Conference Chair:

Professor Kwaku Atuahene-Gima (kwaku@ceibs.edu; 8621-2890-5641)

Kwaku Atuahene-Gima is Professor of Marketing & Innovation Management at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), where he is also the Director of the Center for Marketing & Innovation. He is a part-time Chair in Marketing at Aston Business School and an Honorary Professor of Remin University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wollongong. He was Professor of Innovation Management & Marketing, head of the Department of Management (1996 -1999), founder and Director of the Center for Innovation Management and Organizational Change at the City University of Hong Kong. Prior to academia he held executive positions in product development, distribution, marketing and materials management in the pharmaceutical industry with Wellcome (Australia) Ltd for several years.

Kwaku has been recognized worldwide for his creative and path-breaking contributions to marketing and innovation knowledge. Several studies rank him consistently among the top marketing/innovation management scholars in the world. A recent ranking placed him as number 4 among the top 1,179 innovation management scholars worldwide. His research focuses on assisting firms to improve in the following key areas: excel in customer-centric R&D management, build innovation as an organizational competency, develop and sustain market-oriented capability, manage new product development processes, and develop and implement innovative marketing strategies. An award-winning author, Kwaku's work has been published in leading academic journals such as Journal of Marketing, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, and others. His work has also appeared leading practitioner journals such as R&D - Technology Management and in the Best Paper proceedings of the Academy of Management.