Skip to main content
School of Business and Management
  1. School of Business and Management
  2. Staff
  3. PhD Researchers
  4. Profiles

Zeenat Murtaza

Zeenat Murtaza

Email: z.murtaza@qmul.ac.uk

Project title

Leadership Dynamics, Socioemotional Wealth, and ESG Rating: A Multilevel Perspective on Strategic Slack and R&D Smoothing for Innovation Continuity in Family Firms.

Project Description

Zeenat’s research examines how governance structures, executive leadership, and ESG orientation shape innovation continuity in family‑controlled firms under strategic and financial constraints. Adopting an intertemporal perspective, her work focuses on how firms sustain innovation over time, rather than on static measures of innovation input or output. By exploring the roles of generational stewardship, governance intensity, and socioemotional wealth considerations, the research advances understanding of how family firms manage strategic slack to maintain innovation resilience across generations, particularly in environments characterised by uncertainty and financial frictions.

Supervision

1st Supervisor: Dr Androniki Triantafylli 
2nd Supervisor: Prof. George Kavetsos

Biography

Zeenat Murtaza is a Doctoral Researcher and Teaching Associate in Accounting and Finance at Queen Mary University of London. Her research lies at the intersection of corporate governance, ESG, innovation, and family business, with a particular focus on how governance and leadership structures shape long‑term investment behaviour under financial constraints.

She holds an MS in Finance and a BBA (Hons), both awarded with academic distinction, and is the recipient of a fully funded PhD scholarship. Zeenat is also an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) which reflects her commitment to high quality teaching and inclusive pedagogy in higher education.

Her research has been published in the Jinnah Business Review and has been accepted for presentation at leading international conferences, including the Academy of Management (AOM, TIM Division), European Accounting Association (EAA), European Academy of Management (EURAM), The Conference of Accounting in Europe (EUFIN), European Financial Management Association (EFMA), British Academy of Management (BAM), and the World Finance Conference (WFC). Her work employs advanced panel‑data econometric techniques to examine innovation continuity, governance intensity, ESG orientation, and executive decision‑making.

Alongside her academic career, Zeenat brings over six years of professional experience as a Credit Risk Analyst in the banking sector, specialising in credit proposal structuring, asset‑based lending, and regulatory compliance. This industry background strongly informs her research and teaching, allowing her to bridge rigorous empirical analysis with real‑world financial and governance practice.

Centre and Group Membership

Member of the Accounting & Accountability Research Group (AARG), QMUL

Teaching and Membership

  • Academy of Management (AOM)
  • European Accounting Association (EAA)
  • European Academy of Management (EURAM)

 

Publications

Conference Papers:

  • Murtaza, Z., Triantafylli, A., & Kavetsos, G. (2026). Strategic Slack and Socioemotional Wealth: A Dual-Theoretical Perspective on R&D Smoothing in Family Firms. Accepted for presentation at the 86th Annual Meeting of Academy of Management (AOM) in U.S., Technology & Innovation Management (TIM) Division (peer-reviewed).
  • Murtaza, Z., Triantafylli, A. & Kavetsos, G. (2026). Strategic Slack and Socioemotional Wealth: A Dual‑Theoretical Perspective on R&D Smoothing in Family Firms. Accepted for presentation in a peer-reviewed Parallel Session at the 48th Annual Congress of the European Accounting Association (EAA), Czech Republic.
  • Murtaza, Z., Triantafylli, A. & Kavetsos, G. (2026). Transgenerational Leadership, ESG & Innovation Continuity: A Multilevel Analysis of R&D Smoothing in Family Firms. Accepted for presentation at the European Academy of Management (EURAM), Norway.
  • Murtaza, Z., Triantafylli, A., & Kavetsos, G. (2026). Transgenerational Leadership Dynamics and Innovation Continuity: Evidence from R&D Smoothing in Family Firms. Accepted for presentation at the World Finance Conference (WFC), Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Ireland.
  • Murtaza, Z. & Triantafylli, A. & Kavetsos, G. (2024). Keeping It in the Family: Does Ultimate Firm Control, Technological Intensity and Financing Constraints Matter for Firms’ R&D Smoothing Strategy?

Accepted & presented at:

European Financial Management Association (EFMA) Annual Meeting, 2025

EUFIN-The Conference on Accounting in Europe, 2024

European Accounting Association (EAA) Annual Congress, 2024

British Academy of Management (BAM) Conference, 2024

PhD Forum, Accounting & Accountability Research Group (AARG), Queen Mary University of London, 2023.

  • Murtaza, Z., Saeed, M.B., & Sohail, I., (2014). Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: A Study on Moderating Effects of Firm Size and Leverage on the relationship between Corporate Governance and Firm Performance in the Banking Sector of Pakistan. Presented at the International Conference on Emerging Trends in Management (ICETM), 2019.
  • Murtaza, Z., (2014). Antecedents of Service Recovery Performance: A study of Front-line employees in Banking sector of Pakistan. Presented at the International Conference on Emerging Trends in Management (ICETM), 2019.

Media

Linkedin profile

 

Back to top