Dr. Kelly Meng Parnwell

Kelly read for her MA and PhD at the University of Leeds, UK. Her PhD research centred on inward investment into China from South Africa, examining the key institutional factors that have contributed to the effectiveness or otherwise of South African firms entering and operating within the Chinese market, and the business strategies that the firms adopted to negotiate the changing Chinese institutional environment. This was the first academic study in this field, and involved extensive field-based research, in both the PRC and South Africa, of the forty key South African firms operating in China.

Prior to her appointment at Goldsmith’s, Kelly held several senior managerial positions with leading international companies in the retail industry, working with international luxury and mass brands, and consulting on business development, retail location and planning, and human resource development. Kelly also has extensive experience in high-end project management.