Eric Zhao

Professor Eric Zhao translates rigorous management scholarship into actionable leadership insights, empowering scholars, industry practitioners and policy makers to navigate the future with clarity and evidence-based precision.

Associate Dean for Research
Professor of Strategy
University of Oxford

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Expertise & Research Focus

Optimal Distinctiveness

In-depth research on how firms navigate the competing pressures of conformity versus differentiation to secure a sustainable competitive advantage.

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AI and Firm Strategy

Exploring how the rise of AI and AI agents fundamentally reshape the competitive landscape, and how firms should re-architect themselves around the logic of continuous learning and intelligence.

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Institutions & Entrepreneurship

Applying sociological, psychological and organizational insights to understand how different types of institutions (e.g., patriarchy, religion, and social class) enable and constrain entrepreneurial actions and performance.

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