Professor Zaheer Khan

Biography

Zaheer Khan is a Professor in Strategy and International Business and the Founding Director of the Africa-Asia Centre for Sustainability at the University of Aberdeen Business School. Prior to joining the University of Aberdeen in 2020, he held academic positions at the University of Kent, the University of Sheffield, the University of Hull, the University of Birmingham, and Royal Holloway, University of London. From 2017 to 2020, he served as Head of the Strategy and International Business Division and was a member of the Senior Management Team at Kent Business School, University of Kent. He is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE, an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS), the British Academy of Management (FBAM), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.  

He is currently a Visiting Professor of International Business at the University of Vaasa, Finland.  He has also served as a Visiting Professor of International Business at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Republic of Korea (2017-2019), and as a Visiting Professor of International Business Strategy at the University of Northampton (2015-present).

He is an Associate Editor of Critical Perspectives on International Business, and serves on the editorial boards of the British Journal of Management, Journal of World Business, Management International Review, International Studies of Management & Organization, and Multinational Business Review.

Prior to entering academia, he worked as a Consultant for Capgemini Ernst & Young, USA. He earned his PhD in International Business from the University of Birmingham, UK.

His work has been published in well-regarded international business, strategy, and interdisciplinary business management journals, including: 

• Journal of International Business Studies
• Journal of World Business
• International Business Review
• Global Strategy Journal
• Long Range Planning
• Journal of Corporate Finance
• British Journal of Management
• Human Relations
• International Journal of Management Reviews

Prizes and Awards

• Fellow of the British Academy of Management (FBAM), September 2025.
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce (FRSA), March 2023.
• Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS), February 2021.
• Top 10 most-cited articles published in 2023 in Global Strategy Journal, awarded on 19th of March, 2025 (R&D alliances and SMEs post-entry internationalization speed: The impact of alliance management capability and co-innovation ambidexterity).
• Top 10 most-cited articles published in 2023 in International Journal of Management Reviews, awarded on 19th March, 2025 (Ambidexterity in strategic alliances: An integrative review of the literature).
• Emerald Literati Award 2023 for Outstanding Paper (Artificial intelligence and human workers interaction at team level: a conceptual assessment of the challenges and potential HRM strategies).
• Top cited article for 2020-2021 for the British Journal of Management, awarded on 31st of March, 2022 (COVID-19 Pandemic in the New Era of Big Data Analytics: Methodological Innovations and Future Research Directions).
• Top cited article for 2020-2021 for the International Journal of Management Reviews, awarded on 1st of April, 2022 (Collaboration and Internationalization of SMEs: Insights and Recommendations from a Systematic Review).
• 16th Vaasa conference on International Business (2021), University of Vaasa, Finland Best Paper award (with Pushyarag Puthusserry, University of Kent, UK, Krsitel Miller, University of Ulster, UK, Gary Knight, Willamette University, USA), awarded on the 18th of August, 2021 (Exploring the influence of dynamic managerial capabilities on emerging market SME BMI during COVID-19).  
• Top cited article for the Human Resource Management (US-Wiley- FT50) for 2019-2020, awarded on the 15th of April, 2021 (Human resource Management in Chinese multinationals in the United Kingdom: The interplay of institutions, culture, and strategic choice). 
• 10th Most Cited Article for the Journal of Organizational Behavior Impact Factor for 2019, awarded on the 10th of August, 2020 (The microlevel actions undertaken by owner managers in improving the sustainability practices of cultural and creative small and medium enterprises: A United Kingdom Italy comparison). 
• University of Birmingham Research Methods Best Paper Award (with Pushyarag Puthusserry, University of Kent, UK) received at the 46th Academy of International Business UK & Ireland Chapter 2019 Conference, University of Sussex, UK (How Do Rapidly Internationalizing SMEs Learn? Exploring the Link Between Network Relationships, Learning Approaches and Post-entry Growth of Rapidly Internationalizing SMEs from Emerging Markets).

Research Overview

Zaheer's research interests are in the area of global technology management, international alliances, post-acquisition behavior of emerging markets' firms, automotive industry, internationalisation of SMEs, and CSR practices of firms operating in emerging markets. He is currently editing special issues at the Management International Review, Journal of International Management, and Critical Perspectives on International Business. He had also co-edited special issues at the International Business Review, International Studies of Management & Organization and Applied Psychology-An International Review. 

Supervision

Professor Khan would be interested in supervising potential PhD students in these areas: 

• Knowledge transfer in international alliances
  
• Capability building processes of local suppliers in the automotive industry
  
• Emerging economies firms' CSR and sustainability practices
  
• Internationalisation of SMEs and family firms 
  

Most recent Supervisees 

Zohreh H.Rahmani: Three Determinants of Sustainable Product Innovation: A Behavioural Theory of the Firm Perspective.

Bochra Idris: Essays on SMEs' Internationalisation: An Empirical Analysis Using Large-Scale Survey Data. 

Abdullah Alajmi, University of Sheffield (2021). Reverse Knowledge Transfer from Multinational Subsidiaries to their Headquarters in the GCC – the mediating effects of social equity, transfer mechanisms, trust and willingness (External Supervisor).

Sara Odat, University of Kent (2022). Business model innovation in the sharing economy: the case of digital platform SMEs.

Current Research

Zaheer current research focuses on internationalization of SMEs from emerging markets, international knowledge transfer in alliances, internationalization of firms from emerging markets, governance and sustainability of supply chains, platform firms, and CSR strategies of firms operating in emerging markets. He has published widely on these and related interdisciplinary themes.

Collaborations

Zaheer has a large network of collaborators across the UK, Asia and North America. Current projects are in the area of knowledge transfer in international alliances, cross-sector partnerships, board gender diversity and cross-listing, internationalization of firms from emerging markets, and non-market political and social strategies of firms based in emerging markets. 

Funding and Grants

Professor Khan has received grants from the ISBE (RAKE-Fund), British Academy of Management, and he is a  member of an interdisciplinary Productivity Insight Network funded by the ESRC (worth £1.8million).  

Teaching Responsibilities

Zaheer has taught Business in Emerging Markets, Cross-Cultural Management, Business Strategy and Global Business Issues (undergraduate level), International Business Environment & Strategy and Strategic Management (postgraduate level) courses. His teaching is mainly case-based and research-oriented. He is also interested in investigating the issues and challenges faced by students in developing critical thinking skills in higher education, and the utility of threshold concepts in strategy courses.