Dr Giles Blackburne

Dr Giles Blackburne

Profile

I am an Associate Professor of International Business at the Centre for International Business University of Leeds (CIBUL).

During my career I have worked both within and outside the HE sector. After graduatng in Chinese Studies at the Polytechnic of Central London in 1989, my first position in HE was as a lecturer in Chinese Politics & Economics at the University of Glasgow (1991-1994), and concurrently, as the director of the University’s Chinese Business Advisory Service. I then became manager of China-Britain Business Council’s Scotland office (www.cbbc.org) (1994-2001), where my responsibility was to provide advice to local companies on doing business with China.

I returned to the HE sector in 2001 in order to design and deliver a Chinese Studies programme at the University of Abertay Dundee. After fours years, I then re-joined China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) in 2005 in order to set up its office in Leeds, UK. During this spell at CBBC, I worked as a director responsible for CBBC’s ‘set-up services’, including its Launchpad business incubation scheme and later as an executive director responsible for China Outbound, a programme which encouraged Chinese investment into the UK.

Through part-time study (2010-2015), I completed a PhD in international business at the University of Leeds on the topic of business incubation as a method of foreign market entry. In 2017, I was appointed by Leeds University Business School as an Associate Professor of International Business (Education) and now teach international business at both undergraduate and post graduate level. I am also Executive Director of the University’s Business Confucius Institute, a joint project between the University of Leeds and the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

 

 

Responsibilities

  • Divisional Director of Student Education
  • Executive Director, Business Confucius Institute, University of Leeds

Research interests

Business incubation as a method of foreign market entry and its role in helping firms to overcome liabilities of foreignness; Chinese investment into the United Kingdom; research into the pedagogy of international business; international business pedagogy.

Recent outputs in the MNC Whispering series of International Business Video Cases include:

Voss, H. & Blackburne, G.D. 2021. Navigating Digital Transformation in Global Business - Cox Automotive. MNC whispering, 14 September 2021, YouTube, https://youtu.be/oYNLbjCX-vw

Blackburne, G.D. & Voss, H. 2021. Leveraging location choice to enhance global business success - Halifax Fan. MNC whispering, 14 September 2021, YouTube, https://youtu.be/rZVVAhVZS90

Vardar, N., Blackburne, G.D. & Voss, H. 2021. Customer-centric internationalization of a SME - Hydraulics Online. MNC whispering, 07 September 2021, YouTube, https://youtu.be/3DDORGZLiIE

 

 

Qualifications

  • PhD, International Business, University of Leeds
  • MBA, Open University Business School
  • MSc, International Agricultural Marketing, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
  • BA Hons, Chinese Studies, Polytechnic of Central London
  • PGCAP, University of Leeds

Professional memberships

  • Fellow of Higher Education Academy (HEA)
  • Academy of International Business
  • European International Business Academy

Student education

Dr Giles Blackburne teaches on a range of IB topics (e.g. Principles of International Business) . He also has experience in teaching topics relating to doing business in China and Chinese business culture.

Research groups and institutes

  • Centre for International Business at the University of Leeds