Keyan Lai

I am a Lecturer in International Human Resource Management at the University of Edinburgh Business School. Prior to joining Edinburgh in 2019, I worked at the University of St Andrews as an Associate Lecturer in Management. I obtained my PhD from Cardiff Business School in 2017.

Focusing on the politics of social evaluation, my research explores how organisations, particularly technology firms, are increasingly evaluated by different audiences through political, ideological, and geopolitical lenses, and how these evaluations shape organisational legitimacy, identity, stakeholder relationships, and strategic action.

Empirically, my current research focuses on multinational technology firms and third-sector organisations. In the context of technology firms, I examine how technology becomes a site of state power and geopolitical contestation, and how firms and innovations become entangled with national security concerns and legitimacy challenges. In the context of third sector, I examine how nonprofits are evaluated by public authorities, funders, partners, and communities, and how these evaluations shape power relations, cross-sector collaboration, and nonprofit operations.

My recent publications on social evaluation and work:

• Lai, K. & Potocnik, K. 2026. Recruitment in times of crisis: The impact of negative signals and CSR on job seekers’ attraction to multinational enterprises. Journal of Management Studies. (Accepted/in press). http://doi.org/10.1111/joms.70109
• Lai, K. 2026. Developing a power perspective on public service contracting: Evidence from Scotland’s homelessness sector. Public Management Review. (Accepted/in press). https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2026.2653081
• Lai, K., & Fortwengel, J. (2025) Constructing an organizational identity with political ideology: The case of Huawei, 1987-2020. Strategic Organization. (Accepted/In press). https://doi.org/10.1177/14761270251327988
• Lai, K. (2021). National security and FDI policy ambiguity: A commentary. Journal of International Business Policy, 4(4), 496-505.
• Lai, K., Morgan, G., & Morris, J. (2020). ‘Eating bitterness’ in a Chinese multinational: Identity regulation in context. Organization Studies, 41(5), 661-680.
• Lai, K. (2025). How foreign investments by multinational enterprises become national security threats: An organizational field perspective. In B. Christiansen & J. Branch (Eds.), Impacts of Geoeconomics and Geopolitics on International Business. IGI Global. (Accepted/ In press) https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3373-1265-1.ch007

* I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students who are interested in social evaluation, particularly those working on emerging market multinationals, technology firms, and third-sector organisations.

• Social evaluation 
• Organisational legitimacy 
• Politics of technology and tech business
• Emerging market multinationals
• Third sector and nonprofits
• Qualitative research 
• Historical and archival research