Associate Professor, Leadership and Organization Management
Assistant Dean, School of Economics and Management
Tsinghua University
清华大学 经济管理学院
领导力与组织管理系 副教授
院长助理
Chen is currently an Associate Professor in Leadership and Organization Management at the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University. She joined Tsinghua University in 2018. Chen conducts research in several areas of organizational behavior, including work design, time, energy, and well-being issues at work, and proactive behaviors in organizations. Chen has published her work in top-tier academic journals of management and organizational behavior, including Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Personnel Psychology.
Chen has also won various teaching awards at Tsinghua University, including Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (highest university-level honor for junior faculty teaching), Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Advisor Award, First Prize of Junior Faculty Teaching Competition, Gong Yuzhi Biennial Award for Teaching Excellence and the Annual Teaching Excellence Award of Tsinghua University, and the Teaching Excellence Award of School of Economics and Management.
Educational Background
University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, Ph.D. in Business Administration (Management and Organizations)
Tsinghua University, School of Economics and Management, M.S. in Business Administration (Organizational Behavior and Human Resources)
Tsinghua University, School of Economics and Management, Bachelor of Economics (Distinguished Graduate Award)
Research Interests
Work design
Time, energy, and well-being issues at work
Proactive behaviors in organizations
Academic Journal Publications
Zhang, C., Li, N., Zhang, X., Deng, Y., Yang, L. (2026). Time the surge: Theorizing and examining team pacing in multiple-membership contexts. Academy of Management Journal. Online First. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2024.0522
Zhang, C., Qiu, Z. A., Zhao, H. H., Yang, M., Chen, W., & Ma, Y. (2025). Harnessing the potential of workday design: The sequencing of task difficulty and its implications for workday well-being and performance. Personnel Psychology, 78(4), 545-570. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12685
Zhang, C., Spreitzer, G.M., & Qiu, Z.A. (2023). Meetings and individual work during the workday: Examining their interdependent impact on knowledge workers’ energy. Journal of Applied Psychology. 108(10), 1640–1661. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0001091.
Zhang, C., Nahrgang, J. D., Ashford, S. J., & DeRue, D. S. (2020). The risky side of leadership: Conceptualizing risk perceptions in informal leadership and investigating the effects of their over-time changes in teams. Organization Science, 31(5), 1138-1158. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2019.1350
Hafenbrack, A.C., Cameron, L. D., Spreitzer, G. M., Zhang, C., Noval, L. J., & Shaffakat, S. (2020). Helping people by being in the present: Mindfulness increases prosocial behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 159, 21-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.08.005
De Stobbeleir, K., Ashford, S., & Zhang, C. (2020). Shifting focus: Antecedents and outcomes of proactive feedback seeking from peers. Human Relations, 73(3), 303–325. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726719828448
Zhang, C., Mayer, D. M., & Hwang, E. B. (2018). More is less: Learning but not relaxing buffers deviance under job stressors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103(2), 123-136. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000264
Practice-Oriented Publications
Zhang, C., Spreitzer, G.M., & Qiu, Z.A. (2023). Arrange your meeting schedule to boost your energy. Harvard Business Review. August 29, 2023. Digital article. https://hbr.org/2023/08/arrange-your-meeting-schedule-to-boost-your-energy
Zhang, C., Nahrgang, J. D., Ashford, S. J., & DeRue, D. S. (2020). Why capable people are reluctant to lead. Harvard Business Review. Digital article. https://hbr.org/2020/12/why-capable-people-are-reluctant-to-lead
Zhang, C., Myers, C.G., & Mayer, D.M. (2018). To cope with stress, try learning something new. Harvard Business Review. Digital article. https://hbr.org/2018/09/to-cope-with-stress-try-learning-something-new
Courses Taught
Management as a Perspective: Systematic Thinking and Effective Actions
Introduction to Business and Management
Research Methodology in Management