Adam R. Cross is a Professor of International Business and currently serves as Associate Dean for Business Intelligence at the International Business School Suzhou (IBSS), Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU).

Since joining XJTLU in 2013, Professor Cross has served in multiple roles. For more than four years he was Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching at International Business School Suzhou (IBSS), during which time IBSS became the youngest business school in the world to receive accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) as well as by EQUIS. In 2018, Professor Cross joined the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) as inaugural Head of the Department of International Relations (now the Department of International Studies), and in 2020 he became the Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching in the School. From 2023 to 2026, Professor Cross served as Associate Vice-President for Education (AVP-E) and Director of the Graduate School at XJTLU. Before joining XJTLU, Professor Cross worked for 17 years at the Centre for International Business at the University of Leeds (CIBUL), UK, and at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, for a number of years. Prior to starting his academic career, Professor Cross worked in industry as a commodities trader.

Across his thirty five-year career in Higher Education, Professor Cross has co-edited five books (including one with Oxford University Press), and has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in leading international journals in their field, including the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business, International Business Review, Asian Business Management, and Management International Review. Prof. Cross’s most recent book, entitled “Unleashing Innovation the East Asian Way” and co-authored with Dr Ying Cheng, Prof. Martin Hemmert, Dr. Agata Kapturkiewicz, Prof. Masa Kotosaka, and Prof. Franz Waldenberger was published by Springer Nature in May 2026. Over his career, Professor Cross has also contributed to more than 40 book chapters, supervised 14 PhD and 7 Masters of Research students to completion, acquired over one million GBP of research grant income, and led the design and launch of more than ten undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Professor Cross’s contributions to research have been recognized externally in a number of ways. In 2017, Professor Cross’s 2007 article co-authored with colleagues at CIBUL and titled “The determinants of Chinese outward foreign direct investment” was chosen for the prestigious Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) Paper of the Decade Award. This award, sponsored by Palgrave Macmillan, is designed to recognise the most influential paper published in JIBS ten years previously. JIBS is the top ranked journal in the field of international business, is a FT50 (Financial Times top 50 journal), and is ranked as a 4* ‘World Elite’ journal in the Association of Business Schools’ Academic Journal Guide 2018. More recently, Professor Cross was named as a Highly Cited Chinese Researcher in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and again in 2025 by Elsevier for his contributions to the field of applied economics. His award in 2021 was the first time that any scholar from XJTLU had received this accolade since Elsevier began to publish this list in 2015, and he is the only scholar at XJTLU to have received this recognition five times. In 2025, Professor Cross's 2019 paper entitled "The distinctiveness and diversity of entrepreneurial ecosystems in China, Japan, and South Korea: an exploratory analysis" (co-authored with Prof. Martin Hemmert, Dr Ying Cheng, Dr J-J Kim, Prof. Florian Kohlbacher, Prof. Masa Kotosaka, Prof. Franz Waldenberger, and Dr. Leven Zheng), was chosen as one of the ten top papers published by Asian Business & Management (ABM) over the past 25 years, based on quality, impact, and contextualisation. By August 2026, Professor Cross’s research had been cited more than 7,100 times according to Google Scholar.

Professor Cross’s research focuses on the internationalisation of Asian multinational firms, entrepreneurship and new technology-based firms, and start-up ecosystems in East Asia.

Professor of International Business, XJTLU (2014 to present).

Associate Vice-President for Education (AVP-E), XJTLU (2023 to 2026).

Academic Director of the Graduate School, XJTLU (2023 to 2026). 

Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching, School of Humanities and Social Sciences (2020 to 2023).

Inaugural Head of the Department of International Studies (2018 to 2020).

Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching, International Business School Suzhou (IBSS), Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University (XJTLU), Suzhou, China, 2014-18.

Senior Lecturer in International Business, Centre for International Business (CIBUL), Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, UK (2001 - 2013), Leeds, United Kingdom.

Lecturer in International Business, Centre for International Business (CIBUL), Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, UK (1996 - 2001), Leeds, United Kingdom.

Research Assistant, Manchester School of Management, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) (1993 - 1994), Manchester, United Kingdom.

Research Assistant, Manchester School of Management, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) (1991 - 1993), Manchester, United Kingdom.

XPU001 Essentials of AI, Module Leader (2024 to 2026).

XPU002 Foundations of AI, Module Leader (2024 to 2026). 

HSS001 Explore Humanities and Social Sciences, Module Leader (2020 to 2022).

BUS415 International Management and Global Institutions, Module Leader and Teacher (2020 to 2023).

INS410 Transnational Corporations and Global Challenges, Module Leader and Teacher (2020 to 2023).

INR001 Current Issues in Global Affairs, Module Leader and Teacher (2020).

INR002 Essentials of International Relations, Module Leader and Teacher (2019 to 2020).

MAN434: MRes Management Dissertation (2015/2018).

MAN433: Business and Management as a Social Science (2015/2018).

MAN312: Business Strategy (2013/2014).

In 2025, Adam's 2019 paper entitled "The distinctiveness and diversity of entrepreneurial ecosystems in China, Japan, and South Korea: an exploratory analysis" (co-authored with Prof. Martin Hemmert, Dr Ying Cheng, Dr J-J Kim, Prof. Florian Kohlbacher, Prof. Masa Kotosaka, Prof. Franz Waldenberger, and Dr. Leven Zheng), was chosen as one of the ten top papers published by Asian Business & Management (ABM) over the past 25 years, based on quality, impact, and contextualisation.

Adam was named as a Highly Cited Chinese Researcher of 2021 by Elsevier in its 2021 Highly Cited Chinese Researchers list for his contributions to the field of Applied Economics. This was the first time that a scholar from XJTLU has received this accolade since Elsevier began to publish this list in 2015. He received the same award again in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Adam's 2007 Journal of International Business Studies publication, “The determinants of Chinese outward foreign direct investment”, was chosen for the prestigious 2017 Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) Decade Award. The award, sponsored by Palgrave Macmillan, is designed to recognise the most influential paper published in JIBS ten years previously. JIBS is ranked as a 4* ‘World Elite’ journal in the Association of Business Schools’ Academic Journal Guide 2015 - the highest quality ranking possible. The paper was co-authored with Prof. Peter Buckley, Prof. Jeremy Clegg, Dr Hinrich Voss, Dr P. Zheng and Dr X. Liu.

2014-2015: Deans Award for Outstanding Contribution to Quality Assurance, International Business School Suzhou, Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

2002-2003: Best paper, UK AIB Conference. with C. DeMattos

1992-1993: School of Management Prize for Academic Performance, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST).