Dr Yee Kwan Tang
- Senior Lecturer (Management)
email:
Yee.Tang@glasgow.ac.uk
Room 320 Adam Smith Business School, 2 Discovery Place, Glasgow G11 6EY
Biography
Kwan joined the University of Glasgow in 2011. She holds a PhD degree in Management (University of Glasgow), a MEd in Higher Education Teaching and Learning (University of Glasgow), an MBA degree with distinction (University of Manchester), a BA (Hons) degree (Chinese University of Hong Kong), and a BBA degree (University of South Australia).
Kwan has over 15 years of postgraduate work experience, with nearly 10 years in areas of project management, financial management, and operational systems design and development in manufacturing and service multinationals. Before joining the University of Glasgow, she worked for the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva, Switzerland. Specifically, she supported the entrepreneurship and innovation programme run by UNCTAD (EMPRETEC) and the design of its business linkages programme that prepares small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries to partner with large corporations. She also worked as an assistant professor in international business at the Chinese campus of the University of Nottingham. Kwan has served as an academic and technical advisor of a number of business projects on the business development and internationalisation of new and small ventures in high-technology and traditional industries.
Research interests
Kwan is a member of the School's International Business and Enterprise research cluster.
Areas of expertise:
- Internationalisation of SMEs
- Entrepreneurship and enterprise development in developing countries
- International business strategy
- Networks in business development
Grants
- Glasgow Centre of International Development (GCID) Small Grant 2023-2024, £19,350, “Bridging the information gaps to retaining and raising girls’ interest in STEM education” (Principal Investigator).
- Innovate UK Energy Catalyst. ‘A Self-contained Solar-Hydro Micro Power Plant for Uninterrupted Supply in All Weather Conditions’, 2020-2021. £290,000 (UK Co-I).
- GCRF, Scottish Funding Council, Small Grants Fund, 2018, £27,620 (Co-investigator, with Chong Li - Principal Investigator - School of Engineering, University of Glasgow).
- ESRC - Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) - Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAAs), 2016, £13K (Principal investigator).
- ESRC - Impact Accelerate Account Early User Engagement Fund, 2016, £5K.
- British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Small Research Grant, 2013, £10K (Principal investigator, with Dr. Victor Konde, UNECA, Ethiopia, and ATDF Entrepreneurship Hub, Zambia; and Professor Stephen Young, ASBS).
- The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland research grant, 2013, £2.2K (Principal investigator, with Dr Victor Konde, UNECA, Ethiopia, and ATDF Entrepreneurship Hub, Zambia; and Professor Stephen Young, ASBS).
- Adam Smith Research Foundation Seedcorn Funding, 2012, £2K (Principal investigator, with Dr Victor Konde, UNECA, Ethiopia, and ATDF Entrepreneurship Hub, Zambia; and Professor Stephen Young, ASBS).
- Seedcorn Funding, Department of Management, University of Glasgow, 2008, £1.5K (Investigator, with principal investigator Professor Stephen Young, and co-investigator Professor Pavlos Dimitratos).
Supervision
Kwan is interested in supervising doctoral research on internationalisation and international business strategy of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises; social and business networks in business development; entrepreneurship and enterprise development in developing country contexts; and business environment and firm development in China.
Current PhD students
- Li, Zhengyu
Public transport operators’ technological choices of zero-emission buses: Stakeholders’ perspectives - Song, Jing
How human-induced crises influence the legitimacy of MNEs and how stakeholders’ expectations affect MNEs' legitimacy repair strategies - Zhang, Kun
Compositional Capabilities and Emerging-Market Ordinary Companies: An Explanatory Study - Zhao, Jinbang
Institutional Determinants, Positive Deviance and SME Innovation in Emerging Economies: Evidence from the Subnational Level in China
Past PhD Topics Co-supervised
- Entrepreneurship and Institutional Challenges
- Formal and Informal Institutions on Total Entrepreneurial Activity
- Innovation Policy, State Ownership and Firms' International Innovation Performance (semiconductor firms)
- Institutional Framework and Networking of Exporting SMEs
- Social Media Adoption of SMEs
- Strategic Alignment, Customer Relationship Management and Firm Performance
- Cultural Dimensions, Government Regulations and Entrepreneurial Orientation of Firms’ International Performance
- Relational Dimension of Social Capital in Promoting Knowledge Transfer (pharmaceutical firms)
Teaching
- Programme Director, MSc in Finance and Management (2016 -2022)
- Course coordinator and lecturer:
- International Business Strategy for Multinational Enterprise, MBA elective (2013 – present)
- International Management Solutions (IMS, real life business consultancy projects), core course, MSc in International Business (2018 – present)
- International Business and Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, MSc in Finance & Management and MSc in International Business elective (2019 – present)
- Entrepreneurship, UG Level 2 elective course (2013-2018)
- Professional Practice, UG Level 4 course for engineering students (2013-2017)
- Business Environment in China, PG management specialist programmes elective (2012 – 2017)
- UG, PG and MBA dissertation supervisor
- International Management Solutions (IMS) project supervisor
Additional information
Other Roles in University of Glasgow
- Reviewer, Glasgow Knowledge Exchange Fund (GKEF). 2023-present.
Membership
- Fellow of Higher Education Academy, UK
Awards
- Best Developmental Paper Award, Strategy Track. Li, Z., Tang, Y.K. and Buck, T. (2023) Public transport operators’ technological choices of zero-emission buses: Stakeholders’ perspectives. British Academy of Management (BAM) Conference 2023, 5-6 September, University of Sussex Business School.
- Best Full Paper Award (Top 3 finalists), Marketing and Retail Track. Li, C., Morgan-Thomas, A. and Tang Y.K. (2016) A systematic review of literature: The link between CRM and firm performance. British Academy of Management (BAM) Conference 2016, 6-8 September, Newcastle University.
External Knowledge Exchange and Network Building
- Co-Chair, Track 1: Internationalization Processes and International Entrepreneurship. Academy of International Business (AIB) Conference 2024, 2-6 July 2024, Seoul, South Korea.
- Chair and Speaker, Work Session 5: Youths Community for Promoting Entrepreneurship. Second Forum of the Alliance of Entrepreneurial Universities in Africa, 10-11 October 2023, United Nations Conference Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- External Examiner, University of Sheffield Management School. 2022-Present.
- External Examiner, University of Edinburgh Business School. 2018-2022.
- Panel of Judges, Origin Youth Innovation Bootcamp Business Pitching. 17 December 2021. Coordinated by UNECA.
- Guest Speaker and Mentor. 3rd Africa Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Forum Bootcamp. 22-26 February 2021. By UNECA, UNESCO and African Union (AU).
- Advisor of project entitled “Feasibility studies of deploying solar hydro mini/micro grids for 24/7 electricity in remote off-grid communities in South Asia”, funded by Innovate UK (10018443) 2020-2021. Led by SEMWaves Ltd.
- Advisor of project entitled “Advancing Technology Transfer for Sustainable Development” 2021-2022. Led by UNECA.
- Advisor of project entitled “Advancing Entrepreneurial Universities in Africa”, covers Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana and South Africa (first round). 2020-2021. Led by United Nations Economics Commission for Africa (UNECA).
- Technical Advisor of project entitled “Accelerate Identification and Realization of Agri-business Opportunities (AIRBO)” (2015-2017, CAD464,200). A component of Cultivate Africa’s Future (CultiAF) programme of Expanding Business Opportunities for African Youth in Agricultural Value Chains in Southern Africa, financially supported by Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.
- Founding members of African Innovation Research Network (AIRNET)