Staff profile

Professor Karena Ji Yan is Chair in Marketing and Associate Dean of Durham University Business School. Her current main research interests fall into innovation and technology management. In particular, her research focuses on cross-border innovation management, foreign R&D funds attraction, the innovation activities among customers, suppliers and competitors and integrate their processes to generate innovation performance. In terms of future collaboration, Karena is interested in working with industry and academics on collaborative research projects based on a range of topics such as (including but not limited to): environmental innovation, implication of innovation constraints, innovation ecosystems, and in general understanding innovation strategies across complex knowledge network.

Karena has been published constantly in international leading/excellence level journals such as Research Policy，Journal of Product Innovation Management，International Journal of Operations and Production Management, British Journal of Management，etc. Her research has social impact that UK media Economics, The Sunday Times and BBC has reported her research.

Prospective PhD applicants with similar research interests are encouraged to send her a research proposal.

Karena leads Chales Wilson Research funds on project 'Grid Smarter Cities'. She has also provided the academic advice in Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Project funded by Technology Strategy Board UK. She was Chair of Board of Examiners of MSc Marketing program, board member of Research Committee and Education Committee of Durham University Business School. Prior to joining Durham, Karena has completed her PhD in University of Cardiff. 

Mini Biography

Professor Karena Ji Yan is Chair in Marketing, Associate Dean of Durham University Business School. Her research focuses on innovation and technology management. She works with international scholars and practitioners to investigate R&D investment and funding problems and apply rigorous methodological techniques to address them.

• New Product and Process Innovation
• R&D Management and University-Industry Collaboration
• Technology Management
• Marketing analytics on new product development

• Innovation and Technology Management
• Management & Marketing Department
• Organisations and Society

Journal Article

• Yao, Nengzhi, Yan, Karena, Tsinopoulos, Christos & Bai, Junhong (2023). The organizational determinants of open innovation: a literature framework and future research directions. Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies
• Ren, S., Huang, M., Liu, D. & Yan, J. (2023). Understanding the impact of Mandatory CSR Disclosure on Green Innovation: Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms. British Journal of Management 34(2): 576-594.
• Li, W., Liu, Z., Xia, S., Yan, J., Xiong, Y., Sakka, G. & Yu Li. (2022). How can emerging-market SMEs domestically benefit from their performance in developed countries? Empirical evidence from China. Journal of Business Research 142: 200-210.
• Chen, D., Jaenicke, E. C., Yan, J., Tian, K. & Nayga, R. M. (2022). Price promotion of organic foods and consumer demand. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 37(6): 618-623.
• Ren, S. He, D. Yan, J. Zeng, H. & Tan, J. (2022). Environmental labeling certification and corporate environmental innovation: The moderating role of corporate ownership and local government intervention. Journal of Business Research 140: 556-571.
• Li, R., Yan, J., Yao, N., Tian, K., Xia, S., Yang, X. & Xiong, Y. (2022). Abandoning innovation projects, filing patent applications and receiving foreign direct investment in R&D. Technovation 114: 102435.
• Yan, J. Chen, X. Chen, L. & Jiang, M. (2021). Does R&D intensity promote firm adoption of circular supply chain management? Evidence from the emerging market of China. Industrial Marketing Management 99: 153-166.
• Yang, X., Yan, J. Tian, K. Yu, Z. Li, R. & Xia, S. (2021). Centralization or Decentralization? The Impact of Different Distributions of Authority on China's Environmental Regulation. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 173: 121172.
• Sousa, Carlos M.P. Yan, Ji, Gomes, Emanuel & Lengler, Jorge (2021). Export Activity, R&D Investment And Foreign Ownership: Does It Matter For Productivity? International Marketing Review 38(3): 613-639.
• Wang, L., Yan, J., Chen, X. & Xu, Q. (2021). Do network capabilities improve corporate financial performance? Evidence from financial supply chains. International Journal of Operations & Production Management 41(4): 336-358.
• Yan, J., Tsinopoulos, C. & Xiong, Y. (2021). Unpacking the impact of innovation ambidexterity on export performance: Microfoundations and infrastructure investment. International Business Review 30(1): 101766.
• Ren, S., Wang, Y., Hu, Y. & Yan, J. (2021). CEO Hometown Identity and Firm Green Innovation. Business Strategy and The Environment 30(2): 756-774.
• Yan, Cheng & Yan, Ji (2021). Optimal and naive diversification in an emerging market: Evidence from China's A‐shares market. International Journal of Finance & Economics 26(3): 3740-3758.
• Tsinopoulos, C., Yan, J. & Sousa, Carlos M.P. (2019). Abandoning Innovation Activities and Performance: The moderating role of openness. Research policy 48(6): 1399-1411.
• Harris, R. & Yan, J. (2019). The Measurement of Absorptive Capacity from an Economics Perspective: Definition, Measurement and Importance. Journal of Economic Surveys 33(3): 729-756.
• Hughes, M., Hughes, P., Yan, J. & Sousa, C.M.P. (2019). Marketing as an Investment in Shareholder Value. British Journal of Management 30(4): 943-965.
• Tsinopoulos, C., Sousa, C. & Yan, J. (2018). Process Innovation: Open innovation and the moderating role of the motivation to achieve legitimacy. Journal of Product Innovation Management 35(1): 27-48.
• Yan, J., Tian, K., Heravi, S. & Morgan, P. (2017). The vices and virtues of consumption choices: Price promotion and consumer decision making. Marketing Letters 28(3): 461-475.
• Yan, J., Tian, K., Heravi, S. & Morgan, P. (2016). Asymmetric Demand Patterns for Products with Added Nutritional Benefits and Products without Nutritional Benefits. European Journal of Marketing 50(9/10): 1672-1702.
• Foxall, G.R., Yan, J., Oliveira-Castro, J. & Wells, V.K. (2013). Brand-related and situational influences on demand elasticity. Journal of Business Research 66(1): 73-81.
• Yan, J., Foxall, G.R. & Doyle, J.R. (2012). Patterns of Reinforcement and the Essential Value of Brands: I. Incorporation of Utilitarian and Informational Reinforcement Into the Estimation of Demand. The Psychological Record 62(3).
• Yan, J., Foxall, G.R. & Doyle, J.R. (2012). Patterns of Reinforcement and the Essential Value of Brands: II. Evaluation of a Model of Consumer Choice. The Psychological Record 62(3): 377-394.
• Oliveira-Castro, J.M., Foxall, G.R., Yan, J. & Wells, V.K. (2011). A behavioral-economic analysis of the essential value of brands. Behavioral Processes 87(1): 106-114.