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Robert Morgan

Professor Robert Morgan

cymraeg
Welsh speaking
Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Teams and roles for Robert Morgan

Overview

I work with leaders and organizations facing complex strategic challenges, including fast-changing competitive markets, technological disruption, rising customer expectations, and the realities of decision-making when senior perspectives differ. My career began in the international electronics industry before I completed my PhD at Cardiff and undertook post-doctoral training at INSEAD and Harvard Business School. Alongside my academic role, I continue to advise startups, high-growth ventures, large corporations, and public organisations and Governments on strategy, capability development, and improving performance.

As Sir Julian Hodge Chair and Professor of Marketing & Strategy, my teaching and research focus on issues that matter for students preparing for careers across a wide range of entrepreneurial and employment settings. My expertise is focussed on: how successful firms adapt when customer markets shift; how their capabilities strengthen, erode, or become liabilities; and how new technologies, especially AI, reshape strategic decision-making, customer-centric innovation ecosystems and competition.

My skills are multi-method, but what matters most for students is how these tools help make sense of ‘real’ strategic and marketing problems. I draw on data, cases, and insights from senior teams across the world to show how to analyze competitive markets, understand customer insights, and evaluate strategic options and make trade-offs. In teaching students, my focus is on building practical analytical skills: helping you interpret and evaluate evidence rigorously; interrogate underlying assumptions; and, apply structured thinking to the complex, ambiguous, and interdependent problems that characterize decision making in organizations today and in the future.

I have published more than 200 papers, cases, and executive articles, and my work has been recognised with awards from the American Marketing Association, Strategic Management Society, Academy of Marketing, Chartered Management Institute, and several leading academic journals. I am ranked in the 'Top 1% of Scientists' globally and currently #13 worldwide in the field of marketing strategy (Research.com and GPS Scholar). I have held visiting positions at universities across Europe, Africa, and South America, and currently at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Students studying with me can expect a learning experience that combines academic rigour with real-world relevance. I focus on developing the skills employers value most: strategic thinking, data literacy, analytical reasoning, problem framing, effective communication, and sound decision-making under uncertainty. Drawing on international examples and industry experience, I help students understand how organisations compete, how strategy is formed and executed, and how these insights can be applied to their own future careers—whether in corporate roles, professional services, technology, entrepreneurship, or the public sector.

Publication

2026

  • Dayangan, ?., Bıçakcıoğlu-Peynirci, N. and Morgan, R. E. 2026. Barriers to international marketing. In: Leonidou, L. C., Katsikeas, C. S. and Akyol, B. eds. Elgar Encyclopedia of International Marketing Management. Edward Elgar Publishing

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Books

Conferences

Research

My research examines how organisations adapt, innovate, and compete in rapidly changing markets shaped by technological disruption and evolving customer demands. Across my work, I combine insights from strategy, marketing, innovation, and leadership research, with particular attention to business-to-business contexts. More specifically, I examine:

Capabilities and Competitiveness: How marketing, R&D, and operations capabilities develop, erode, and renew—and how they drive performance in dynamic and B2B markets.

Innovation, Technology, and Customer Value: How firms respond to shifting customer needs, product–market conditions, and emerging technologies, including the strategic implications of AI.

Marketing Strategy and Market Interpretation: How firms sense markets, understand customers, frame strategic choices, and communicate decisions to investors and external stakeholders.

Boards, TMTs, and Strategic Decision-Making: How leadership teams differ, align, and diverge, and how these dynamics influence strategic outcomes, innovation, and firm performance.

Strategic Priorities in Global and Dynamic Markets: How firms set, sequence, and adjust strategic priorities during growth, retrenchment, internationalization, and technological or regulatory change.

I have published widely on these topics in academic journals as well as in thought leadership white papers and management articles. As an example, my research has appeared in: Strategic Management Journal; Journal of Management Studies; Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal; Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science; Entrepreneurship, Theory, & Practice; Journal of Service Research; Journal of Product Innovation Management; Long Range Planning; Journal of International Marketing; Industrial Marketing Management; British Journal of Management; International Journal of Management Reviews among others. 

My research philosophy centers on five key dimensions:

  • Quality: consistently producing rigorous original research and targeting leading and highly regarded international journals in the field;
  • Relevance: engaging in research work that is interesting, pertinent, and meaningful to managers and researchers with clear implications for practice;
  • Collaboration: promoting partnerships with individuals possessing complementary research capabilities, skills, and knowledge to enhance my self-development, as well as, contribute to the development of others;
  • Dissemination: sharing research findings widely in academic and practitioner communities by presenting results in conferences, lectures, and social media outlets; and,
  • Impact: helping business managers, public policymakers and society engage in research-informed changes to make a positive difference in their line of work.

In my experience, these five dimensions are important in producing and disseminating new knowledge in a relevant, rigorous, and impactful way.

My research has been funded by corporations as well as the following major sponsors:

  • British Academy
  • Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (UK Government)
  • Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
  • Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
  • Environment Agency
  • European Commission
  • Foreign & Commonwealth Office (UK Government)
  • Government of Quebec
  • Her Majesty's Treasury (UK Government)
  • Leverhulme Trust
  • Strategy Research Foundation (Strategic Management Society)
  • Welsh Government

Teaching

Most of my teaching has focused on postgraduate and post-expeirence level over the last ten years. I currently deliver and coordinate teaching on various postgraduate (MSc, MBA, PhD) and executive programs. My primary teaching includes:

  • Creativity, Innovation, & Enterprise (BST634): Part time MBA
  • Creativity, Innovation, & Enterprise (BST904): Full time MBA
  • Strategic Planning & Innovation (BST680): National Health Service Healthcare Planning Diploma/MSc
  • Project supervision: MBA Consulting Challenge and MSc Business Strategy & Entreprenurship
  • Doctoral dissertation committee supervisory roles
  • ExecEd: Executive Education delivery on a series of customized and open programs to clients from SMEs to trans-global corporation including LBA devoted to Accelerating Innovation, Business Development, Innovation and Creativity, Managing Strategy, Strategic Decision Making for Agile Management and Reconciling Performance Imperatives.

I am External Examiner to the Department of Marketing at London Business School with responsibility for scrutiny of the MBA delivery, assessment, and awards. I also serve as External Examiner to The Management School at St. Andrews University and act as Chief Examiner to the Edinburgh Business School Online MBA program, one of the largest of it kind globally. 

I have held External Examiner appointments at many UK Schools including: Aston, Bath, Cambridge, City, Cranfield, Durham, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leeds, Loughborough, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield, Stirling, Warwick as well as several in the USA (e.g., Hult International Business School), Europe (e.g., Erasmus-Rotterdam; ALBA-Athens; WU-Vienna; Corvinus-Budapest), and Oceana (RMIT-Melbourne; Wollongong-Sydney). 

Recent credits:

"Rob really made us think differently. Superb, thought provoking, extremely insightful". Claire Vyvyan, Senior Vice President, Dell Technologies Inc.

"Rob is a strategist’s strategist nonpareil who seamlessly blends academic rigor with practical, value-adding, strategic insight in all his work. He is an outstanding speaker and when confronted with a business strategy challenge, I would recommend Rob without hesitation". Dr Llyr Jones, former Senior Vice President (Americas) and Head of Group Strategy, BAE Systems plc.

"Any student and aspiring future business leader would be lucky to have Rob as a professor and mentor, and I am personally very grateful for all the time and energy he put into his work. This definitely helped me in achieving my ambitions and driving towards future aspirations". Victoria Vorobyova, Chevening Scholar and Senior Consultant, Deloitte Consulting LLP.

"Rob is a fantastically engaging lecturer with a clear passion for strategy. A brilliant communicator with an inclusive style. Casework was interesting, relevant, and valuable to demonstrate the theory. He’s amazing!!" Anon 2020.

"Rob is an electric lecturer with a good sense of humor which compliments retention and learning. His passion really shines through and is appreciated - his mastery of his subject area is consistently apparent". Anon 2020.

Biography

Following a management first degree, I joined the international electronics industry later returning to study for a PhD in global market entry strategy. Receiving post-doctoral training at INSEAD, France, and the Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, Harvard Business School, USA, I developed an academic career - and love it! I currently co-direct the Research, Innovation, and Engagement portfolio in the Marketing & Strategy Section of the School. In addition, I am Visiting Professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Universiteit van Amsterdam. 

Within University administration, I have been appointed to a series of senior roles including Vice Dean, Senate Member, Department Chair, and Departmental Advisory Board Chair. In leadership terms, I was instrumental in building a team at Cardiff that is positioned as the #2 Marketing Department in the UK, #9 in Europe, and #20 globally in research rankings (MKTBig15 Ranking 2023).

I am actively engaged in executive education and consulting and my client list includes: Barclays Bank, BBC, Bisley, British Council, BT, Dell Technologies, Deloitte, KPN, PWC, and Siemens as well as regional organizations including Acuity Legal, Hugh James, Julian Hodge Bank, and Welsh Water.

Supervisions

I welcome receiving PhD applications by proposal with a supporting resume from enthusiastic and capable students interested in my research areas of specialty. In addition, I particularly encourage students to contact me where they are methodologically trained in statistics or econometrics and are seeking to potentially use secondary data sources to construct and analyze panel data or big data using artifical intelligence or machine-learning approaches to assess topics within the strategic management, marketing strategy, or innovation fields.

I have supervised several hundred Master-level thesis and dissertation students to date and have also been first supervisor (doctoral committee chair) to over 20 successfully completed PhD students, many of whom have reached Full Professor appointments in academia and Director/Senior Vice President level in corporations.

"I owe my own career positions as Global CMO, VP Marketing, and Senior Director for some of the world's largest brands (Microsoft, Dell, Siemens, British Telecom, NCR) to Professor Morgan who has helped me, over the last twenty years, to make a difference to my approach and thinking. He has been instrumental in my commercial development and his counsel has led to the achievement of strong commercial returns for the technology businesses that I have represented". Dr. Gopal Kutwaroo, Vice President Marketing, The Lego Group (former doctoral student).

My research philosophy centres on five key dimensions:

  • Quality: consistently producing rigorous original research and targeting leading and highly regarded international journals in the field;
  • Relevance: engaging in research work that is interesting, pertinent, and meaningful to managers and researchers with clear implications for practice;
  • Collaboration: promoting partnerships with individuals possessing complementary research capabilities, skills, and knowledge to enhance my self-development, as well as, contribute to the development of others;
  • Dissemination: sharing research findings widely in academic and practitioner communities by presenting results in conferences, lectures, and social media outlets; and,
  • Impact: helping business managers, public policymakers and society engage in research-informed changes to make a positive difference in their line of work.

In my experience, these five dimensions are important in producing and disseminating new knowledge in a relevant, rigorous and impactful way. If these dimensions align with your own, and you are interested to develop your research within my area of expertise, please contact me with your research proposal.

Current supervision

Katerina Boncheva

Katerina Boncheva

Yufan Qin

Yufan Qin

Jiaxi Chen

Jiaxi Chen

Namrata Manchiraju

Namrata Manchiraju

Contact Details

Email [email protected]
Telephone +44 29208 70001
Fifteen REF sub-panel members for Cardiff University

Fifteen REF sub-panel members for Cardiff University

09 September 2025

Cardiff paves way for Whitehall innovation

Cardiff paves way for Whitehall innovation

25 April 2018

School supports management challenge event

School supports management challenge event

31 October 2017

External profiles