Rate My Professor Xiaoxuan Zhai

Dr. Xiaoxuan Zhai, professionally known as Dr. Eleanor Zhai, is a Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Murdoch Business School, Murdoch University. She is based in room 512.2.025 and specializes in strategic human resource management. Zhai holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Management from Monash University and a Masters by Research from Murdoch University, completed in 2018 with the thesis titled "Rethinking the relationship between high-performance work systems and firm performance: A meta-analysis." During her doctoral studies, she served as a PhD candidate in the School of Business and Governance at Murdoch University. Her academic career is marked by a focus on the interplay between human resource practices and organizational outcomes.

Zhai's research interests center on high-performance work systems (HPWS), their leverage points, curvilinear relationships with firm performance, the role of performance measures, employee involvement in decision-making, institutional influences, and mechanisms promoting resilience through strategic HRM and psychological empowerment. Key publications include "Leverage point in high-performance work systems: a system dynamics simulation study" (2025, Journal of Management and Organization, co-authored with Xiaowen Tian), "A meta-analysis of the curvilinear relationship between high-performance work systems and firm performance" (2025, co-authored with Fang Huang and Xiaowen Tian), "Mapping promoting factors and mechanisms of resilience for performance improvement: The role of strategic human resource management systems and psychological empowerment" (2023, Applied Psychology, co-authored with Cherrie Jiuhua Zhu and Mingqiong Mike Zhang), "Do performance measures matter in the relationship between high-performance work system and organizational performance?" (2020, International Journal of Manpower), "An institutional view on the relationship between high-performance work systems and firm performance: Evidence from China" (2022, Chinese Management Studies), "Employee involvement in decision-making: the more the better?" (2019, International Journal of Manpower, co-authored with Xiaowen Tian), and "Combining efficiency and innovation to enhance performance: Evidence from firms in emerging economies" (2021, Journal of Management and Organization, co-authored with Xiaowen Tian and Vai Io Lo). Her Google Scholar profile records 214 citations.