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.

My details

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Contact details

c.marquis@jbs.cam.ac.uk

chrismarquis.com

Christopher Marquis's blog

@Chris_Marquis_

Academic area

Strategy and International Business

Professional experience
Previous appointments
Publications
Awards and honours

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

Selected publications

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.
Marquis, C. and Qiao, K. (2020) “Waking from Mao’s dream: communist ideological imprinting and the internationalization of entrepreneurial ventures in China.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 65(3): 795-830 (DOI: 10.1177/0001839218792837)
Marquis, C. and Bird, Y. (2018) “The paradox of responsive authoritarianism: how civic activism spurs environmental penalties in China.” Organization Science, 29(5): 948-968 (DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2018.1212)
Marquis, C. and Tilcsik, A. (2016) “Institutional equivalence: how industry and community peers influence corporate philanthropy.” Organization Science, 27(5): 1325-1341 (DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2016.1083)
Marquis, C., Toffel, M. and Zhou, Y. (2016) “Scrutiny, norms, and selective disclosure: a global study of greenwashing.” Organization Science, 27(2): 483-504 (DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2015.1039)

Journal articles

Liu, Y. and Marquis, C. (2024) “Shifting gears amid COVID‐19: information availability, pandemic imprints and firms’ PPE production.” Journal of Management Studies (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.13116) (published online Jun 2024)
Marquis, C. and Qiao, K. (2024) “History matters for organizations: an integrative framework for understanding influences from the past.” Academy of Management Review (DOI: 10.5465/amr.2022.0238) (published online Jan 2024)
Marquis, C., Tilcsik, A. and Zhang, Y. (2024) “Attractiveness and attainment: status, beauty, and jobs in China and the United States.” American Journal of Sociology, 129(6): 1720-1762 (DOI: 10.1086/729834)
Chen, W.D. and Marquis, C. (2022) “Remaking capitalism: the movement for sustainable business and the future of the corporation.” Management Decision, 60(11): 2897-2903 (DOI: 10.1108/MD-08-2021-1086)
Marquis, C. and Qiao, K. (2020) “Waking from Mao’s dream: communist ideological imprinting and the internationalization of entrepreneurial ventures in China.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 65(3): 795-830 (DOI: 10.1177/0001839218792837)
Wang, D., Du, F. and Marquis, C. (2019) “Defending Mao’s dream: how politicians’ ideological imprinting affects firms’ political appointment in China.” Academy of Management Journal, 62(4): 1111-1136 (DOI: 10.5465/amj.2016.1198)
Liang, H., Marquis, C., Renneboog, L. and Sun, S.L. (2018) “Future-time framing: the effect of language on corporate future orientation.” Organization Science, 29(6): 1093-1111 (DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2018.1217)
Marquis, C. and Bird, Y. (2018) “The paradox of responsive authoritarianism: how civic activism spurs environmental penalties in China.” Organization Science, 29(5): 948-968 (DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2018.1212)
Marquis, C., Yin, L. and Yang, D. (2017) “State-mediated globalization processes and the adoption of corporate social responsibility reporting in China.” Management and Organization Review, 13(1): 167-191 (DOI: 10.1017/mor.2016.55)
Luo, X.R., Zhang, J. and Marquis, C. (2016) “Mobilization in the Internet age: Internet activism and corporate response.” Academy of Management Journal, 59(6): 2045-2068 (DOI: 10.5465/amj.2015.0693)

Marquis, C. and Tilcsik, A. (2016) “Institutional equivalence: how industry and community peers influence corporate philanthropy.” Organization Science, 27(5): 1325-1341 (DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2016.1083)
Marquis, C., Toffel, M. and Zhou, Y. (2016) “Scrutiny, norms, and selective disclosure: a global study of greenwashing.” Organization Science, 27(2): 483-504 (DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2015.1039)
Zhang, J., Marquis, C. and Qiao, K. (2016) “Do political connections buffer firms from or bind firms to the government? A study of corporate charitable donations of Chinese firms.” Organization Science, 27(5): 1307-1324 (DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2016.1084)
Marquis, C., Jackson, S. and Li, Y. (2015) “Building sustainable organizations in China.” Management and Organization Review, 11(3): 427-440 (DOI: 10.1017/mor.2015.37)
Marquis, C. and Raynard, M. (2015) “Institutional strategies in emerging markets.” Academy of Management Annals, 9(1): 291-335 (DOI: 10.5465/19416520.2015.1014661)
Marquis, C. and Qian, C. (2014) “Corporate social responsibility reporting in China: symbol or substance?” Organization Science, 25: 127-148 (DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2013.0837)
Sullivan, B.N., Tang, Y. and Marquis, C. (2014) “Persistently learning: how small-world network imprints affect subsequent firm learning.” Strategic Organization, 12(3): 180-199 (DOI: 10.1177/1476127014543772)
Marquis, C., Davis, G.F. and Glynn, M.A. (2013) “Golfing alone? Corporations, elites, and nonprofit growth in 100 American communities.” Organization Science, 24(1): 39-57 (DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1110.0717)
Marquis, C. and Lee, M. (2013) “Who is governing whom? Executives, governance, and the structure of generosity in large U.S. firms.” Strategic Management Journal, 34: 483-497 (10.1002/smj.2028)
Marquis, C. and Tilcsik, A. (2013) “Imprinting: toward a multi-level theory.” Academy of Management Annals, 7(1): 195-245 (DOI: 10.1080/19416520.2013.766076)
Tilcsik, A. and Marquis, C. (2013) “Punctuated generosity: how mega-events and natural disasters affect corporate philanthropy in U.S. communities.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 58(1): 111-148 (DOI: 10.1177/0001839213475800)
Marquis, C., Guthrie, D. and Almandoz, J. (2012) “State activism and the hidden incentives behind bank acquisitions.” Social Science Research, 41(1): 130-145 (DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.07.001)
Marquis, C., Zhang, J. and Zhou, Y. (2011) “Regulatory uncertainty and corporate responses to environmental protection in China.” California Management Review, 54(1): 39-63 (DOI: 10.1525/cmr.2011.54.1.39)
Marquis, C. and Huang, Z. (2010) “Acquisitions as exaptation: the legacy of founding institutions in the U.S. commercial banking industry.” Academy of Management Journal, 53(6): 1441-1473 (DOI: 10.5465/amj.2010.57318393)
Marquis, C. and Battilana, J. (2009) “Acting globally but thinking locally? The enduring influence of local communities on organizations.” Research in Organizational Behavior, 29: 283-302 (DOI: 10.1016/j.riob.2009.06.001)
Marquis, C. and Huang, Z. (2009) “The contingent nature of public policy and the growth of U.S. commercial banking.” Academy of Management Journal, 52(6): 1222-1246 (DOI: 10.5465/amj.2009.47084828) (Runner-Up, Best Published Paper in Organization and Management Theory, Academy of Management, 2009)
Marquis, C., Glynn, M.A. and Davis, G.F. (2007) “Community isomorphism and corporate social action.” Academy of Management Review, 32(3): 925-945 (DOI: 10.5465/amr.2007.25275683)
Marquis, C. and Lounsbury, M. (2007) “Vive la résistance: competing logics and the consolidation of U.S. community banking.” Academy of Management Journal, 50(4): 799-820 (DOI: 10.5465/amj.2007.26279172)
Mizruchi, M.S. and Marquis, C. (2006) “Egocentric, sociocentric, or dyadic? Identifying the appropriate level of analysis in the study of organizational networks.” Social Networks, 28(3): 187-208 (DOI: 10.1016/j.socnet.2005.06.002)
Mizruchi, M.S., Stearns, L.B. and Marquis, C. (2006) “The conditional nature of embeddedness: a study of borrowing by large U.S. firms, 1973-1994.” American Sociological Review, 71(2): 310-333 (DOI: 10.1177/000312240607100207)
Davis, G.F. and Marquis, C. (2005) “Prospects for organization theory in the early twenty-first century: institutional fields and mechanisms.” Organization Science, 16(4): 332-343 (DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1050.0137)
Marquis, C. (2003) “The pressure of the past: network imprinting in intercorporate communities.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 48(4): 655-689 (DOI: 10.2307/3556640) (Winner of the James D. Thompson Award, 2003)

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

Why we need to move past sustainability and embrace regeneration

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.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

Businesses boost profits by passing on huge costs to consumers

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’.