Course Title: Professional Doctorate in Business Administration (Research)

Thesis Title: Factors that Motivate Academic Staff to Conduct Research and Influence Research Productivity in Chinese Project 211

Supervisors:  Dr Douglas Davies and Assoc. Prof.  Monica Kennedy

The higher education institutions compete with each other for resources, and being known as a research institution is becoming increasingly important. To face the national and international challenge and competition, the Chinese Ministry of Education and leaders in Chinese universities are trying a number of different approaches to motivate academics staff with the aim being to improve their research performance. Through examining literature on the factors that motivate academic staff to conduct research, a draft model of those factors were established for testing in the future study.

The main purpose of this study is to probe the insights of motivation, especially in the 211 universities in China, to provide better understanding of the behavioral intention (motivation) of staff’s devotion to research at different professional levels. Recommendations can be suggested to policy makers in Chinese universities in terms of developing a long term substantial motivation strategy.