Feng Zhu

Feng Zhu is an associate professor of business administration in the Technology and Operations Management Unit and teaches Digital Innovation and Transformation in the MBA elective curriculum. Before joining the HBS faculty, he was an assistant professor of strategy at the University of Southern California. 

In his research, Professor Zhu examines competitive strategy and innovation in high-technology industries, with an emphasis on platform-based markets. He has studied a wide range of platforms, such as video game consoles, social-networking sites, Craigslist, Wikipedia, smartphone operating systems, blogs, newspapers, and ad-sponsored free products. 

Professor Zhu’s work has appeared in journals including the American Economic Review, Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Information Systems Research. It has been covered by such media as the Washington Post, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Forbes.com and has most recently won the Strategic Management Society’s Best Paper Award for Practice Implications. He received the Past Chairs’ Emerging Scholar Award from the Technology and Innovation Management Division of the Academy of Management and the Ascendant Scholar Award from the Western Academy of Management.  

Professor Zhu earned his Ph.D. in science, technology and management and a master’s in computer science at Harvard University. He did his undergraduate work in computer science, economics, and mathematics at Williams College.