Professor Wei Shi, associate professor in management, was recently named the Cesarano Scholar in Management, a designation recognizing Shi’s exceptional research contributions to Miami Herbert and to the academic community.
After only four years following his Ph.D. at Rice University, Shi was awarded tenure in part because of his remarkable scholarly performance—he has already published over eleven articles in the world’s top journals with numerous others in the pipeline. This, of course, does not include all his other publications.
Normally, the path to tenure is a lengthy process that usually begins six to seven years after receiving a doctorate’s degree, and, in addition to several evaluations and surveys, requires published research in top business journals, which on average have a 5 percent or less acceptance rate.
“I guess you can say, I’m lucky because of the number of times I’ve been published,” Shi said. “But it’s not only luck, it’s also hard work and dedication.”
Shi’s research focuses on how managers make decisions, and how a firm’s ownership structure can influence the decisions made by firms, and, consequently, influence employees and customers.
“There are costs associated with anything that brings a company benefits,” he said. “When I was looking for a research topic, I came across a lot of research that talked about the benefits of having big institutional investors, so I decided to begin researching the downside of this type of organizational structure.”
Shi considered two professions while completing his MBA—consultant and professor—professions that would allow him to capitalize on his strengths. He ultimately decided to pursue a career in higher education because a consultant’s intensive traveling schedule was not something that appealed to him.
When asked what makes him get up out of bed every morning, without hesitation he said, “My students, colleagues and co-authors.”
“I really enjoy what I do—conducting research and teaching,” he continued. “And I enjoy doing it at Miami Herbert. Again, I find myself lucky because I enjoy my profession so much.”
His teaching performance at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels has also been outstanding, according to Linda Neider, Chair of the University’s Faculty Senate, and Chair and professor of management at Miami Herbert.
“Professor Shi’s high level of achievement, motivation, enthusiasm for sharing knowledge with our students, and his adept ability to collaborate with others, makes him an outstanding academic and role model,” said Neider. “There is no doubt in my mind that in the years ahead, he will build the type of international renown that his mentor and our colleague, Professor Yadong Luo, the Emery M. Findley Distinguished Chair, has attained in the field of strategic management and international business. All of us in the Department of Management applaud Wei’s accomplishments, and look forward to working with him in the years ahead.”
