Dr. Weize Huang is the Founder-Director of Social Entrepreneurship Research Centre (SERC) and Assistant Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) in the UK. Dr. Huang received his Ph.D. degree in Management from Zhejiang University. His research spans topics in Entrepreneurship and Organizational Behavior, with focuses on the microfoundations of entrepreneurship (i.e., why, when and how micro-level factors enhance entrepreneurial performance) and the ripple effects in the workplace (i.e., why, when, and how focal employees' attitudes, behaviors and performance are indirectly shaped by others), particularly within the context of digitalization and artificial intelligence.  

His work has been published in top-tier journals, such as Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal (FT50, ABS4, SSCI Q1), Journal of Product Innovation Management (CAS Q1 Top, ABS4, ABDC-A*, SCI/SSCI Q1), Technovation (CAS Q1 Top, ABS3, ABDC-A, SCI/SSCI Q1), Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (ABDC-A*, SCI Q1), The International Journal of Human Resource Management (ABDC-A, ABS3, SSCI Q1), Management Decision (SSCI Q1) etc., and presented in leading conferences, like Academy of Management (AOM) Annual Meeting, International Association for Chinese Management Research (IACMR) Biennial Conference, Asia Academy of Management (AOM), Academy of International Business (AIB) Asia Pacific Regional Conference, etc. He has also co-authored several book chapters regarding family businesses in the era of digitalization, published by Palgrave Macmillan and Edward Elgar Publishing. He serves as a reviewer for international journals, including Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Applied Psychology, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, and International Journal of Conflict Management. He is also the Liaison Officer for IACMR in Zhejiang Province. 

Dr. Huang's research has garnered multiple prestigious awards, including the Award of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2022年度创新创业全国优秀博士论文)—a highly selective national honor awarded to only ten recipients annually, five of whom are chosen specifically in Entrepreneurship research. He also received the Mao Lixiang Family Business Research Best Paper Award in both 2024 and 2025 (2024年度和2025年度茅理翔家族企业优秀研究成果奖), widely considered the highest accolade in the field of family business research in Asia. Moreover, He has hosted or participated in several research projects sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Zhejiang Provincial Philosophy and Social Science Foundation of China, the Science Technology Department and Education Department of Zhejiang Province, and McGill University. In 2023, he received the Jiangsu Provincial High-level Talent Award (江苏省“双创”博士人才) for his research achievements in entrepreneurial team formation.

As for entrepreneurial practice, Dr. Huang co-founded two new ventures and currently serves as a consultant for some domestic start-ups. He also takes the role of entrepreneurship mentor at government-backed incubators in Suzhou and Shanghai. Regarding human resource management practice, he has several consulting experiences in tourism, transportation, education training, and medical industries. Since 2020, Dr. Huang has been actively tracking and researching the development of over 300 Chinese startup founding teams. After joining XJTLU, he teaches at various levels, including undergraduate, graduate, and executive training programs.  Specifically, he has delivered courses on entrepreneurial management, innovation management, and organizational behavior for EMBA/MBA students at renowned overseas universities, and managers in domestic private tech enterprises and state-owned enterprises. He also successfully developed and implemented the first UG Innovation Management course at XEC, MFE304TC Haier Rendanheyi Management Model, in collaboration with Haier Group.

Dr. Huang serves as the Principal Supervisor for one PhD student at XJTLU and co-supervises other PhD students at renowned Chinese universities. *Ph.D. applicants are encouraged to email Dr. Huang with their research ideas. Applicants are required to be proficient in data analysis through SPSS, Stata, or R.

Entrepreneurship

OB&HRM

Academic:

Founder-Director of Social Entrepreneurship Research Centre, XJTLU, 2023 - Present

PhD supervisor, XJTLU, 2023 - Present

Assistant Professor, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Hub, XJTLU, 2022 - Present

Liaison Officer in Zhejiang Province for IACMR, 2019 - Present

Joint Ph.D. student (Organizational behavior), McGill University, 2020-2021

Visiting Student (Entrepreneurship and Innovation), Stanford University, 2019

Teaching Assistant, UG/PIEGL/MBA, SOM, Zhejiang University

Administrative and practical:

Founder of Tech-for-Good Entrepreneur Alliance, 2025 - Present

Peer Review Coordinator of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Hub, XJTLU, 2022 - Present

Representative of Sustainability Council, XJTLU, 2023 - Present

Pathfinder Team Lead of School of IME, XJTLU, 2024 - Present

Representative for School Progress Committee of IME, XJTLU, 2024 - Present

Liaison Officer for the Alumni Association of Zhejiang University, 2022 - Present

Co-founder, Hangzhou Beiao Internet of Things Technology Co., Ltd. (Founded in 2022)

Co-founder, Wuhan Fengkuang Aiqu Internet Technology Co., Ltd.(Founded in 2015)

About XJTLU SERC:

The XJTLU Social Entrepreneurship Research Centre (SERC) serves as a dynamic social innovation ecosystem embedded within the broader XJTLU framework. Dedicated to empowering its partners, SERC leverages Syntegrative research and consulting projects as its core methodology. Through close collaboration with governments, XEC industrial schools, think tank experts, and student research assistants, SERC effectively integrates diverse stakeholder resources to generate sustainable and scalable ecological value for education, enterprises, government, and society as a whole. To date, SERC has established the "Tech-for-Good Entrepreneur Alliance," bringing together senior executives from leading companies such as Microsoft, Nokia, Amphenol, Oerlikon HRSflow and Double Arrow Rubber to foster a new ecosystem for industry-education integration. In partnership with entities including the Shanghai Government, Taicang Government, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Sino-German Inclusion Factory, HiGO Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., Dongtang Network Technology Co., Ltd., and Pulagu Winery Management Co., Ltd., SERC has successfully delivered multiple high-impact Syntegrative projects. Furthermore, SERC has co-launched two government-backed incubators and accelerators, as well as multiple innovation and entrepreneurship competitions at the municipal and university levels. These initiatives have garnered significant media attention from prominent outlets such as People’s Daily, CNR News, Xinhua Finance, Eastday.com, Shanghai Observer, the official website of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Suzhou Overseas Chinese Federation, and Shanghai Overseas Chinese Federation.

[西交利物浦大学社会创业研究中心（SERC）是一个植根于西交利物浦生态体系的社会创新平台。中心以“融合式”研究及咨询项目为基础，携手政府、创业家学院各行业学院、智库成员及学生研究助理，整合各方资源优势，致力于为教育、企业、政府及全社会创造可持续、可扩展的生态价值。截至目前，SERC已发起成立“智善科创联盟”，汇聚了来自微软、诺基亚、安费诺、欧瑞康好塑和双箭股份等知名企业的高层管理人员，共同构建产教融合的新生态。中心还与上海市政府、太仓市政府、墨尔本皇家理工大学、中德融创工场、海固科技（苏州）有限公司、东棠网络科技有限公司、瀑拉谷酒庄管理有限公司等多家机构合作，成功完成了多项具有广泛社会影响力的融合式项目，受到《人民日报》、央广网、新华财经、东方网、上观新闻、上海市人民政府官网、苏州市侨联、上海市侨联等主流媒体和官方机构的广泛报道。期待更多生态伙伴的加入与合作! ]

     Selected Recent Media Coverage：

• Empower management practices in SOEs
• 2025 Tech-for-Good Entrepreneur Alliance Forum
• Contribution to the 2025 ECO-partner Conference
• Government-appointed Talent Ambassador
• Chinese Enterprises in the Digital Era (RMIT Study Tour)
• University-level Innovation Competition (Business Consulting)
• Government Activities Engagement (Governmental Award)
• Innovation Management in Industry 4.0 (Governmental Workshop)
• Governmental Entrepreneurship Competition Support (Ent. Judge)
• Coping with Uncertain Environments (Business Practice Workshop)
• Co-construction of Ent. Practice Base (Government Collaboration)
• Government-backed Incubator Support (Ent. Mentor)
• GYB Entrepreneurship Workshop for Communities (Ent. Workshop)
• Introduced MoU Partner to Empower Education and Co-established “Taicang Social Innovation Lab” 

Research:

• Mao Lixiang Family Business Research Best Paper Award for "To survive and sustain: Exploring the relationship between Parent–child Co-governance and ESG in listed Chinese family firms", ISEFB, 2025
• Mao Lixiang Family Business Research Best Paper Award for "Potential successors’ self-career identity congruence: Scale development and nomological network test", ISEFB, 2025
• XJTLU Nominations Honour for Early-Career Researcher Award, 2025
• XEC Industry Research Award, 2025
• EEH Early-Career Researcher Award, 2025
• Mao Lixiang Family Business Research Best Paper Award, ISEFB, 2024
• Jiangsu Provincial High-level Talent Award, 2023
• Outstanding Reviewer, Chinese Human Resources Development Conference, 2023
• National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2022
• Outstanding Ph.D. Graduate in Zhejiang Province, 2022
• Outstanding Ph.D. Graduate in Zhejiang University, 2022
• The First Prize of Excellent Achievement Award of Philosophy and Social Science in Zhejiang University, 2022

Practice:

• Government-appointed Talent Ambassador, 2025
• Outstanding Entrepreneurship Mentor, 2024
• National Bronze Award, National Students Entrepreneurship Competition, 2016
• Provincial Gold Award (Hubei Province), National Students Entrepreneurship Competition, 2016

Scholarship:

• Postgraduate of Merit / Triple A Postgraduate, 2021
• Yangye Alumni Scholarship, 2021
• Award of Honor for Postgraduate, 2021
• Xinhai Public Welfare Responsibility Scholarship, 2021
• Outstanding Postgraduate Leader Award, 2020
• Scholarship of Academic Excellence, 2017-2022
• Award of Honor for Undergraduate, 2015
• China National Scholarship, 2015
• Outstanding Undergraduate Leader Award, 2014
• President Scholarship, 2014

Undergraduate(UG) Modules:

1. ENT102TC Entrepreneurship Concepts and Practice, Module Leader

(AY22/23, 483 students; AY23/24, 476 students)

2. ENT203TC Leadership and Communication, Co-teacher

(AY22/23, 358 students; AY23/24, 456 students)

3. ENT301TC Capstone Project/FYP, Co-teacher

(AY22/23, 17 students; AY23/24, 33 students; AY24/25, 30 students)

Innovative/Curriculum-Reform UG Modules 

1. MFE304TC Haier Rendanheyi Management Model, Core developer

(AY22/23, 11 students; AY23/24, 13 students)

2. ENT103TC Creative Innovator’s Toolkit, Co-teacher

(AY24/25, 824 students)

3. ENT105TC Strategic Intelligence, Co-teacher

(AY24/25, 824 students)

4. ENT207TC Digital Startup Lab, Co-teacher

(AY25/26, 763 students)

Postgraduate(PG) Modules

1. ENT401TC Research Methods for Entrepreneurs, Guest Lecturer

(AY22/23, 123 MSc students)

Executive-level or Non-Degree Teaching

1. Organizational Behavior, Module leader (Executive Course)

(AY24/25, 142 managers from Suzhou Metro)

2. Chinese Enterprises in the Digital Era, Module leader

(AY24/25, 15 visiting EMBA/MBA students from RMIT University)

3. Consumer Behavior & Brand Building, Module leader (Short Course)

(AY24/25, 36 Summer School students)

4. Global Entrepreneurship, Module leader (Short Course)

(AY23/24, 57 Summer School students)

* Unique Teaching Innovation: Entrepreneurial Gamification Pedagogy