Dr. Zhao Xiande is JD.COM Chair Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management, Associate Dean (Shenzhen Campus), Director of CEIBS Institute of Supply Chain Innovations, and Director of CEIBS-ZKH Centre for Innovation in Supply Chains and Services. Prior to joining CEIBS in January 2013, he was Professor of Operations Management in the Department of Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics, Director of the Centre of Supply Chain Management/Logistics, and Director of Li & Fung Institute of Supply Chain Management/Logistics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2005 to 2012).

Dr. Zhao has held academic and administrative positions at a number of universities over the past 30 years. He has served as an assistant and associate professor at City University of Hong Kong, Hampton University and University of Utah. Additionally, he has also held joint appointment as honoured professor or visiting professor at Fudan University, Xi’an Jiao Tong University, Wuhan University, Nankai University and Tianjin University. 

Professor Zhao received his Ph.D. in Business Administration with a major in Operations Management and a minor in International Business from the University of Utah in the USA. He also received his MBA and MSc in Chemistry from the same University and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Nankai University in China.

Professor Zhao’s expertise is in the areas of Supply Chain Integration and Innovation, Servitization of Manufacturing, Network Platforms Service Innovation and Design, Digitalization, Globalization, and Decarbonization of the Supply Chain. As one of the pioneers of the empirical research in the field of supply chain management, he has been recognized by well-known institutions as the most academically influential scholar in the field of supply chain management in Asia.

In recent years, Professor Zhao has published seven influential books: Digital Supply Chain in Practice: Driving Business Model Innovation and Enterprise Transformation, Digital Innovation in Retail Supply Chain, Blockchain Enabled Supply Chain, Synergism: Selective Cases on Supply Chain and Business Model Innovation, Platform-Based Business Model Innovation and Service Design, Global Supply Chain Quality Management, and Global Supply Chain Quality Management: Product Recalls and Their Impact (English). He has also published over 200 journal articles in leading journals including Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Journal of Consumer Research, European Journal of Operations Research, International Journal of Production Research, and International Journal of Production Economics. He has been recognized as the World’s Most Cited Chinese Researchers published by Elsevier (2014-2025) for 12 consecutive years. He has also received more than 10 academic honors including Jack Meredith Best Paper Award from Journal of Operations Management, the best journal in the area of operations management in the world (2015), The Research Excellence Award from CEIBS (2015 & 2016) ,12th Zhong Jiaqing Operational Research Award (2018), CEIBS Medal for Research Excellence (2023), and CEIBS 30th Anniversary Outstanding Faculty Contribution Award (2024). He was awarded the designation of Fellow by the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI, 2020) and Association of Supply Chain and Operations Management (ASCOM, 2020). He has been listed among Stanford University's "Global Top 2% Scientists" for two consecutive years (2024 & 2025). He is also recognized as a Highly Ranked Scholar - Lifetime in the field of Industrial Management, according to the ScholarGPS 2025 ranking of the world's top 0.05% scholars.

Professor Zhao has also authored nearly 30 teaching cases focusing on Chinese enterprises, which have been included in internationally renowned case libraries such as Harvard, Ivey, and CEIBS. Many of his teaching cases have won Best Case Award of Ivey School of Business in Production and Operation Management, the Case Writing Award from Indiana University’s International Business Education and Research Center, the Best Case Nomination from CEIBS case writing competition, and awards from National Top 100 Excellent Management Cases. 

In addition to academic papers and teaching cases, Professor Zhao has also conducted numerous research projects on various specific issues related to supply chain innovation, funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Hong Kong Research Grant Council. He has also provided training and consulting services for companies including JD.com, Hair, CATL, EVE Energy, COMAC, SAIC Volkswagen Automotive, Chongqing Changan Automobile Company, Castrol, COFCO, Guangdong Haid Group, J&J (Xi’an), Port Dalian, Ping An Bank, China Construction Bank, China Merchants Bank, Shenzhen SJET supply chain co.,ltd., Sinopharm Group Co. Ltd, China Mobile, China Telecom, DHL, Japan Airlines, Nin Jiom, GSK, Towngas, Kerry Properties, Guang Zhou Steel Group, Elanco Animal Health, Mixue, Yifeng Pharmacy, Rainbow Digital Commercial, BBK Electronics, etc. 

Professor Zhao’s social roles include Founder and Honorary President of the Association of Supply Chain and Operations Management (ASCOM), Academic Leader of the International Alliance of Industry Chain (IAIC), Founding President of the International Association for Information and Management Science (IMS), and former President of the Asia Pacific Institute of Decision Sciences (APDSI), among others. At CEIBS, he has established the CEIBS-ZKH Centre for Innovation in Supply Chains and Services and the CEIBS Institute of Supply Chain Innovation to conduct industry-academia-research collaboration and knowledge dissemination activities based on the practical issues of alumni enterprises. He is also the Associate Editor and Special Issue Editor of Journal of Operations Management, the Associate Editor of Journal of Decision Sciences, the Senior Editor of Production and Operations Management, and the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Data, Information, and Management.