Dr Mengyi Xu

Background

Mengyi Xu is a Lecturer in Human Resource Management & Employment Relations, as well as the Course Director for the MSc Management and Human Resource Management program at Cranfield School of Management. She holds a PhD in Human Resource Management & Industrial Relations from Keele University, as well as a CIPD-accredited MA in Human Resource Management, a PGcert in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, and a BSc in Public Administration.

Before joining Cranfield, Mengyi held positions as a Lecturer in HRM & Organisational Behaviour at Anglia Ruskin University, a Graduate Teaching Assistant in HRM at Keele University, and a Researcher at the University of Wolverhampton. She also has professional experience in various roles in the UK and China, primarily in HR, as well as in bilingual teaching, events presenting, journalism, and other areas.

Mengyi worked as PI, Co-I and researcher in a range of work, organisation and HRM research and consultancy projects funded by the British Academy of Management, Forces in Mind Trust, the UK local government and Brizian Civil Service. 

Mengyi is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and possesses a broad portfolio of teaching and supervision expertise in HRM, Employment Relations, and Organisational Behaviour at different levels of higher education, including Undergraduate, Master, and MBA. She used to be nominated/awarded "Teaching Excellence Award" and "Outstanding Personal Tutorship".

Research opportunities

Mengyi is currently supervising DBA programme on the topic of 'the impact of Intelligent Agents on effective Algorithmic Management implementation'. Prior to Cranfield, she supervised PhD and DBA students in the areas of HRM, work and organisation, such as 'Work-life Balance in the UK Higher Education', and 'Employee and Organisational Behaviour in the United Arab Emirates'.

Mengyi is accepting PhD/DBA students who are interested in her research expertise below, using quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods. Students are also welcome to propose their own topics. Please send an email with your CV and research proposal for further discussion. Please get in touch if you are interested in pursuing research collaborations in these areas.

Current activities

Mengyi’s research interests lie in the field of Work-Life Balance, Hybrid working, and the Future of Work. She uses mixed methods, qualitative, and quantitative research designs in her research. Her work has been presented at major national and international peer-reviewed conferences and published in academic journals. Her recent research project and work particularly consider:

• Work-life boundary management in the context of hybrid working
• Work-life balance perceptions and management in emerging economies; 
• Work-life balance for solo-living employees
• The application of AI in HRM
• Skill Development

Mengyi teaches HRM, Employment Relations and Research Methods for MSc, MBA and Executive MBA programmes at Cranfield. Her teaching is infused with insights from her research, and consultancy as well as her international experience in the west and east. She is passionate about helping students to see the real-world implications of classroom theories and achieve their professional goals.

Mengyi also holds the following roles:

• External examiner on MSc HRM and BSc HRM courses at Teesside and De Montfort University. 
• Council member of the British Academy of Management, Events Officer & Committee member in HRM SIG.
• Working member in Events, Publicity, and External Liaison at the Association of British Chinese Professors. 
• Member of the Academy of Management
• Member of Work-Family Researcher Network
• Member of Network for Research into Chinese Education Mobility
• Member of Aurora Female Leadership Network

Clients

Mengyi has consultancy experiences in a wide range of Work, Organisation and HRM fields, for example:

• “Open Innovation project: working with local stakeholders to create equal opportunities in Essex”, Essex County Council.
• "Using human resource data to better manage the health of public sector workers", Oxentia Global Innovation Consultancy.
• "Improving Life Skills in the UK Armed Forces", QinetiQ

Publications

• Articles in journals
• Conference papers
• Books