Dr. Tianyuan Yu, Associate Professor, Management

Headshot of Dr. Tianyuan Yu, MSVU business and tourism department full time faculty member. Tian is an Asian woman with short dark hair, glasses, A huge, lovely smile and is wearing a grey blazer and a blue dress shirt. Tianyuan Yu 于天远 is an Associate Professor of Management at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada. She earned her first PhD in Management from Sun Yat-Sen University, China (2012) and her second PhD in Management at Saint Mary’s University, Canada (2024). Her first doctoral dissertation was published by the Commercial Press in 2013, and her second doctoral dissertation is forthcoming from Palgrave Macmillan.

Before coming to Canada, Tianyuan served as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Business Administration at Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai. With extensive teaching and research experiences in both China and Canada, she brings an intercultural and deeply reflexive perspective to her work as a teacher, scholar, and academic leader.

Following a mid-career transition into Western academia, Tianyuan’s research now spans management, spirituality & religion (MSR), research methodology, management education, diversity, equity & inclusion, and management history. Her current research focuses on Zen-informed approaches to spiritual research paradigms, transformative teaching, and feminist spiritual leadership. She received the 2023 MSR Fetzer Scholarship and was keynote speaker at the 2023 Annual Conference of Atlantic Schools of Business. Her paper on Zen-informed spiritual research paradigm received the 2024 MSR Best Paper Award by the Academy of Management. Her recent publications appear in the Journal for the Study of Spirituality, Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, Journal of Management History, Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, and several edited volumes and conference proceedings.

As Representative-at-Large (Research) for the MSR Division of the Academy of Management, Tianyuan led the MSR Research Committee in organizing an international research webinar series and the 2026 MSR Research Colloquium—initiatives aimed at inspiring the global MSR community and expanding the field’s epistemological horizons. She also served as Guest Editor for two special issues of the Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion. At MSVU, Tianyuan served as President of the MSVU Faculty Association (2024–2025), contributing to faculty advocacy, collegial governance, and the wider university community. A Zen Buddhist practitioner, Tianyuan completed a 1,250 km walking pilgrimage in Shikoku, Japan during her 2024 sabbatical, an experience that continues to nourish her scholarship, teaching, and life.

Detailed Profile

Dr. Tianyuan Yu
Associate Professor
Management

Office: McCain Centre 405C
Fax: 902 445 2582
Email: Tianyuan.Yu1@msvu.ca
Office Hours: Available by appointment

Qualifications:
B.Econ (Nankai University), M.Econ (Nankai University), PhD in Business Administration (Sun Yat-Sen University), PhD in Business Administration (Saint Mary’s University)

Joined the Mount: 2017

Relevant Prior Work Experience:

  • Assistant Professor (term position), Management, Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax. (2016)
  • Sessional Instructor, Management, Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax. (2015)
  • Workshop Coordinator & Teaching Assistant, Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax. (2013)
  • Visiting scholar, Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Canada. (2013-2015)
  • Chair, Department of Business Administration, International Business Faculty, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China (2010- 2013)
  • Associate Professor, Management, International Business Faculty, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai (2009-2013)
  • Visiting scholar, Leicester Business School, De Montfort University, Leicester, U.K. (2005)
  • Assistant Professor, Management, International Business Faculty, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai (2003-2009)

Courses Taught:

  • BUSI 1112 Introduction to Business Administration
  • BUSI 2202 Communications Management
  • BUSI 2214 Organizational Behaviour: Individuals in Organizations
  • BUSI 2215 Organizational Behaviour: Groups, structure and culture
  • BUSI 3316 Organizational Topics
  • BUSI/WOMS 4406 Managing Diversity: Gender and Other Issues
  • BUSI 4413 Strategic Compensation
  • BUSI 4416 Management Topics

Research Interests:

  • Management spirituality and religion
  • Gender and diversity in organizations
  • Management and organizational history
  • Management education and pedagogy
  • Cross-cultural management
  • Multi-paradigm research methodology

Research Grants, Scholarships, and Awards:

  • Recipient of the 2024 Durland Family Chancellor’s Doctoral Convocation Award, Saint Mary’s University.
  • Recipient of the 2023 Fetzer Institute MSR Scholarship, MSR (Management, Spirituality & Religion) Division, Academy of Management.
  • Recipient of the 2020 Mount Saint Vincent University SSHRC Explore Grant.
  • Recipient of the 2018 Mount Saint Vincent University New Scholars Research Grant.
  • Recipient of the 2015-2017 Nova Scotia Graduate Scholarship.
  • Recipient of the 2015-2017 Saint Mary’s University Ph.D. Fellowship.
  • Recipient of the 2007 ‘Research Grant to Young Teachers’, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai

Best Paper Awards:

  • Finalist, ‘William H. Newman Award for Best Paper Based on a Dissertation’, AOM (Academy of Management) Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, USA (2024)
  • Best Paper Award, MSR (Management Spirituality & Religion) Division, AOM (Academy of Management) Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, USA (2024)
  • ‘Honorable Mention Award’ (with Mills, A.), BH (Business History) division, ASAC (Administrative Sciences Association of Canada) 2020 Conference, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador (2020)
  • ‘Honorable Mention Award’ (with Loughlin, C.), GDO (Gender and Diversity in Organizations), ASAC (Administrative Sciences Association of Canada) 2016 Conference, Edmonton, Alberta (2016)
  • ‘Best Paper Award’ (with Wu, N.), the fifth China’s Forum on Enterprise Management Case Study and Theory Constructing Research, Renmin University of China, Beijing (2011)

Teaching Awards and Honours:

  • ‘Outstanding Teacher of Zhuhai’, the Municipal Government of Zhuhai (2012)
  • ‘Award for Teaching Excellence’, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai (2011)
  • Winner of the Second Prize, ‘Teaching Contest among Young Teachers’, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai (2004)

Academic Activities and Publications:
Books:

  • Yu, T. (2013). Government-Enterprise Relationship and Organizational Culture Change. Beijing: The Commercial Press.

Refereed Book Chapters

  • Yu, T., & Margaret, I. (In press). ‘Navigating Career Transition to Western Academia as Female Asian Scholars: A Collaborative Autoethnography’. In N. M. Deal & K. S. Williams (Eds.), Starting Academia Differently. Routledge.
  • Yu, T. (2025). ‘Evocative Autoethnography’. In J. Helms Mills, A. J. Mills, K. S. Williams, & R. Bendl. (Eds.), Elgar Encyclopedia on Gender in Management (pp. 141-143). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781803922065.ch41
  • Yu, T. & Mills, A. J. (2023). ‘Lest We Forget: The Zen Centers’ Storytelling of Their Controversial Founding Abbots’. In J. Helms Mills & A. Thurlow (Eds.), Diversity and Business Storytelling (A World Scientific Encyclopedia of Business Storytelling (D. Boje, Editor), Vol.4) (pp.51-69). World Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811273513_0003
  •  Yu, T., Mills, A. (2022). ‘Zen Koan Pedagogy: A Spiritual Approach to Management Education’. In M.C. Vu, N. Singh, N. Burton, I. Chu (Eds.), Faith Traditions and Practices in the Workplace. Volume II. Palgrave Studies in Workplace Spirituality and Fulfillment (pp.137-156). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09540-5_7
  • Yu, T., Mills, A. & Helms Mills, J. (2020). ‘Towards a Zen-informed Approach to Management and Organizational History’. In K. Bruce (Ed.). Elgar Handbook on Management and Organizational History (pp.146-168). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788118491.00015
Refereed Journal Articles:
  • Yu, T., Teehankee, B., & Rocha, R. G. (In press). ‘Searching for spiritual research paradigms: A systematic review of methodologies in management, spirituality and religion’. Journal for the Study of Spirituality. https://doi.org/10.1080/20440243.2026.2677210
  • Yu, T. (2025). ‘Can AI do Spiritual Research? A Zen Buddhist Perspective’. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion. 22(2), pp. 208-225.  https://doi.org/10.51327/THGF7043
  • Yu, T. (2025). ‘Zen-informed Spiritual Research Paradigm: A Buddhist Approach to Decolonizing MSR Research’. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion. 22 (1), pp.11-38. https://doi.org/10.51327/YVTO3030 
  • Jeong, J., Yu, T., Teehankee, B. & Saini, K. (2023). ‘Call for papers: Decolonization and Decoloniality in MSR research’. Journal of Management, Spirituality, Religion. https://www.iamsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/JMSR-SI-Decolonization-and-Decoloniality-for-web.pdf 
  • Yu, T. & Mills, A. (2021) ‘Cultural Learning Process: Lesson from Microhistory.’ Journal of Management History. 27 (4), pp.440-463. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMH-12-2020-0075
  • Yu, T., Mills, A. & Peng, N. (2018) ‘A Reflexive Critique of a Critical Hermeneutics Analysis of Wu Zetian.’ Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management. An international Journal. 13 (3), pp.250-260 https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-10-2016-1454
  • Peng, N., Yu, T. & Mills, A. (2015) ‘Feminist thinking in late seventh-century China: A critical hermeneutics analysis of the case of Wu Zetian.’ Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal. 34 (1). pp. 67-83. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-12-2012-0112
  • Yu, T. (2013) ‘How Government-Enterprise Relationship Influences the Organizational Culture of Privately-Owned Enterprises.’ CEIBS Business Review. Issue 1.
  • Yu, T. & Wu, N. (2012) ‘Organizational Culture Change Paths and Government-Enterprise Relationship: A Multiple-Case Study on High-tech POEs in the Pearl River Delta.’ Management World. Issue 8:129-146.
  • Yu, T. & Wu, N. (2011) ‘Bureaucratic Hierarchy vs. Feudal Hierarchy: A Study on the Organizational Culture of China’s SOEs.’ International Journal of Business and Management. 6 (2): 139-146.
  • Yu, T. & Wu, N. (2009) ‘A Review of Study on the Competing Values Framework.’ International Journal of Business and Management. 4(7): 37-42.
  • Yu, T. & Wu, N. (2009) ‘A Review of Theories on Transnational Transfer of HR Practice within Multinationals.’ International Journal of Business and Management. 4(5): 121-127.
  • Yu, T. & Wu, N. (2009) ‘A Review of Definitions and Research Methodology of Organizational Culture.’ Economic Management Journal 31(4):178-182.

Papers in Refereed Conference Proceedings:

  • Yu, T. (2024). ‘Towards a Zen-informed Spiritual Research Paradigm: Philosophy, Methodology, and Evaluation Criteria’, Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, Chicago, Illinois, USA. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMPROC.2024.59bp
  • Yu, T. & Mills, A. (2020) ‘Lest We Forget: The Zen Centers’ Storytelling of Their Controversial Founding Abbots’, Proceedings of ASAC 2020 conference, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, June.
  • Yu, T. & Mills, A. (2016) ‘A Reflexive Critique of a Critical Hermeneutics Analysis of Wu Zetian’ Proceedings of ASB 2016 conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia, October.
  • Yu, T. & Loughlin, C. (2016) ‘An Exploratory Study of Challenges to Chinese Students’ Cross-Cultural Adaptation in the Canadian Workplace: More about Sitcoms and Less about Values?’ Proceedings of ASAC 2016 Conference, Edmonton, Alberta, June.
  • Yu, T. & Wu, N. (2011) ‘Organizational Culture Change in High-tech POEs: A Multiple-case Study.’ Proceedings of the fifth China’s Forum on Enterprise Management Case Study and Theory Constructing Research, Renmin University of China, Beijing, November.

Refereed Conference Presentations Symposiums and PDWs:

  • Jeong, S., Chen, A., Choi, J., Culshaw, N., Sharma, K., & Yu, T. (2026). ‘Sacred Futures in the Making: Decolonial Spirituality, Power, and Resilience in Organizational Life”. [Professional Development Workshop]. The 86th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Philadelphia, PA., United States, 31 July – 4 August.
  • Mourmant, G. & Yu, T. (2026). ‘The Suffering-Opening Delta: A Grounded Theory of Paths of Spiritual Awakening”. [Poster]. The 86th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Philadelphia, PA., United States, 31 July – 4 August.
  • Yu, T. & Laszlo, C. (2026). ‘Researching the Mystical: Spiritual Research and Evaluation Criteria’. [Presentation]. Management Spirituality & Religion Research Colloquium, Virtual, 11-12 June.
  • Jeong, S., Chen, A., Culshaw, N., Price, S., Sharma, K., & Yu, T. (2025). ‘Decolonizing Management, Spirituality, and Religion: Pathways to Inclusive Scholarship’. [Symposium]. The 85th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Copenhagen, Denmark, 25-29 July.
  • Culham, T. E., Bachani, J., Marques, J. F., Venkateswaran, R. T., & Yu, T. (2025). ‘Developing a Spiritual Research Paradigm Focused on Experience and Storytelling’. [Professional Development Workshop]. The 85th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Copenhagen, Denmark, 25-29 July.
  • Pavlovich, K., Stacie, C., Keng-Highberger, F. T., Kumar, P., Major, R. J., & Yu, T. (2025). ‘Spiritual and Religious Perspectives on Management Education’. [Symposium]. The 85th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Copenhagen, Denmark, 25-29 July.
  • Yu, T. & Ellis, C. (2025). ‘Evocative Autoethnography: A Methodological Approach to Spiritual Research’. [Paper presentation]. Management Spirituality & Religion Research Colloquium, Virtual, 30-31 May.
  • Yu, T. (2024). ‘Towards a Zen-informed Spiritual Research Paradigm: Philosophy, Methodology, and Evaluation Criteria’. [Paper presentation]. The 84th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Chicago, IL., United States, 9-13 August.
  • Bachani, J., Bhawuk, D., Case, S., Culham, T., Venkateswarn, R., & Yu, T. (2024). ‘Eclectic Research Methods: The Ways to Know, by Doing and Being’. [Professional Development Workshop]. The 84th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Chicago, IL., United States, 9-13 August.
  • Yu, T., Teehankee, B. & Rocha, R.G. (2023). ‘A Systematic Review of Research Paradigms in the Journal of Management Spirituality and Religion’. [Paper presentation]. The 83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Boston, MA., United States, 4-8 August.
  • Marques, J., Brownlee, S., Chappell, S., Grant, G., Indrajaya, A., Jeong, S., Malik, E., Storberg-Walker, J., Walker, C., Yu, T., (2022) ‘What I Like about You: Appreciative Observation toward Positive Reinforcement’, PDW presented at 82nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, virtual, 5-10 August.
  • Yu, T., Teehankee, B., Rocha, R. (2022). ‘A Systematic Review of Empirical Research Methodologies Adopted by JMSR Articles’. Paper presented at Management Spirituality & Religion Scholarly Research Colloquium, Virtual, 27-28 July.
  • Yu, T. (2021) ‘The Wounded Healer: Feminist Leadership Nurtured by American Zen Buddhism’, paper presented at 81st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, virtual, 29 July – 4 August.
  • Yu, T. & Mills, A. (2020) ‘Lest We Forget: The Zen Centers’ Storytelling of Their Controversial Founding Abbots’, paper presented at ASAC (Administrative Sciences Association of Canada) 2020 conference, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, 12-15 June.
  • Yu, T. & Mills, A. (2019) ‘Awakening Moments: A Video-based Analysis of Zen Koan Pedagogy’, paper presented at the 49th Atlantic Schools of Business Conference 2019, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, 27-29 September.
  • Yu, T. & Mills, A. (2019) ‘Enlightenment, intuition and creativity training: Introducing Zen koan pedagogy’, paper presented at the 35th EGOS (European Group for Organizational Studies) Colloquium 2019, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 4-6 July.
  • Yu, T. & Mills, A. (2017) ‘An American entrepreneur’s cultural learning process in 1930s China’, paper presented at 47th Atlantic Schools of Business Conference 2017, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, 29 Sep – 1 Oct.
  • Yu, T., Helms Mills, J. & Mills, A. (2017) ‘Divergent discourses on bureaucracy in China and Canada: A Zen-informed cross-cultural multiparadigm study’, paper presented at 33rd EGOS (European Group for Organizational Studies) Colloquium 2017, Copenhagen, Denmark, 6-8 July.
  • Yu, T. & Mills, A. (2016) ‘A Reflexive Critique of a Critical Hermeneutics Analysis of Wu Zetian’, paper presented at Atlantic Schools of Business Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 21-23, Oct.
  • Yu, T. & Mills, A. (2016) ‘Reconfiguring Burrell and Morgan’s framework of sociological paradigms by Zen’, paper presented at 32nd EGOS (European Group for Organizational Studies) Colloquium 2016, Naples, Italy, 7-9 July.
  • Yu, T. & Loughlin, C. (2016) ‘An Exploratory Study of Challenges to Chinese Students’ Cross-Cultural Adaptation in the Canadian Workplace: More about Sitcoms and Less about Values?’, paper presented at the International Doctoral Consortium on Management and Organizational Studies, Halifax, N.S. 8-10 June.
  • Yu, T. & Mills, A. (2016) ‘Reconfiguring Burrell and Morgan’s framework of sociological paradigms by Zen’, paper presented at the International Doctoral Consortium on Management and Organizational Studies, Halifax, N.S. 8-10 June.
  • Yu, T. & Loughlin C. (2016) ‘An Exploratory Study of Challenges to Chinese Students’ Cross-Cultural Adaptation in the Canadian Workplace: More about Sitcoms and Less about Values?’, paper presented at ASAC (Administrative Sciences Association of Canada) 2016 conference, Edmonton, Alberta, 4-6 June.
  • Yu, T. (2015) ‘American Businessmen’s Interactions with Chinese Political Elites in the 1930s-1940s: A Critical Hermeneutics Analysis of Pan-Am Expatriates’ Narratives’, dissertation proposal presented at AIB (Academy of International Business) US-North East Chapter 2015 Frontier Conference, Boston, U.S., 22-24 October.
  • Yu, T. (2015) ‘Business and Politics at the Intersection of West and East: Pan Am and the Republican China, 1933-1949’, dissertation proposal presented at the International Doctoral Consortium on Management and Organizational Studies, Halifax, N.S.10-12 June.
  • Yu, T. & Wu, N. (2011) ‘Organizational Culture Change in High-tech POEs: A Multiple-case Study.’ Paper presented at the fifth China’s Forum on Enterprise Management Case Study and Theory Constructing Research, Beijing, China, 12-14 November.

Invited Keynote Addresses and Conference Panels

  • Yu, T. (2023, September 22-24). Connecting the body to the spirit: A Zen-informed spiritual research paradigm. [Keynote address]. The 51st Annual Conference of Atlantic Schools of Business, Halifax, NS., Canada.
  • Pio, E., Dillard, N., Dutta, S., Saxena, S. & Yu, T. (2023, August 4-8). Tiptoeing On Hot Coals: Startling Sacred Sins. [Plenary panel]. The 83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Boston, MA., United States.
  • Marques, J., Burton, O., Kumar, P., Schuyler, K. G., Smith, J. G. & Yu, T. (2023, July 26-27). DEIB, AI & MSR: Some spiritually induced impressions [Panel session]. Management Spirituality & Religion Research Colloquium. Virtual.