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Staff Profile

  • Shaowei He joined the University of Northampton in 2008 after obtaining his PhD in Economic Development from the University of Birmingham. His research interests cross the boundaries of international business, economic geography and innovation studies. His current research focus is on the internationalisation of the Chinese MNEs and its impact on clusters and businesses in both China and overseas. Shaowei has received research grants from Leverhulme/British Academy and British Council. His work has appeared in leading academic journals such as Journal of World Business, Human Resource Management and Human Resource Management Review. Shaowei is Visiting Professor of Jianghan University of China.

    Shaowei was the Research and Enterprise Lead for the Faculty of Business and Law between 2021 and 2023 and in that role he helped to strengthen a more inclusive and supportive research culture as well as a stronger engagement with the external community. Shaowei led the China and Emerging Economies Centre as its Director between 2016 and 2022 during which he developed the centre to be a cross-country collaboration platform. He has advised businesses such as Silverstone Circuits Ltd. and Moles Solutions. In 2016 he was appointed Ambassador for International Exchange by the Hunan Provincial Government of China.

  • Undergraduate

    • Political Economy of China
    • Asian Business​ Development

    Postgraduate

    In addition to contributing to the MBA programmes, Shaowei is heavily involved in Phd supervision and has successfully supervised three PhD students through to completion.

  • Research interests cover multinational enterprises (MNEs) from emerging economies and their impact on the global economy, internationalisation of innovation and regional economic development. Current research focus is on the internationalisation of the Chinese MNEs and its impact on clusters and businesses in both China and overseas. Shaowei has been invited by institutions in the UK, Brazil, China and Kazakhstan to speak about the impact of Chinese MNEs.

    Research funding:

    • 2019 British Council (PI, £30,000): UK-China Outward Mobility Internationalisation Partnership Fund.
    • 2015 Leverhulme/British Academy Small Research Grant (PI, £10,000): Emerging economy multinational enterprises’ acquisitions in developed countries and capability upgrading in their acquired firms: a multiple case study in the UK.
    • 2014 British Council Researchers Link Programme (PI, £35,000): The impact of emerging economies and their multinational enterprises on the world economy.
    • 2011 Santander University Award, Santander, £2,500.
    • 2011 University of Northampton Chancellor’s Fund, £1,000.
    • 2009 British Council PMI2 initiative (PI, £35,000): Enhancing students’ entrepreneurial competences in an international environment.
  • For publications, projects, datasets, research interests and activities, view Shaowei He’s research profile on Pure, the University of Northampton’s Research Explorer.