A Personal Perspective on Doing Good Research Seminar Series – Prof Bradley R. Barnes: Discovering the Power of Relationships in Research

The first session of the A Personal Perspective on Doing Good Research seminar series for the 2025/26 academic year, organised by the School of Graduate Studies of Lingnan University, was held on 3 October 2025. The event featured an inspiring talk titled Rags to Riches and Riches to Rags: Use Your Mind and Think of Your Mam (and Dad) by Prof Bradley R. Barnes, Special Advisor to President on Internationalization, and Director of Global Education as well as Professor in the Department of Marketing & International Business. About 70 faculty members and students attended the session.

As a leading scholar in international markets and business, Prof Barnes has held senior academic roles in Hong Kong and the UK, and has collaborated closely with enterprises and trade associations across Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East. Drawing on this practical experience, he frames his research as a sustained effort to understand how interpersonal and cultural dimensions shape business outcomes in cross-cultural contexts.

Prof Barnes opened with reflections on his journey “from rags to riches and riches to rags”, recounting his upbringing in Sheffield, the UK, his decision to leave school at 16, his return to higher education, and his subsequent international career across various sectors and regions. Juxtaposing the life stories of acquaintances who once followed professional paths, he encouraged young scholars to remain self-driven, resilient, and focused on long-term development.

Turning to research, Prof Barnes pointed out gaps in the literature on Western–Chinese business-to-business (B2B) relationships, especially the underestimated role of interpersonal factors in exchanges between firms. He contrasted Western contract/connection norms with Chinese relationship/guanxi approaches, and introduced a conceptual model where interpersonal dimensions/sijiao (personal communication), xinren (personal credibility/trust), and ganqing (affection) drive trust, which in turn shapes cooperation, commitment, and satisfaction, ultimately improving relationships and financial performances. Using a stratified sample of Hong Kong-based importers and structural equation modelling, his team found strong empirical support for the model, noting a good fit and long-standing relationships. He also discussed common cultural embeddness that often occurs in practice, such as renqing (reciprocity) and mianzi (face), and their implications in conflict resolution, communication pacing, and partnership initiation.

During the Q&A, when asked whether a model should be rerun if reviewers suggest adding paths, Prof Barnes noted that new connections can be incorporated into the structural model, and whether fresh data are needed depends on the extent of revisions and robustness checks. In response to a question about the alignment between research and real-life experience in Hong Kong over nearly a decade, he observed that ongoing engagement in Asia, including student projects on guanxi in banking, has helped inform both theory and practice.

Chai Yaping, a PhD student from the School of Data Science, said “Prof Barnes shared many experiences from before his PhD, which made me realise that the academic path is not linear, and that anything is possible. His emphasis on reading widely to seed new ideas and collaborating openly is especially relevant for interdisciplinary research.”

The A Personal Perspective on Doing Good Research seminar series invites senior university management and leading scholars to share their research journeys and perspectives, fostering in-depth exchanges among doctoral students, early-career researchers, and academics on how to conduct excellent research.

The next seminar will be held on 28 October 2025, and will feature Prof Chen Xi, Dean of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Chair Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies. Prof Chen will speak on Engineering Science as the Building Block for the Future, discuss insights from his own academic journey, and highlight ways to build a strong interdisciplinary foundation while anticipating future research trends. Join us for an enlightening discussion on the vital role of Engineering Science in shaping modern technology.