium. He is an Associate Professor of International Business at the University of Leeds. He
 
Director for the James E. Lynch India and South-Asia Business Centre. He is a Fellow of Higher Education Academy.  His research focuses on outsourcing and offshoring strategies of multinational enterprises in India and internationalisation strategies of Indian multinational enterprises. He has won various accolades for his research and teaching. He is the chair of evolution of multinational enterprise track in the Academy of International Business Conference 2016. He earned doctorate in International Business from the University of Leeds and Master of Philosophy in Marketing from Delhi School of Economics. He is also a qualified Chartered Accountant and Management Accountant.

Prof. Heinz Tuselmann
Coopted, Academician

Heinz is professor of International Business at Manchester Metropolitan University and the Director of the Centre for International Business & Innovation. He is currently at UNCTAD in Geneva in the capacity of senior advisor. He is Chair of the Scientific Committee of the Chartered Association of Business Schools ABS Academic Journal Guide, where he also serves as Subject Expert for IB. He has recently been appointed as deputy editor of Transnational Corporations. Heinz has served for 6 years as Chair of the AIB UK & Ireland Chapter and continues to serve on the Chapter’s executive board in an advisory capacity. Prior academia, he worked in the private sector, including Volkswagen and the Deutsche Bank.  His current research interests include FDI upgrading for MNE competitiveness and sustainable development; decent work, labour voice and participation in MNEs; and business internationalisation in deprived regions. His work has been published in a variety of journals, including Journal of World Business, Regional Studies, Management International Review, European Journal of Industrial Relations and Environment & Planning C: Government and Policy.

Dr. Margaret Fletcher
Coopted, Diversity Representative

Dr Margaret Fletcher is a senior lecturer in International Business at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, UK. Her research interests include internationalisation, international entrepreneurship, small firm policy, and the financing of small firms. She has published in the International Business Review, International Small Business Journal, Journal of International Marketing, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Journal of European Industrial Training and Venture Capital.  She was Doctoral Convenor of the UK&I Doctoral Colloquium and member of the Executive  Committee 2013-2017. She also works with policy-makers to support International Business and Entrepreneurship. Margaret is currently leading the Athena Swan Gender Equality group for the Adam Smith Business School and was co-opted to AIB UK&I in 2018 to lead the diversity initiative.

Prof. Nigel Driffield
Coopted, Impact

Nigel Driffield is Professor of International Business at Warwick Business School, having held a similar post at Aston Business School for 10 years which included a spell as the dean of the business school. He has a PhD from Reading University, and has published some 75 academic papers across a range of disciplines including international business, regional science, finance, and economics.
His main areas of interest are: the links between firm internationalisation and firm performance, the impact of inward investment on host locations, international technology transfer, and policy responses to globalisation. He recently held a Prestigious Leverhulme Fellowship, investigating the impact of internationally mobile capital on both home and source countries, particularly in terms of competitiveness and labour markets. More generally, he has held 4 ESRC awards, and has carried out research and consultancy projects for UNCTAD, World Bank, European Commission, OECD, and in the UK several Government Departments and local Regional Development bodies. Locally, he has worked with the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP since its inception, serving on the economics strategy board, chairing the academic advisory group, and on the executive steering committees for both the Heseltine Report and the Strategic Economic Plan. He has more recently written extensively on the prospects for inward investment post Brexit. He was on the Business and Management Sub-panel for the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise, and is a member of the ESRC grants panel.   is on the editorial review board of the Journal of International Business Studies, the “World Elite” journal in the area of international business.

Prof. Ulf Andersson
Coopted, Nordic Countries Representative

Dr Ulf Andersson is Professor at Mälardalen University, Sweden and Adjunct Professor at BI Norwegian Business School. He has earlier been a Professor of International Business at Uppsala University, where he also earned his doctoral degree and Professor of Strategy and International Management at Copenhagen Business School. His research focuses on subsidiary development, knowledge governance and transfer, network theory, strategy and management of the MNE. He has published more than 70 journal articles, books and book sections on these topics and his work is published in Strategic Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, Organization Studies, Journal of World Business, Global Strategy Journal, International Business Review, Journal of International Marketing, Management International Review and other leading journals. Dr Andersson serves in several editorial review boards, was an Area Editor of Journal of International Business Studies from 2011—2016, and is currently Senior Editor of Journal of World Business. Dr Andersson’s work has twice won the Palgrave Macmillan best competitive paper award at the Academy of International Business (AIB) – UK & Ireland chapter annual conference and been published in the best paper proceedings of the AIB conference in Milan 2008.​

Prof. Olli Kuivalainen
Coopted, Nordic Countries Representative

Olli Kuivalainen is a Professor of International Business and Management at the Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester and Professor of International Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the School of Business and Management of the Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland). Olli presents strong visitors’ contingent in the UKI AIB community in the Executive Committee and has been attending the UKI AIB conference since the Magee conference in 2004.  His main research interests include internationalization of SMEs and international entrepreneurship, and marketing and technology management. He has published in IB journals such as Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business and International Business Review, marketing journals such as Journal of International Marketing and International Marketing Review, and SME/entrepreneurship journals such as Technovation and Journal of International Entrepreneurship. He currently serves as an associate editor of the International Marketing Review, is a member of Journal of World Business’ editorial board and a co-series editor of the UK and Ireland Chapter of the Academy of International Business book series published in association with Palgrave MacMillan.

Dr. Spiros Batas
Previous conference organizer

​Dr Spiros Batas is Senior Lecturer in International Business at the University of Greenwich. He holds his PhD in International Business and Strategy from the University of Edinburgh and was examined by Professor Jan Johanson of Uppsala University. He had previously gained an MSc in International Business and Emerging Markets from the University of Edinburgh. He also obtained an MSc by Research in Labour Economics, Human Resource Management and Innovation from the University of Aix-Marseille and CNRS. He also holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Piraeus and a BSc in Business Administration.

Spiros previously worked at the University of Northampton as a Lecturer in Strategy and International Business where he led two courses and acted as a Deputy Programme Leader. Moreover, he has been leading a project initiated by Edinburgh World Heritage (EWH) which examines the economic valuation of Edinburgh's World Heritage Site. A report was published and there was a media coverage (e.g. The Times, BBC, amongst others). Spiros also assisted EWH with its organisational restructure.

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Dr. Sharon Loane
Coopted, Ireland Representative