Chi, Lei

Assistant Professor

chil2@rpi.edu
518-276-2768

Areas: Information Technology, Networks, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Areas of Instruction: IT Application and Strategy, Research Methods, Spreadsheet Modeling and Data Analysis, Statistical Methods

Education

• Ph.D., University of Kentucky
• M.S., Nanjing University of Science and Technology
• B.S., Nanjing University of Science and Technology

Recent Recognition

• 2010 Best IS Publication of the Year Award, Association for Information Systems
• 2010 Information Systems Research Best Published Paper Award, INFORMS Information Systems Society

Research & Publications

Professor Chi’s research revolves around the complex phenomenon of business networks and emanates in three main complementary directions. (1) Her first research stream focuses on studying the dynamic interplay of information technology (IT) and alliance networks, and their influence on firm innovation.  (2) Her second research steam studies the patterns of online human interactions and their evolving dynamics. (3) Her third research stream focuses on studying how interpersonal social networks and individual differences of entrepreneurs affect entrepreneurial performance.  Professor Chi’s research has been funded by grants from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Office of Entrepreneurship at RPI. She has published more than twenty-one peer-reviewed research papers in academic journals and conference proceedings. Her research articles have been published in journals such as the International Journal of Electronic Commerce, Information Systems and e-Business Management, Information Systems Research, Journal of Knowledge Management, and Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce.

Professor Chi currently is an Associate Editor at the Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, and an Editorial Review Board Member at the IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management and the Journal of Knowledge Management Research and Practice. She also served as an Associate Editor for the 2010 International Conference on Information Systems and a Mini-Track Chair for the 2010 Americas Conference on Information Systems. Previously, she co-organized the 2010 Information Systems Research special issue symposium on “Digital Systems and Competition,” and participated in the RAMP-UP project (the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE program for institutional transformation at RPI) in designing and conducting social network studies of cultural change at RPI.