Christopher Marquis

Sinyi Professor of Chinese Management

Fellow and Director of Studies at Jesus College

BA (University of Notre Dame), MA, MBA (University of Pittsburgh), MA, PhD (University of Michigan)

My research examines business sustainability, social entrepreneurship and historical processes and I am focused on how academic research can help people around the world address some of the biggest crises of our day – including climate change, inequality and discrimination.

I’m a member of the Strategy and International Business subject group at Cambridge Judge Business School, and along with my colleagues I actively contribute to both academic and business communities.

Professional experience

Professor Marquis’ research and teaching focus on how some of the biggest crises of our day – including climate change, inequality, and discrimination – are intimately connected to how our current economic and societal systems prioritise accumulating and concentrating wealth for the few over the concerns and needs of everyone and everything else. His research and writing focus on the need to rebalance the interactions between corporations, governments, and civil society to deliver socially and environmentally beneficial outcomes to all.

Marquis is the author of The Profiteers: How Business Privatizes Profits and Socialize Costs. His earlier books include the award-winning Better Business: How the B Corp Movement is Remaking Capitalism and Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise, which was a Financial Times Best Book of 2022. He has also authored more than 20 peer-reviewed academic articles and more than 50 Harvard business cases on topics related to social innovation, sustainable business and doing business in China.

Professor Marquis served 2 terms as an Associate Editor at Administrative Science Quarterly and has also been a Senior Editor at Organization Science and Management and Organization Review. He has also served a term as Representative at Large for the International Association for Chinese Management Research (IACMR) and Organization and Management Theory Division, Academy of Management.

Before returning to academia, Marquis was a Vice President and Technology Manager at JP Morgan Chase. He currently is on the sustainability advisory board of the French multinational Sanofi Consumer Healthcare.

Previous appointments

Professor Marquis was previously the Samuel C Johnson Professor in Sustainable Global Enterprise and Professor of Management and Organizations, SC Johnson College of Business. Before his six years at Cornell, he spent 10 years as an Assistant and Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Professor Marquis also spent a year and a half at Harvard Kennedy School as a Professor of Social Innovation and Public Policy and he is currently a Faculty Affiliate at the Harvard Kennedy School Social Innovation and Change Initiative, and the Harvard University Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.

Publications

Selected publications

Journal articles

Books, monographs, reports and case studies

  • Marquis, C. and Qiao, K. (2023) Mao and markets: the Communist roots of Chinese enterprise. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
  • Marquis, C. (2020) Better business: how the B corp movement is remaking capitalism. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

Awards and honours

  • One of the Financial Times “Best books of 2022: Economics” (for Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise, co-authored by Kunyuan Qiao), 2022
  • Winner, Responsible Research in Management Award, Community for Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM), 2021
  • Gold Medal(Business Ethics Category), Axiom Business Book Awards, 2021
  • Finalist, Best Business Book, Porchlight Books, 2020
  • Runner-up, Best Book (Management & Workplace Culture category), Porchlight Books, 2020
  • Finalist, Responsible Research in Management Award, Community for Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM), 2019
  • International Educator Award, State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs, Government of China, 2018
  • Emerald Citation of Excellence Award (for Marquis and Qian (2014)), Organization Science, 2017
  • Finalist, Aspen Institute Faculty Pioneer Award, 2013
  • Finalist, Aspen Institute Faculty Pioneer Award, 2010
  • Academy of Management, William H Newman Award for best paper based on a dissertation, 2006
  • Academy of Management, OMT Division, Louis R Pondy Award for best paper based on a dissertation, 2006
  • State Farm Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Award, 2004
  • Finalist, INFORMS/Organization Science Dissertation Proposal Competition, 2004
  • American Sociological Association, OOW Division, James D Thompson Award for best graduate student paper, 2003

News and insights

Sustainable agriculture.

Regeneration techniques can improve systems and replenish the earth’s resources, but better terminology is needed to prevent greenwashing by firms, says Professor Christopher Marquis in research outlined in Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Person looking at shopping receipt.

Companies enjoy a free lunch by passing along huge costs including climate change to citizens, argues Professor Christopher Marquis in his new book ‘The Profiteers’.

Millennials (roughly those born between the early 1980s and mid 1990s) want more from work than just a salary, and they care deeply about the social values of companies they work for.

The B Corp movement is helping to shift the focus of capitalism from shareholders to all stakeholders: find out how Cambridge fits in.

Media coverage

NTD | 8 February 2023

Rethinking China’s rise, restraints, and resilience: Brooking Discussion

Christopher Marquis, Sinyi Professor of Chinese Management at Cambridge Judge Business School is featured in this article about the changes that China has undergone over the past forty years.

Forbes | 27 January 2023

Regeneration – one small step at a time

Christopher Marquis, Sinyii Professor of Chinese Management, is mentioned in this article for interviewing Anna Yona, co-founder of Wilding Shoes.

PR Newswire | 17 January 2023

Life’s good award winners present warm-hearted tech solutions for a better future

Christopher Marquis, Sinyii Professor of Chinese Management, is mentioned in this article about Life’s Good award winners.

Financial Times, 28 December 2022
The books to read in 2023

Financial Times, 23 November 2022
Best books of 2022 – Economics

YouTube, 17 November 2022
Christopher Marquis – Is China Still a Communist Country? – The Realignment Podcast

BNN Bloomberg, 14 November 2022
Global banks are quietly cutting China jobs as big bang fizzles

New York Times, 22 October 2022
China’s Communist Party Congress – For his 3rd term, Xi Jinping surrounds himself with Loyalists

BBC News Mundo, 21 October 2022
Why Xi Jinping is not a new Mao Zedong (nor does he seek to be)

Financial Times, 20 October 2022
Beijing’s pivot from market reforms sparks viral debate on economic agenda

YouTube (Yahoo Finance), 18 October 2022
China’s economy won’t be ‘going up anytime soon,’ professor says

Harvard Business Review, 12 October 2022
The Chinese market is more than just its urban centres

The New York Times, 7 October 2022
Xi Jinping is the second coming of Mao Zedong

European Business Magazine, 6 September 2022
LG’s first-ever ‘Life’s Good Award’ to uncover new innovations for a better life for all

SupChina, 17 August 2022
How companies are dealing with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

Forbes Brasil, 14 August 2022
What is the true cost of the food that goes to the plate?

SupChina, 3 August 2022
Impact investing with Chinese characteristics

Forbes, 17 July 2022
Understand the future of energy that passes through algae as food (transl.)

SupChina, 14 July 2022
US midterm elections and China policy

SupChina, 29 June 2022
Utah’s surprising success in China

SupChina, 15 June 2022
How Western companies are dealing with China’s corporate laws

The Times, 11 June 2022
TikTok workers burn out trying to match Chinese

SupChina, 1 June 2022
How Western companies are dealing with China’s data security laws

SupChina, 20 April 2022
Business and personal relations in China with Robert Fisch

China Daily, 19 April 2022
Shared passions can fire up trade links

SupChina, 6 April 2022
Decarbonising China with Giuliana Auinger

SupChina, 23 March 2022
On the “greening” of China, the plant-based sector, and media activism: eco-activist Sonalie Figueiras of Green Queen

SupChina, 11 March 2022
The state of China’s electric vehicle market with Robert Yu

Forbes, 10 March 2022
Responsible and resilient – Intrepid Travel shows doing good is also good for business

Cambridge Independent, 24 February 2022
Sinyi role at Cambridge Judge Business School for Chris Marquis

Financial Times, 19 January 2022
Responsible Business Education Awards: full shortlists

Forbes, 13 January 2022
Fors Marsh Group takes a data-driven approach to help build consumer awareness of social impact

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