Contact
g.cao@ajman.ac.ae
06 705 5154
Ajman Campus
Guangming Cao

  • Guangming Cao

  • Professor
  • Ext: 5154
  • CV

Guangming Cao, BSc, MSc, PhD, is a Professor of Data Analytics and head of the Digital Transformation Research Center at Ajman University. He has taught in the UK, China, and the UAE. He is also a visiting professor at the Business and Management Research Institute (BMRI), Bedfordshire University, UK. He has supervised seven PhD and more than 60 MSc/MBA students to completion. His research interests mainly include how ICTs such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and social media affect organizational decision-making, capabilities, and performance. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles. He has published articles in journals such as European Journal of Operational Research, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Journal of Business Research, Technovation, Industrial Marketing Management, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Information Technology & People, International Journal of Management Review, Supply Chain Management, and Production Planning & Control. He won the IMM Best Paper Award 2023 for “Strategic use of social media in marketing and financial performance: The B2B SME context”. He serves as an Editorial Review Board Member with the International Journal of Information Management and Journal of Computer Information Systems. He has also consulted for several SMEs in the UK on digital analytics issues.

Education
  • PhD in Systems Thinking and Change Management, University of Luton, UK, 2001
  • MSc in Systems Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China, 1985
  • BSc in Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China, 1982
Experience
  • Professor of Data Analytics, College of Business Administration, Ajman University, UAE, 9/2020-now
  • Visiting Professor at the Business and Management Research Institute (BMRI), Bedfordshire University, UK, 10/2022-now
  • Head of Management Department, College of Business Administration, Ajman University, 1/2021-8/2021
  • Head of Digital Transformation Research Centre, Ajman University, 11/2020-date
  • Head of College Research Committee, College of Business Administration, Ajman University, 8/2020-/8/2021
  • Associate Professor of Data Analytics, College of Business Administration, Ajman University, UAE, 9/2019-8/2020
  • Chair of Business School Ethics Committee, University of Bedfordshire, 5/2017-8/2019
  • Principal Lecturer in Business Systems, Buisness School, University of Bedfordshire, UK, 2/2011-8/2019
  • Full-time MBA course director, Business School, Ulster University, UK, 8/2004-7/2009
  • Lecturer in Management, Business School, University of Ulster, UK, 9/2000-1/2011
  • PhD Research Student with a full PhD Scholarship, Business School, University of Luton, UK, 10/1996-8/2000
  • Visiting Fellow, Manchester Business School, UK, 10/1995-9/1996
  • Associate Dean of Management School, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China, 1993-1995
  • Associate Professor in Management, Management School, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China, 1992-1995
  • Director of joint Sino-British MBA programme, Management School, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China, 1991-1995
  • Dean Assistant, Management School, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China, 8/1991-7/1993
  • Lecturer in Management, Management Department, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China, 9/1988-4/1992
  • Head of Teaching and Research Group, Management Department, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China, 8/1988-7/1990
  • Visiting Scholar, Management School, Lancaster University, UK, 9/1987-8/1988
  • Assistant Lecturer in Management, Management Department, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China, 5/1985-8/1987
Teaching Area
  • Organizational Research Perspectives (DBA)
  • Buisness Research Methods (MBA)
  • Electronic commerce (BSC)
  • Project Management (BSC)
  • Business Research Methods (BSC)
Research
  • Artificial intelligence for organizational decision-making
  • Big data and business analytics
  • Marketing capabilities
  • Business value of information technology
  • Strategic IT alignment
  • Supply chain management
  • Systems thinking
  • IT-enabled change management
Publications
Conference Presentation
  • Cadden, C., Cao, G., Treacy, R., Yang, Y. and Onofrei, G. 2021. A Dynamic Capability Lens to Investigate Big Data Analytics and Supply Chain Agility: Antecedents and Outcomes. The 20th IFIP Conference e-Business, e-Services, and e-Society, Galway, Ireland, September 1-3.
  • Ali, A., Bentley, Y., and Cao, G. 2019. Collaboration for Sustainability: A study of UK food Supply Chain, presentation at the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) 2019 International Conference in Brighton, UK, 2-4 September 2019.
  • Duan, Y., Ramanathan, R. and Cao, G. 2019. A Systematic Literature Review on the Applications of Big Data Analytics – Identifying Influential Factors and Impact. 2019 Annual Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), Cancún, México August 15-17.
  • Bejhih, A., Cao, G., and Duan, Y. 2019. The Impact of Analytics 3.0 on the Product Quality from an R&D perspective: The Case of the Software Product Development. 30th European Conference on Operational Research, Dublin, Ireland, June 23-26.
  • Cao, G., Duan, Y. and Tian, N. 2019. Improving Strategic Decision-Making through the Use of Business Analytics: A Resource-Based View. 2019 International Conference on Information Resources Management, Auckland, New Zealand, May 27 – 29.
  • Cao, G., Duan, Y. and El Banna, A. 2018. The Impact of Marketing Analytics on Firm Competitiveness: A Dynamic Capability View. 2018 International Conference on Business and Information, July 6-8, 2018, Seoul, Korea.
  • Duan, Y, Ramanathan, R, Cao, G and Khilji, N. 2018. “Understanding the current research on the use and impact of big data analytics: a systematic literature review”. Big Data Analytics, Data Mining and Computational Intelligence (BigDaCI 2018) – Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (MCCSIS 2018) Proceedings. Madrid, Spain, 18-20 July 2018.
  • Cao, G., Duan, Y., El Banna, A. and Cadden, T. 2018. The Configurational Impact of Top Management Team Characteristics on Marketing Analytics Use in SME: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. The 11th International Conference on Information Resources Management, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, June 4-6, 2018
  • Bentley, Y., Minett-Smith, C., Cao. G. and Kofinas, A. 2018. Findings from the investigation of the Block Teaching of MSc Programmes at a UK Business School. 20th Annual International Conference on Education, 21-24 May 2018, Athens, Greece.
  • Ramanathan U. and Cao, G. 2017. Role of data analytics in supply chain collaborations. The Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) 2017 International Conference in Sydney, Australia, December 12-14, 2017
  • Cao, G., Duan, Y. and El Banna, A. 2017. Antecedents and Outcomes of Marketing Analytics: Evidence from UK Firms. The 23rd Americas Conference on Information Systems, Boston, MA, August 10-12, 2017.
  • Kika, C, Duan, Y. and Cao, G. 2017. The Use and Critical Success Factors of Learning Analytics: An Organisational Absorptive Capacity Analysis. The 23rd Americas Conference on Information Systems, Boston, MA, August 10-12, 2017.
  • Cao, G. and Duan, Y. 2017. Understanding Learning Analytics from an IT Affordance Perspective. The 21st Pacific-Asia Conference on Information Systems 2017, Langkawi Malaysia, 16-20 July, 2017.
  • Kofinas, A., Bentley, Y., Minett-Smith, C. and Cao. G. 2017. Block Teaching as the Basis for an Innovative Redesign of the PG Suite of Programmes in University of Bedfordshire Business School. 3rd International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd’17), Valencia, Spain, June 21 – 23, 2017.
  • Bentley, Y., Cao, G. and Bentley, R. 2017. Investigating the impact of change in oil price on global logistics and supply chain activities. The 24th EurOMA Conference, Edinburgh, 1st – 5th July, 2017.
  • Ali, A., Bentley, Y., and Cao, G. 2017. Environmental practices in UK food supply chains: Role of supplier collaboration. The Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) 28th Annual Conference, Seattle, the USA , 5th–8th May 2017.
  • Kika, C., Duan, Y. and Cao, G. 2017. Understanding the factors affecting the use of Learning Analytics in the UK Higher Education Sector, EARLI 2017 in University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland, August 29th - September 2nd 2017.
  • Ali, A., Bentley, Y., and Cao, G. 2016. The influence of supplier collaboration on green supply chain management practices and firm performance in UK food supply chain SMEs. The 21st LRN (Logistic Research Network) Annual Conference: Doing the Right Thing – Ethical Issues in Logistics and Supply Chain, Hull, 7th – 9th September 2016.
  • Bentley, Y., Cao, G. and Bentley, R. 2016. The impact of oil price on global logistics and supply chain activities: A survey of practitioner and educator opinions. The 21st LRN (Logistic Research Network) Annual Conference: Doing the Right Thing – Ethical Issues in Logistics and Supply Chain, Hull, 7th – 9th September 2016.
  • Trevor, C., Millar, K., McKittrick, A., Cao, G., Humphreys, P. 2016.The influence of socialisation practices on organisational culture and supplier operational performance. 30th annual conference of the British academy of management, Newcastle, 6th - 8th September 2016. Best full paper award.
  • Al-Surmi, A., Cao, G. and Duan, Y. 2016. Strategic orientation, triadic strategic alignment and firm performance. The 20th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS 2016), Taiwan, 26th June-1st July 2016.
  • Kika, C., Duan, Y. and Cao, G. 2016. Understanding the use and impact of learning analytics on student experience management in the UK higher education sector. The 20th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS 2016), Taiwan, 26 June-1 July 2016.
  • Cadden, C., Cao, G., Treacy, R., Yang, Y. and Onofrei, G. 2021. A Dynamic Capability Lens to Investigate Big Data Analytics and Supply Chain Agility: Antecedents and Outcomes. The 20th IFIP Conference e-Business, e-Services, and e-Society, Galway, Ireland, September 1-3.
  • Cao, G., Zhang, X., Cadden, T., Wang, J. and Duan, Y. 2016. Path Dependence in R&D and Its Impact on Tobin’s Q and Return on Assets: Evidence from UK Manufacturing Firms. International Conference on Innovation, Management and Industrial Engineering, Fukuoka, Japan, 05-07th August 2016.
  • Cao, G. and Duan, Y. 2015. Do Top-performing Companies Use Business Analytics Differently and Why? Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Electronic Business, Hong Kong, 6-10th December 2015.
  • Kika, C., Duan, Y. and Cao, G. 2015. Supporting student management with Business Analytics in the UK higher Education sector - Findings from an exploratory study, Proceedings of 12th International Conference on Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management & Organisational Learning, Bangkok, Thailand, 5-6th November 2015. PhD Paper Certificate of Merit awarded.
  • Al-Surmi, A., Cao, G. and Duan, Y. 2015. The Impact of Triadic Strategic Alignment on Organisational Performance, Proceedings of International Conference on Engineering Technologies and Big Data Analytics (ETBDA’2015), Bangkok, Thailand, Oct. 5-6th, 2015.
  • Cao, G. and Duan, Y. 2015. The affordances of business analytics for strategic decision-making and their impact on organisational performance, Proceedings of JAIS-endorsed Paper Development Workshop in PACIS Singapore, and Proceedings of the 19th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS 2015) http://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2015/255, Singapore 5-9th July 2015.
  • Duan, Y. and Cao, G. 2015. An analysis of the impact of business analytics on innovation Proceedings of the Twenty Third European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2015), Munster, Germany, 26-29th May, 2015, http://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2015_cr/40
  • Mahesar, H, Cao, G. and Clark J. 2014. Impact of Motivation-enhancing Practices on Talented Employees’ Turnover Intentions: Mediating Role of Organisational Commitment, presented at the International Journal of Arts and Sciences' (IJAS) International Conference for Academic Disciplines in Freiburg, Germany 2-5th December 2014.
  • Al-Surmi, A., Cao, G. and Duan, Y. 2014. The Impact of Triadic Strategic Alignment of Business Strategy, Information Technology Strategy, and Marketing Strategy on Organisational Performance, presented at the British Academy of Management (BAM) 2014 Conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland 9-11th September 2014.
  • Cao, G. and Duan, Y. 2014. Gaining Competitive Advantage from Analytics through the Mediation of Decision-Making Effectiveness: An Empirical Study of UK Manufacturing Companies, Proceedings of the Second AIS-Journals Joint Author Workshop in PACIS Chengdu, and Proceedings of the 18th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS 2014) http://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2014/377, China 26 June 2014
  • Cao, G. and Duan, Y. 2014. A path model linking business analytics, data-driven culture, and competitive advantage, Proceedings of the Twenty Second European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2014), Tel Aviv, Israel, 9-11th June, 2014. Best paper award nominated, http://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2014/proceedings/track04/1/
  • Cao, G. and Duan, Y. 2013. An Empirical Assessment of the Impact of a Data-Driven Culture on Organisational Performance, Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Emerging Research Paradigms in Business and Social Sciences, Dubai, UAE, 26-28th November, 2013.
  • Duan, Y., Cao, G., Ong, V. and Woolley, M. 2013. Big Data in Higher Education: An Action Research On Managing Student Engagement With Business Intelligence, Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Emerging Research Paradigms in Business and Social Sciences, Dubai, UAE, 26-28th November, 2013. Best paper award.
  • Duan, Y., Cao, G., Ong, V. and Woolley, M .2013. Intelligent Student Engagement Management - Applying Business Intelligence in Higher Education, Proceedings of the International Conference on Information and Social Science, Nagoya, Japan, , 24-26th September, 2013.
  • Cao, G and Duan, Y. 2013. Systemic Capabilities as Emergent Properties: The Source of IT Business Value, Proceedings of the 2013 IEEE International Systems Conference, Florida, USA, 15-18th April, 2013.
  • Ramanathan, R., Duan, Y., Cao G. and Philpott, E. 2013. An empirical analysis of diffusion and impact of business analytics in the UK retail sector, Abstract for presentation at POM 2013 – Twenty Fourth Annual Conference of Production and Operations Management Society, Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., 3–6th May, 2013.
  • Ramanathan, R., Duan, Y., Cao G. and Philpott, E. 2012. Investigating the diffusion and impact of data and business analytics on performance of retail firms in the UK, Executive summary of a research project approved by Research Investment Programme, University of Bedfordshire. PDF copy available at: http://www.beds.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/219403/Big_Data.pdf.
  • Ramanathan, R., Duan, Y., Cao G. and Philpott, E. 2012. Diffusion and impact of business analytics in UK retail: Theoretical underpinnings and a qualitative study, EurOMA Service Operations Management Forum, Cambridge on 19–20th September 2012 (presented).
  • Ramanathan, R., Duan, Y., Cao G. and Philpott, E. 2012. Diffusion and impact of business analytics: A conceptual framework, ICDADM 2012 : International Conference on Data Analysis and Decision Making, Berlin, Germany, 19-20th September, 2012 (presented).
  • Philpott, E, Ramanathan, R., Duan, Y., and Cao G. 2012. An exploratory study of the diffusion and impact of business analytics”, ICDADM 2012 : International Conference on Data Analysis and Decision Making, Berlin, Germany, September 19-20, 2012 (presented).
  • Cao, G. 2011. The Benefits and Limitations of Pairwise Understanding of IT Business Value, Proceedings of the International Conference on Management and Service Science (MASS), Wuhan, People's Republic of China.
  • Bentley, Y. and Cao, G. 2012. Applying Critical Systems Thinking to Improving the Effectiveness of a University’s Student Records System, Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Information Management and Evaluation (ICIME 2012), Ankara, Turkey.
  • Cao, G. 2009. A Contingency and Resource-Based View of Fit between IT and Organisational Factors, Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Management and Service Science (MASS), Beijing, People’s Republic of China.
  • Cao, G. 2009. A Contingency and Resource-Based View of Fit between IT and Organisational Factors, Proceedings of International Conference on Management and Service Science (MASS 2009), Beijing, People's Republic of China.
  • Cao, G. 2008. Organisational factors and their roles in creating IT business value, Proceedings of Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS 2008), http://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2008/3, , Suzhou, People's Republic of China.
  • Weingarten, F., Cao, G. and Humphreys, P. 2008. The impact of e-business applications on operational performance: the importance of your suppliers’ level of technology, Proceedings of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS), La Jolla, California.
  • Weingarten, F., Cao, G. and Humphreys, P. 2008. Measuring the performance impact of e-business applications in buyer-supplier relationships within the German automotive industry, Proceedings of the European Operations Management Association EurOMA 15th Annual Conference, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Memberships, Awards and Honors
  • Winner of Industrial Marketing Management Best Paper Award 2023 for “Strategic use of social media in marketing and financial performance: The B2B SME context”
  • Member of Association for Information Systems (AIS)
  • Member of International Society for the Systems Science (ISSS)
  • Member of British Academy of management (BAM) (2013-date)
  • Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA), Recognition reference:37459, 09-Sep-2009
  • Editorial Review Board Member with International Journal of Information Management