Xun (Brian) Wu

Xun (Brian) Wu is a Professor of Strategy at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He received his B.S. from Tsinghua University in China, M.Sc. from National University of Singapore, and Ph.D. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

His research examines the dynamics of corporate scope and the evolution of industries. His research has been published or is forthcoming in top scholarly journals including Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Annals, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, Journal of Organization Design, Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, and Strategic Management Journal. He served as an Associate Editor for Strategic Management Journal (2015-20) and an Associate Editor for Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal (2020-22), and is currently serving as a Co-Editor-in-Chief for Journal of Organization Design. He served as a Co-Editor for the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal Special Issue on “Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies” (2017-19), and is currently serving as a Co-Editor for the Strategic Management Journal Special Issue on “Resource Allocation and Strategic Management,” and the Journal of Organization Design Special Issues on “Organizing for Good” and "Maverick Organization Design in Practice: An Examination of Its Appeal, Risk, and Effective Implementation.”

An avid contributor to the community, he has served in a variety of professional association roles. He was appointed to the Research Committee (2010-12) and elected to the Executive Committee (2013-15) of the Business Policy and Strategy (BPS) Division of the Academy of Management (AOM). He was also elected as a Representative-at-Large for the Behavioral Strategy Interest Group and the Corporate Strategy Interest Group (2014-16) of the Strategic Management Society (SMS) and the Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) Division Executive Committee (2015-17) of AOM. He co-organized the Doctoral Consortium of the BPS Division of AOM (2014-16), chaired SMS Conference Theme Track A in 2019, and co-organized SMS Special Conference (Hangzhou, China) in 2020. In addition, he worked as a co-organizer, chair, panelist, or discussant for numerous AOM and SMS events. He served as one of the three Management Committee members (2016-18) for Chinese Management Scholars Community (CMSC) (~600 members), and is currently serving on the board of directors (non-voting) of Organizational Design Community (ODC) (~500 members). He served as the Faculty Director for Ross China Initiatives (2015-23), and was elected to the Executive Committee of Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies at University of Michigan (2023-25). Most recently, he was elected to a five-year leadership role, from Assistant Program Chair to Division Chair, at the Strategic Management Division (~5,500 members worldwide) of Academy of Management, 2022-26.

He has consulted and conducted executive sessions for companies such as 3M, Amazon, American Industrial Partners, Bank Mandiri of Indonesia, Cargill, China Development Bank, China Telecom Americas, Denso, Didi, Ford, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Masco, Microsoft, Medtronic, Nexteer, Munich Re, People’s Insurance Company of China, and Saudi Telecom Company. He served as a strategic advisor for Didi Inc, and on the Academic Committee of Alibaba Group Research Institute. 

He has been recognized with the US Small Business Administration Best Student Paper Award, AOM Technology and Innovation Management Division Stephan Schrader Best Conference Paper Award, Academy of Management BPS Division Distinguished Paper Award, SMJ Best Video Abstract Award, SMS CSIG Best Proposal Award for Rigor in Research, Neary PhD Teaching Excellence Award, 3M Nontenured Faculty Award, Michael R. and Mary Kay Hallman Fellow, Sanford R. Robertson Professorship (school-wide junior faculty award that recognizes career achievement and outstanding performance in research and teaching). His course, Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate Development, was one of the Top 10 Most Popular Courses of Full-Time MBA Students at Michigan Ross. He was recognized as one of Poets & Quants' best 40 business school professors under 40 in the world in 2016 and as Ross Researcher of the Year in 2021.