SPEAKER: Lin Cui, Professor of Strategy and International Business, Australian National University

TIME/DATE: 2026.10.22  10:00

CLASSROOM: A510

ABSTRACT

Geopolitical tensions are reshaping international business. This seminar begins with an overview of my research in this area, organized around three streams: geopolitical disruption as a revealing context for theory, firms’ strategic responses, and the perspective of third countries. It then focuses on a recent study of nationalist corporate communication. Research on geopolitical risk has centered on operational responses, yet investors often react before operations can adjust. Drawing on strategic framing theory, we argue that nationalist replies to investors’ concerns calm markets through cognitive and emotional resonance. Using public investor–firm Q&A on Chinese stock exchange platforms during the China–U.S. trade war, we find that nationalist replies raise short-term stock returns for exposed firms, less so where analyst coverage is high and more so when investors themselves voice nationalist sentiment. However, the effect fades quickly and lasts only when real investment backs it.

GUEST BIO

Lin Cui is a professor in the field of strategy and international business at the Research School of Management, Australian National University. His research focuses on international business strategy and business innovation and entrepreneurship, and his recent work examines how the institutional environment, business networks and governance structures, firm resources, and strategic leadership shape firm strategy and performance. Major competitive research grant schemes have funded his research, and his papers have appeared in well-known academic journals such as the Journal of International Business Studies, the Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, the Journal of Operations Management, and others. Lin acts as an associate editor for the Journal of Management Studies, is a senior editor of the International Business Review, and also serves on the editorial boards of other prominent scholarly journals.