Victor Cui

Victor Cui
Conrad Research Excellence Chair, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Global Strategy, Cross-appointment: Department of Management Science and Engineering
Location: E7 2418
Status: Active

Biography

Professor Victor Cui’s research examines how emerging technologies and shifting geopolitics are transforming business, society, and humanity’s future. His work has been published in top-tier academic journals and featured by BNN Bloomberg, Fortune, CBC, and The Globe and Mail.

A global thought leader on geopolitics and the new paradigm of globalization, Professor Cui serves on the International Science Council’s Global Roster of Experts advising the United Nations. He is a Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA) Fellow, Editor for four leading international journals, and Chair of Canada’s SSHRC Insight Development Grant (IDG) competition.

Professor Cui collaborates extensively with leaders from government, industry, and academia to address the complex and interdependent challenges facing the world.

Research

Professor Cui’s early work explored how compensation structures influence innovation outcomes, ranging from incremental improvements to breakthrough discoveries (Yanadori & Cui, 2013; Cui, Ding, & Yanadori, 2019). His subsequent studies examined competitive dynamics in exploratory and exploitative partnerships (Cui, Yang, & Vertinsky, 2018) and offered insights into intellectual property rights (IPR) protection for governments and multinational enterprises (Brander, Cui, & Vertinsky, 2017; Cui, Narula, Minbaeva, & Vertinsky, 2022).

His recent research investigates geopolitical tensions between the United States and China, analyzing how firms navigate new paradigms of globalization and fragmentation (Cui, Vertinsky, Wang, & Zhou, 2023; Vertinsky, Kuang, Zhou, & Cui, 2023). Ongoing projects focus on the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on business strategy, governance, and societal systems.

Professor Cui’s research has received international awards and is published in leading journals, including the Strategic Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, and Research Policy.

Consultancy and Engagement

Professor Cui has extensive experience advising organizations across financial services, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, aviation, and brewing industries. He has also co-founded several technology startups and international joint ventures, bridging academic research with real-world impact. For consulting inquiries or speaking engagements, please contact via email.

Join His Research Team

Professor Cui welcomes Ph.D. applicants who aspire to address grand challenges in business, society, and the humanities through interdisciplinary research. He encourages applications from diverse fields such as artificial intelligence, computer and software engineering, data science, statistics, quantum physics, and cognitive sciences.

Applicants are expected to demonstrate proficiency in programming (e.g., Python, SAS, R, Stata, C, JavaScript) and a solid understanding of AI and machine learning.

He also supervises Ph.D. and M.Sc. students in the Department of Management Science and Engineering (MSE). Students interested in pursuing a Master’s degree before a Ph.D. are encouraged to apply through MSE (https://tinyurl.com/yx9nbkty).

Visiting scholars, current graduate students, and motivated undergraduates are also warmly invited to join his research group. To discuss your research ideas, please reach out via email — Professor Cui looks forward to exploring new possibilities together.

Research Interests

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) — Exploring how AI transforms business, society, and the humanities.

  • Global Challenges and Geopolitics — Investigating U.S.–China decoupling, shifting paradigms of globalization, and their implications for firms and nations.

  • Global Competition for Talent — Examining how organizations and countries attract, retain, and mobilize human capital in the knowledge economy.

  • Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and Innovation Policy — Understanding how IPR protection shapes technological advancement and international collaboration.

  • Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship — Studying how emerging technologies create new ventures, business models, and strategic opportunities.

  • Cooperation and Competition — Analyzing how firms balance rivalry and collaboration in complex global ecosystems.

  • Compensation and Incentive Design — Investigating how pay structures influence creativity, innovation, and organizational performance.

Education

  • Ph.D. Business Administration, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada

  • Ph.D. Engineering Management, Faculty of Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Awards

  • 2025 & 2024, Best Senior Editor Award, Management and Organization Review

  • 2020, Best Reviewer Award, Journal of International Business Studies

  • 2019 & 2020, Faculty Research Award, Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba

  • 2019, Outstanding Teacher, University of Manitoba

  • 2015 & 2019, Golden Shovel Award, Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba

  • 2010, Best Paper Award, Technology and Innovation Management Division, Administrative Sciences Assocation of Canada

  • 2009, Best Student Paper Award, Technology and Innovation Management Division, Academy of Management

  • 2009, Graduate Teaching Award, University of British Columbia

Service

  • 2024-, Member of Global Roster of Experts, International Science Council (An NGO advising the UN on global challenges)

  • 2025-, Associate Editor, Journal of Business Research

  • 2022-, Senior Editor, Asia Pacific Journal of Management

  • 2022-, Senior Editor, Management and Organization Review

  • 2023-2025, Senior Editor, International Business Review

  • 2016-, Editorial Review Board, Journal of International Business Studies

  • 2019, Guest Editor, Journal of International Business Studies special issue: "Studying Intellectual Property Rights in International Business through Multiple Levels of Analysis"

  • 2022-2024, Chair, Insight Development Grants Adjudication Committee (business, management and related fields), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Canada

Teaching*

  • BE 620 - Business Strategy
    • Taught in 2024, 2025
  • BET 607 - Managing Technological Innovation
    • Taught in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

Selected/Recent Publications

  • Cui, V. (2025). Canada can claim its economic sovereignty during the global trade war. The Globe and Mail, April 10, 2025

  • Cui, V., Vertinsky, I., Wang, Y., Zhou, D. (2023). Decoupling in international business: The ‘new’ vulnerability of globalization and MNEs’ response strategies. Journal of International Business Studies (AJG4*), 54(8), 1562-1576.

  • Vertinsky, I., Kuang, Y., Zhou, D., & Cui, V. (2023). The political economy and dynamics of bifurcated world governance and the decoupling of value chains: An alternative perspective. Journal of International Business Studies (AJG4*), 54(7), 1351-1377.

  • Cui, V., Narula, R., Minbaeva, D., & Vertinsky, I. (2022). Towards integrating country-and firm-level perspectives on intellectual property rights. Journal of International Business Studies (AJG4*), 53(9), 1880-1894.

  • Cui, V., Ding, W. W., & Yanadori, Y. (2019). Exploration versus exploitation in technology firms: The role of compensation structure for R&D workforce. Research Policy (AJG4*), 48(6), 1534-1549.

  • Cui, V., Yang, H., & Vertinsky, I. (2018). Attacking your partners: Strategic alliances and competition between partners in product markets. Strategic Management Journal (AJG4*), 39(12), 3116-3139.

  • Brander, J. A., Cui, V., & Vertinsky, I. (2017). China and intellectual property rights: A challenge to the rule of law. Journal of International Business Studies (AJG4*), 48(7), 908-921.

  • Yanadori, Y., & Cui, V. (2013). Creating incentives for innovation? The relationship between pay dispersion in R&D groups and firm innovation performance. Strategic management journal (AJG4*), 34(12), 1502-1511.

  • (Full text access via ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Victor-Cui-2/research)

In The News

Graduate studies

I am currently seeking to accept graduate students. Please submit your graduate studies application and include my name as a potential advisor.