50th AIB UK and Ireland Chapter Conference
Main conference, Friday 5th – Saturday 6th April 2024
Doctoral Colloquium, Thursday 4th April 2024
Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham
CHAIR OF THE CONFERENCE
Vahid Jafari-Sadeghi, Aston University, UK, v.jafari-sadeghi@aston.ac.uk
CALL FOR PAPERS
"International Business in Evolution: Disruptions, Transformations and New Internationalisation Trends"
In recent years, the global business environment has witnessed unprecedented disruptions and challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, geopolitical tensions and expansion of the conflict zones, energy crisis and economic downturns, the surge of political populism trends, and climate change. Such international disruptions undoubtedly can alter the cross-border activities of firms, offering both internationalisation threats and opportunities. For instance, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit, many firms have been challenged by disruption in their supply chain, reduction in their national and international demand or restrictions in access to financing.
Furthermore, the ever-evolving technological advancement has changed the international business game. On the one hand, the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and new digital technologies such as social media, AI-driven marketing tools, and digital platforms like the metaverse have provided a wider outreach for firms to new customers in international markets. On the other hand, failure to invest in and adapt to the latest technologies, along with cybersecurity and privacy issues, can disadvantage firms in the competitive international markets, pushing them to consider the option of reducing their international activities or exiting from foreign markets.
In response to such disruptions, international firms need to make strategic transformation decisions and shift to more flexible and agile business models. It begs for the employment of innovation and new technologies to the firm's operation, re-orchestration of their global value chains, inter-firm knowledge collaboration and R&D, and taking advantage of foreign market context advantages. However, such strategic decisions need to be well aligned with the new world order and international business policy, as well as the recent changes to economic geography, while prioritising sustainable business practices.
We invite scholars to join this debate at the 50th AIB UK & Ireland Chapter Conference, where we further scrutinise the evolution of international business as a response to the recent disruptions. This conference theme further explores the new internationalisation trends and practices applied by small and medium (SME) internationalisers and multinational enterprises (MNEs). We also invite research on non-linear internationalisation strategy, which explores the wave of de- and re-internationalisation resulting from the disruptions and firms' responses. However, in the tradition of previous chapter conferences, we welcome papers that explore different international business topics pertinent to the conference tracks below.
For more information, visit https://www.aib-uki.org/
CONFERENCE TRACKS
Track 1: General Track
Surender Munjal, Aston University, UK, s.munjal@aston.ac.uk
Yama Temouri, Khalifa University, UAE, yama.temouri@ku.ac.ae
Track 2: Global Value Chains: Contents and Discontents
Ari Van Assche, HEC Montréal, Canada, ari.van-assche@hec.ca
Jun Du, Aston University, UK, j.du@aston.ac.uk
Track 3: International Entrepreneurship, Export Challenges, and Intermittent Exporting
Antonella Zucchella, University of Pavia, Italy, antonella.zucchella@unipv.it
Razieh Sadraei, Coventry University, UK, ad9531@coventry.ac.uk
Track 4: International Business, Innovation & Geography
Marianna Marra, University of Sussex, UK, m.marra@sussex.ac.uk
Dalila Ribaudo, Aston University, UK, d.ribaudo@aston.ac.uk
Track 5: The Intersection of SDGs and the Dark & Bright Sides of International Business and Society
Chris Jones, Aston University, UK, c.jones2@aston.ac.uk
Elena (Liena) Kano, University of Calgary, Canada, liena.kano@haskayne.ucalgary.ca
Track 6: The Political Economy of the MNE-Government Relationship
Sumon Bhaumik, University of Sheffield, UK, s.k.bhaumik@sheffield.ac.uk
Agelos Delis, Aston University, UK, a.delis@aston.ac.uk
Track 7: International Business in Emerging Markets: Opportunities, Challenges, and Paths Forward
Sumit Kundu, Florida International University, USA, kundus@fiu.edu
Seçil Danakol, Aston University, UK, s.danakol@aston.ac.uk
Track 8: International Marketing Strategy and Consumer Behaviour in the Turbulence Era
Xinming He, Durham University, UK, xinming.he@durham.ac.uk
Reza Marvi, Aston University, UK, r.marvi@aston.ac.uk
Track 9: International Human Resource Management
Pawan Budhwar, Aston University, UK, p.s.budhwar@aston.ac.uk
Hoa Do, University of Leicester, UK, hd232@leicester.ac.uk
Track 10: Grand Challenges, International Business and Policy: Towards actionable policies
Heinz Tuselmann, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, h.tuselman@mmu.ac.uk
Rudolf Sinkovics, University of Glasgow, UK, rudolf.sinkovics@glasgow.ac.uk
Track 11: International Business, Technology and Digital Transformation
Olli Kuivalainen, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland, olli.kuivalainen@lut.fi
Antonis Ballis, Aston University, UK, a.ballis@aston.ac.uk
Track 12: Teaching and Education in International Business
Margaret Fletcher, University of Glasgow, UK, margaret.fletcher@glasgow.ac.uk
Stefan Zagelmeyer, University of Manchester, UK, stefan.zagelmeyer@manchester.ac.uk
DOCTORAL COLLOQUIUM
The prestigious AIB-UKI Doctoral Colloquium for PhD students will take place on Thursday 4th April 2024, for which submissions are now invited.
The colloquium provides doctoral researchers working in the field of international business with the opportunity to present and discuss their new research ideas with a panel of distinguished scholars in a series of interactive sessions. Doctoral paper presentation sessions are held in a collaborative and friendly atmosphere, where participants have the unique opportunity to receive detailed feedback from notable scholars. Sessions are open to all conference delegates. Students receive oral and written feedback from leading experts in their field about how to theorise better, refine the data collection approach, and, ultimately, how to translate their work into full academic papers. Doctoral students at different stages of their thesis are welcome to apply for participation in the colloquium.
In order to formally recognise those PhD students with the most original ideas and unique contributions - a series of awards are also given within the Doctoral Colloquium at AIB-UKI.
Importantly, participating doctoral students will be invited to attend specialised workshops on topics such as research methods and how to publish the doctoral thesis. Senior colleagues from the AIB community will deliver these workshops.
For more information, visit https://www.aib-uki.org
Doctoral Convener: Irina Surdu, Warwick University, UK, irina.surdu@wbs.ac.uk