Professor Feng Li
Visiting Professor

  • Email: feng.li@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0)20 7040 0970
  • Address:
    Cass Business School, 106 Bunhill Row, London EC1Y 8TZ

Profile

After 10 years at Newcastle University as Chair of e-Business Development, Feng took up a new Chair at Cass Business School in London in January 2012.  He has retained a Visiting Professorship at Newcastle, and some of his research projects and RAs continue to be based here.   

Since the late 1980s, Feng’s research has centrally focused on using information & communications technologies (ICTs) to facilitate strategic innovation and organisational transformation across different sectors and domains. He is particularly interested in emerging strategies and business models, new organisational designs and new forms of inter-organisational relations in the digtal economy. He has worked closely with leading businesses in banking, telecom, manufacturing, retailing, the creative industries and the public sectors through Research, Consultancy and Senior Executive Development.  His work on internet banking, the evolving telecom value networks and business models, and sustainable business models for assisted living technologies and services were widely reported by the media, including the Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times, the BBC and Sky News, as well as many other online and offline publications.

During his time at Newcastle University, Feng generated significant external research fundings from the Research Councils (RCUK, ESRC, EPSRC), Technology Strategy Board (TSB), Wellcome Trust, NIHR, Department of Health (DoH), the EU, RDAs and other sources.  He was Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-Investigator (Co-I) on externally funded research projects totaling over £20 million.  He continues to collaborate with colleagues from across different Faculties at Newcastle through these projects. 

At the moment, Feng is also editing a four volume set (1600 pages) on E-Business: Critical Perspectives in Business and Management, under Routledge's Major Works Book Series, to be published in 2012.

Research Interests

Feng’s research focuses on using information & communications technologies (ICTs) to facilitate strategic innovations and organisational transformation across different sectors and domains. He is particularly interested in emerging strategies and business models, new organisational designs and new forms of inter-organisational relations enabled by information systems. He has worked closely with leading businesses in banking, telecom, manufacturing, retailing, the creative industries and the public sectors through Research, Consultancy and Senior Executive Development.

External Research Funding

Over the past 10 years, Feng has been a Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-Investigator (Co-I) on externally funded research projects totalling over £20 million.  Below are some of his current and recent research projects:

  • SALT - Designing Scalable Assistive Technologies and Services for Independent Healthy Living and Sustainable Market Development in the Mixed Digital Economy. [Funded by Technology Strategy Board (TSB), ESRC and NIHR under the ALIP3 Programme: Assisted Living: Economic and Business Models, and Social & Behavioural Studies (2010-2014), £2 million. Principal Investigator (PI) and Project Leader: Professor Feng Li]
  • RCUK Digital Economy Research Hub: Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy (SiDE). [Funded by the Research Councils UK (RCUK) for £12.6 million over 5 years (2009-2014). PI: Professor Paul Watson. Professor Feng Li is a Co-I and he leads the Business Theme in the Digital Hub]
  • LimbsAlive – Monitoring of Upper Limb Rehabilitation and Recovery after Stroke Through Gaming [Funded by Wellcome Trust/Department of Health (DoH) under Health Innovation Challenge Fund, £2 million, 2011-2014.  PI: Professor Janet Eyre.  Professor Feng Li is a Co-I and leads one of four work packages, focusing on developing sustainable business models and effective routes to market in tele-rehabilitation]
  • KTP Project with Business and Decisions Ltd [Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project with IT consulting company Business&Decisions. Funded by TSB/ESRC. £126,000, 2011-2013. Principal Investigator (PI): Professor Feng Li]
  • Digital Originals. [Funded by Research Councils UK (RCUK), £203,326, 2011-2013, Digital economy Research in the Wild Competition. PI: Professor Mark Blythe. Feng Li is a Co-I]
  • New approaches to banking for the older old. [Funded by Research Councils UK, Digital Economy Programme (2010-2012), Total funding:£240,023. PIs: Professor Andrew Monk (University of York) and Professor Patrick Olivier (Newcastle University). Feng is a Co-I]
  • Economics-Inspired Instant Trust Mechanisms for the Service Provision Industry [Funded by EPSRC, £163,248, jointly with Dr Dr Aad van Moorsel (PI), School of Computing, 2008-2009]
  • Identifying and promoting sustainable business models in creative industries [ESRC. Total funding £262,678. Feng Li (PI) with Dr Sally Jane Norman, Joanna Berry, David Butler and Judy Seymour, 2007-2008].
  • ImportNET - Intelligent modular Platform for intercultural and crossdomain Business Network [2006-2009. EU FP6 Integrated Project. Total funding 2.2 million euros, our share 355,239 Euros; with Ron Jamieson of RCID and Dr Joan Harvey of Psychology]
  • Developing and Implementing an E-Business System in a Medical Supply Group [2005-2007, KTP project, £99,044; Feng Li (PI) with Dr Savvas Papagiannidis]
  • Metaverse and Virtual World: Development of the E-Business Virtual Island in SecondLife [2005 – now, with Dr Savvas Papagiannidis, funded through various external incomes]
  • Exploitation of North-East Region Digital Technology Strengths [2003-2004. Joint research and consultancy project with Ovum (London) and funded by One NorthEast through Codeworks; £120,000 + expenses]
  • Development and Implementation of the Online Resource Portal for British Academy of Management (BAM) [2006, £17,625, with Dr Savvas Papagiannidis]
  • Work Related Learning - from modern apprentice to graduate and beyond [2002-2003, funded by Tyne & Wear LSC under European Single Framework; Total project £180,000, my share £10,000]

Funded Research Associates (RAs)

The following Research Associates (RA) are current working under Professor Feng Li's direction on externally funded research projects.  

  • Dr Malgorzta Ciesiekaska (PhD, Copenhagen Business School) - RA for SiDE Project 
  • Dr Kostas Giannaoutakis (PhD, Imperial College) - RA for SiDE Project
  • Dr Zilia Iskoujina (PhD, Durham Business School) - RA for SiDE Project 
  • Suzana Janackova - KTP Associate with B&D
  • Dr Festus Oderanti (PhD, Heriot-Watt University) - RA for SALT project
  • Daniel Martin - Project Manager for SALT project
  • Post-doctoral RA for LimbsAlive - to be appointed

Postgraduate Supervision and Examination

Successful Completions 
  • Dr Shahizan Hassan - Measuring web usability (Now Professor in Malaysia)
  • Dr Alexis Barlow - e-Supply Chain & Network (Lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University)
  • Dr Rahim Ghasemiyeh - ICTs & Organisational Transformation (Professor and PVC in Iran)
  • Dr Irene Sellars - e-Business Models in Banking & Supermarkets (Business Consultant at KPMG)
  • Dr Savvas Papagiannidis - e-Entrepreneurship (Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University)
  • Dr Michael Conyette - e-Tourism (Entrepreneur in Canada), jointly supervised with Prof. Michel Polski at Grenoble, France
  • Dr Maggie Jing Zeng - e-Supply Chain (Lecturer at University of Gloucestershire), Jointly supervised with Professor Michael Boulakis of Kent University
  • Dr Joanna Berry - e-Music value networks & e-Business models (Lecturer at Newcastle University).
Doctoral External Examiner
  • Feng served as PhD/DBA external examiners at Durham, Leeds, Cardiff, Strathclyde, Brunel, Henley and Glasgow Caledonian Universities.

Projects