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Marra Marianna

Professore Associato

Marianna Marra (PhD, Aston Business School) is an Associate Professor at the School of Management; her research focuses on networks, innovation, and international business. Before joining Polimi, she worked at the University of Sussex Business School and the University of Essex (UK). She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK, and the Vice President (for Internal Relations) for the Research Methods SIG of the Academy of International Business (AIB). Her research has been published in leading journals such as the Journal of Corporate Finance, Work, Employment and Society, International Business Review, International Journal of Production Economics, Annals of Operations Research, and International Journal of Production Research. She sits on the editorial review board of Global Strategy Journal, Journal of Management Studies, International Business Review, and the British Journal of Management.

Carriera

PhD, Aston Business School, Birmingham, UK

MPhil, Aston Business School, Birmingham, UK

Ricerca

Marianna is active in the research fields of international business and innovation. Her research mainly relates to multinational knowledge networks and innovation. She studies this, through the lens of network theory and by using patent data and firm-level micro data. She also researches comparative institutional analysis and investigates how different forms of capitalism affect multinational corporations operating in different institutional contexts.

Her research is interdisciplinary and investigates organizational research methods (i.e., data science), drivers of scientific productivity and knowledge production. She specializes in combining empirical research techniques, focussing on enhancing the robustness and reproducibility of scientific findings. SheI uses a variety of databases such as Bureau Van Dijk Amadeus Orbis, European Patent Office, USTPO, Compustat, EU-SILK databases, ISI Web of Science, and Community Innovation Survey (CIS). Her empirical approach primarily involves social network analysis (SNA), econometrics, and operations research.

Pubblicazioni Selezionate

  1. Nguyen, Ha; Marra, Marianna (2026) The Interplay of Knowledge Distance, Linguistic Distance, and Industry Relatedness in Foreign Divestment. Long Range Planning (ABS 4)GOLD
  2. Marianna Marra, Chris Brewster, Michael Brookes, and Geoffrey Wood (2026). Network building HR practices under different capitalisms.The International Journal Of Human Resource Management [ABS 3] GOLD
  3. Maseli, M. Bamiatzi, V. Marra, M.Manning, S. (2025) Business model innovation for sustainability in incumbent firms. Business Strategy and the Environment [ABS 3 ]GOLD.
  4. Feng, Y. Yin, Y. Wang, D. Ignatius, J. Cheng, TCE. Marra, M. Guo, Y. (2024) An Adaptive Heterogeneous Ensemble Learning Method for Predicting Multidimensional Performance of Firms. Journal of Business Research[ABS 3] GOLD
  5. Ali Emrouznejad, Marra, M. Micali, M. (2023) ‘Eco-efficiency considering NetZero and data envelopment analysis: A critical literature review’IMA Journal of Management Mathematics[ABS 2 - Impact Factor 2.095 ].
  6. Sena V. Marra M. Demirbag, M. Lubrano, G. (2022) ‘The impact of institutions on collaborative innovations and the role of equity-based entry modes’ British Journal of Management [ABS 4 ] GOLD


Premi e riconoscimenti

2018 Research Committee Award, University of Essex Research Grant.

2019 Research Committee Award, University of Essex Research Grant.

2019 Eastern ARC Quantitative Social Science seed-corn fund

2019 Excellence Education Award, University of Essex (details here).

2021 Research Excellence Awards for Emerging Scholar, University of Sussex.

2025 Best reviewer, International Business Review

Servizio alla comunità

She is:

  1. Associate Editor, Multinational Business Review (ABS 3)
  2. Associate Editor, International Journal of Management Reviews (ABS 3)


Editorial board member of the:

  1. Global Strategy Journal (ABS 4)
  2. Journal of Management Studies (ABS 4*, FT 50),
  3. International Business Review (ABS 3)
  4. British Journal of Management (ABS 4)


POLIMI representative for EU-SPRI


Vice-President(Internal Relations) of the Research Method (RM) SIG of the Academy of International Business (2026-...)

Vice-President(for programme ) of the Research Method (RM) SIG of the Academy of International Business (2023-2026)


Conference/workshop/summer school organisation and chairing

2026 Co-Organizer paper development workshop (PDW) for SMJ-OS-RP at POLIMI on November 13th. Call for Papers available here

2026 Organizer of the 5th Eu-Spri EIBA Summer School on Research methods in policy, innovation and international business: Best practices for rigorous, credible, and impactful research, at Villa del Grumello, 20-24 July 2026

2025 Organizer of the iBEGIN (international business, economics of geography, and innovation) Workshop, Politecnico of Milan, Italy.

2024 Organizer of the 3rd EIBA Summer School on Research Methods in IB: Governance of ecosystems for innovation in international business, University of Sussex, UK.

2024 Co-Chair for the Innovation and Geography Track at AIB-UK-I, Aston Business School, UK.

2023 Chair for the BAM 2023 Conference at the University of Sussex Business School, UK.

2021 Track Chair for the Innovation, Geography and IB track at AIB-UK-I.

2020-2021 Track Chair for the IM/IB SIG at the British Academy of Management Conference.


She was the Chair of the IB/IM SIG of the British Academy of Management (BAM) (2021-2025)