Dr. Xu Li (李旭) is an Assistant Professor of Management at the London School of Economics. Xu’s research lies at the intersection of organizational theory and strategy.

Building on literatures in institutional theory and technological change, his ongoing projects explore two fundamental questions. First, he studies the performance impact of innovation with a specific focus on when innovation, due to institutional forces, is less useful or even detrimental to firm or individual performance. Second, he investigates sources of heterogeneity in firm or individual creativity, especially when it concerns “norm violation”. Xu adopts mixed methods in research designs, utilizing not only quantitative analysis of archival or experimental data, but also qualitative evidence from field observations and interviews with industry insiders.

Xu received his PhD in Strategy and Entrepreneurship from the London Business School, and holds an MS in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, an MS in Engineering Management Systems from Columbia University, and a BS in Biological Sciences from Peking University.

Organisational Behaviour Research Group