Jessica An, PhD

Jessica works as Assistant Professor in Strategy in School of Strategy and Leadership (SSL), Faculty of Business and Law (FBL) at Coventry University. She holds a PhD degree from Coventry University in Guanxi (Social Networking) and Entrepreneurship, and is a Senior Fellow of Advanced Higher Education (SFHEA). Her research interests focus on Chinese guanxi, social capital, ethnic minority entrepreneurs, social embeddedness and entrepreneurship contextualisation. Current leadership duties include Course Director for BA International Business Top Up, SSL Alumni Lead, Module Leader, Dissertation Supervisor and Mentor. She had been previously appointed as Academic Conduct Officers in the School that investigated academic misconduct cases and assisted staff training on identifying and preventing plagiarism. She has been working as an active researcher and journal reviewer to further extend her research profile. Prior to Jessica’s academic career, she worked as an Internet Marketing Project Manager in a couple of British SMEs to help local UK companies establish presence in China via the internet and vice versa, through Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC). She has closely worked with China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) where a funding application was succeeded to support internationalisation of UK SMEs. Her expertise in international advertising and marketing communications has provided her the opportunity to work for some of the most prestigious industry leaders in the world, including Saatchi & Saatchi, Young & Rubicam, and The English Premier League. Jessica has a great passion in supporting and guiding international students to succeed in their personal career pursuit around the world.

Chinese guanxi

Social networking/Social capital

Entrepreneurship contextualisation

Minority Entrepreneur

Strategic management