I forwent my many years of student life, became an academic, and joined the faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University in July 2020. Among other degrees and diplomas, I earned my Ph.D. at the University of Alberta in Strategic Management & Organization and a Master of Environmental Management at Yale ...
I forwent my many years of student life, became an academic, and joined the faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University in July 2020. Among other degrees and diplomas, I earned my Ph.D. at the University of Alberta in Strategic Management & Organization and a Master of Environmental Management at Yale University. From 2009 to 2015, I worked with The Forest Trust (now Earthworm Foundation), American Friends Service Committee, Heinrich Böll Foundation, and Global Environmental Institute in managerial and consultancy roles, following a student internship stint at World Resources Institute's Washington, D.C. headquarters in 2008. I have lived, studied, and worked in Cambodia, Canada, China, Laos, and the United States.
My academic portfolio centers on societal impact-oriented innovations in business practice and management theory. I teach Strategic Management, International Business, and Entrepreneurship and have engaged in broader humanities and social sciences research. My scholarship on Certified B Corporations and Benefit Corporations (commonly known as B Corps), presented at a set of frontline entrepreneurship, management, B Corps research outlets and in public discourse, has added to scholarly and public understanding and can be considered trailblazing and internationally leading.
In a separate line of research, armed with hubris, I have been trying to break new ground in enhancing the capacity and salience of management theory, a tall order primarily undertaken by eminently established and retired academic colleagues. Last, motivated by the dearth of quality China-themed scholarship, I have been building a research pipeline in this area.
Formal brief biography:
Ke Cao, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Strategic Management at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Lazaridis School of Business & Economics. He studies and teaches contemporary administrative sciences and has received awards and honours from the University of Alberta, Wilfrid Laurier University, Yale University, Lazaridis Institute, China Scholarship Council, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canada, Responsible Research in Business & Management (RRBM) network, Academy of Management, International Association for Chinese Management Research (IACMR), and Academy of International Business.
Here are the slides for a brief introduction about myself and my academic portfolio at the January 2023 Lazaridis Business Faculty Council.
My research program centers on advancing contemporary administrative sciences and modernizing management theory. To this end, I pursue scholarship that is more contextual, integrative, robust, and responsive to societal needs. My broad research interests include: How do organizations work? How can businesses contribute to societal welfare? How can management scholarship help build a better society?
In other words, sitting on the well-decorated business school floor of the academic ivory tower, I work to alleviate and prevent human suffering through my scholarship as a champagne socialist (referencing Canadian rock band Arkells).
Below are some ongoing projects. It takes time to generate, develop, and formulate good academic ideas, stylish and not too stylized. I am energized by the inquiry and optimistic about the output in the coming years and decades before I retire at old age, like His Majesty King Charles of Canada, who plays a ceremonial but crucial role, remotely, multitasking, in the function of three branches of the government, in addition to answering daily prayers and acknowledging pledges of allegiance across Canada, and Their Excellencies the Honourable Presidents of the United States Trump and Biden, who both are credited as liberators of the freedom-yearning American people and leaders of the free world. In April 2022, I predicted a regime-change bravado and an epic 2024 comeback win for President Trump, a generational political leader. The forecast was reaffirmed multiple times in writing and teaching. The deep state, the military-industrial complex, and the swamp have the money and power. President Trump has the people.
- Cao, Ke, Li Tong & Yongzhi Du. On management theory. - Cao, Ke. On China-related research. - Cao, Ke. On the B Corp movement. - Cao, Ke. On management theory. - Cao, Ke. On management education. - Cao, Ke. On sustainability-related issues in the palm oil industry. - On Chinese multinational businesses. With Pál Nyiri, VU Amsterdam. (Tried a grant application once and may try again) - Espahbod, Shervin (former doctoral student) & Ke Cao. Preparing a journal paper submission in the area of transportation and sustainability.