Au, Kevin Yuk-fai

Biography

Prof. Kevin Au co-founded the CUHK Centre for Entrepreneurship and serves as the current Director. He is also Director of the Centre for Family Business. His research interests are international management, entrepreneurship, family business, and social network. He has published dozens of academic articles, teaching cases, and book chapters, and served on the editorial boards of several academic journals. He has provided consulting and training for the government and business corporations. His clients include the Central Policy Unit, Hong Kong Cyberport, and a number of business startups and family businesses in Hong Kong.

Besides research and consulting, he serves as a director for the Hong Kong Business Angel Network Ltd.(HKBAN), Family Firm Institute (US), and International Study of Entrepreneurship Education Outcomes (ISSEO). He is an active angel investor on a few startups. In the capacity as Chairman of the Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices (STEP) Project of the Asia Pacific Consortium, he worked with dozens of schools in Asia and Babson College to promote family business research in the region. In the public domain, he is currently member of the Social Enterprise Advisory Committee and the Social Innovation and Enterprise Task Force, a sub-committee of the Commission for Poverty.

Teaching Areas

Entrepreneurship
Family Business
Venture Philanthropy
Case Teaching Method

Research Interests

International Management
Entrepreneurship
Family Business
Cross-cultural Methodology
Social Networks
Multimedia Application

• Publications & Working Papers
  • Henry Fock, Michael K. Hui, Kevin Yuk-fai Au, and Michael Harris Bond (2013), “Moderation Effects of Power Distance on the Relationship between Types of Empowerment and Employee Satisfaction,” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44(2).
  • Yuan Lu, Kevin Yuk-fai Au, M. W. Peng, and Erming Xu (2013), “Strategic Management in Private and Family Businesses,” Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 30(3), 633-639.
  • Kevin Yuk-fai Au, Flora F. T. Chiang, Thomas A. Birtch, and Zhujun Ding (2013), “Incubating the Next Generation to Venture: The Case of a Family Business in Hong Kong,” Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 30(3), 749-767.
  • Henry Fock, Michael K. Hui, Kevin Yuk-fai Au, and Michael Harris Bond (2013), “Moderation Effects of Power Distance on the Relationship Between Types of Empowerment and Employee Satisfaction,” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44, 281-298.
  • Elizabeth C. Ravlin, Yuan Liao, Daniel L. Morrell, Kevin Yuk-fai Au, and David C. Thomas (2012), “Collectivist Orientation and The Psychological Contract: Mediating Effects of Creditor Exchange Ideology,” Journal of International Business Studies, 43, 772-782.
  • Kwong-kwan Ho, Victor P. L, and Kevin Yuk-fai Au (2012), “Effects of Family-to-Work Conflict on Business Owners: The Role of Family Business,” Family Business Review, 25(2), 178-190.
  • K. Henry Fock, Flora F. T. Chiang, Kevin Yuk-fai Au, and Michael King-man Hui (2011), “The Moderating Effect of Collectivistic Orientation in Psychological Empowerment and Job Satisfaction Relationship,” International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30, 319-328.
  • Kevin Yuk-fai Au and Steven White (2010), “Hong Kong’s Venture Capital System and the Commercialisation of New Technology,” Innovation Policy and the Limits of Laissez-Faire: Hong Kong’s Policy in Comparative Perspective, 145-180.
  • David C. Thomas, Stacey R. Fitzsimmons, Elizabeth C. Ravlin, Kevin Yuk-fai Au, Bjorn Z. Ekelund, and Cordula Barzantny (2010), “Psychological Contracts Across Culture,” Organisation Studies, 31 (11), 1437-1458.
  • Kevin Yuk-fai Au and Thomas A. Birtch (2010), “Social enterprise as an interactive process between entrepreneurs and the community: A social capital perspective,” Social Capital in Hong Kong—Connectivities and Social Enterprise, 279-301.
  • Bing Ren, Kevin Yuk-fai Au, and Thomas A. Birtch (2009), “China’s Business Network Structure During Institutional Transitions,” Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 26, 219-240.
  • Kevin Yuk-fai Au and H. K. Kwan (2009), “Start-Up Capital and Chinese Entrepreneurs: The Role of Family,” Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 33, 889-908.
  • Victor Pak-lung Lau, A. Margaret Shaffer, and Kevin Yuk-fai Au (2007), “Entrepreneurial career success from a Chinese perspective: Conceptualisation, operationalisation, and validation,” Journal of International Business Studies, 38, 126-146.
  • Michael King-man Hui, Kevin Yuk-fai Au, and Xiande Zhao (2007), “Interactional justice and the fair process effect: The role of outcome uncertainty,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 210-220.
  • Kevin Yuk-fai Au and M. Cheung (2004), “Intra-cultural variation and job autonomy in 42 countries,” Organisation Studies, 25, 1339-1362.
  • Michael King-man Hui, Kevin Yuk-fai Au, and Henry Kwong-yin Fock (2004), “Reactions of service employees to Organisation-customer conflict: A cross-cultural comparison,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 21, 107-121.
  • Michael King-man Hui, Xiande Zhao, Xiucheng Fan, and Kevin Yuk-fai Au (2004), “When Does the Service Process Matter? A Test of Two Competing Theories,” Journal of Consumer Research, 31(2), 465-475.
  • David C. Thomas, Kevin Yuk-fai Au, and Elizabeth C. Ravlin (2003), “Cultural variation and the psychological contract,” Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24, 451-471.
  • Michael King-man Hui, Kevin Yuk-fai Au, and Henry Kwong-yin Fock (2003), “Empowerment effects across cultures,” Journal of International Business Studies, 35, 46-60.
  • Kevin Yuk-fai Au, Forrest Chan, Denis Yu-long Wang, and I. Vertinsky (2003), “Mood in foreign exchange trading: Cognitive processes and performance,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 91(2003), 322-338.
  • Bee-leng Chua, Hugh Thomas, Kevin Yuk-fai Au, D. Ahlstrom, Cheung-kwok Law, Shige Makino, Chee-keong Low (2002), Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Hong Kong 2002.
  • Kevin Yuk-fai Au, Weigang Mike Peng, and Denis Yu-long Wang (2000), “Interlocking Directorates, Firm Strategies, and Performance in Hong Kong: Towards a Research Agenda,” Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 17, 29-47.
  • Kevin Yuk-fai Au (1999), “Intra-Cultural Variation: Evidence and Implications for International Business,” Journal of International Business Studies, 30(4), 799-812.