Dr Rebecca Yu Li
Senior Lecturer in Strategy and Management

Research Interests

Rebecca’s research is centred on one core question: how do organisations govern innovation responsibly when innovation does not deliver value as expected? Her work examines what happens when innovation projects fail or are abandoned, when emerging technologies create governance risks, and when sustainability or social innovation generates contested economic, social or environmental outcomes.

She develops a critical and capability-based perspective on innovation. Rather than treating innovation as automatically beneficial, her research examines how firms manage the risks, failures and unintended consequences of innovation, and how they learn, recover and rebuild capabilities under technological, regulatory, resource and institutional constraints.

Empirically, Rebecca’s research examines settings where innovation value is especially uncertain or contested. These include blockchain adoption and governance, AI-enabled digital transformation, carbon markets and sustainability innovation, social innovation, cross-border knowledge transfer, and innovation in resource-constrained firms and SMEs. Across these settings, her work explains how organisations mobilise networks, navigate regulation, manage emerging technologies and create more responsible forms of value.

Rebecca welcomes enquiries from prospective PhD students, research collaborators and industry partners interested in innovation failure and recovery, responsible governance of emerging technologies, blockchain and AI adoption, carbon-market and sustainability innovation, social innovation, cross-border knowledge transfer, and innovation capability building.

Research Talks, Engagement and Recognition

2026 August Presenter "When the App Becomes the Boss: Algorithmic Control and Unequal Capabilities in the Bangladeshi Food Delivery Sector", Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, USA (Upcoming).

2026 July "When Social Value Falls Short: Dual Aspiration Shortfalls and Proactive Social Innovation in Social Enterprises"selected for Journal of Product Innovation Management Paper Development Workshop, Warwick Business School, UK (Upcoming).

2026 June Invited speaker, PRME UK & Ireland Chapter Conference,  University of Bath School of Management, 2026 (upcoming).

2026 June Research seminar speaker, “From Social Innovation Orientation to Realised Socio-Economic Network Contribution: A Capability-Based Paradox Perspective,” SEM Research Symposium, Innovation, AI and Technology Management Session, Brunel Business School.

2026 May Organiser, PhD Mini-Symposium on Digital Innovation, Sustainability and Governance, Brunel University of London.

2026 April Invited research seminar speaker, “Blockchain Adoption in Emerging Markets: The Role of Institutional Pressure, Cultural Acceptance and Resource Slack in Driving Innovation,” Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

2026 January Invited policy research talk, “Who Really Benefits from AI? Shared Gains and Individual Resilience,” Bridging Borders: Cultural Experiences, Community Resilience and Future Partnerships Roundtable Conference, Brunel University of London and University of South-Eastern Norway.

2017 Best Paper Award, SYSBS International Symposium on Frontier Management Research, Guangzhou, China.

Grants