Call for papers. Special issue on AACSB

Organization Management Journal Special Issue

Call For Submissions

Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) Accreditation Current Issues

This special issue of OMJ will focus on current issues in Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation. The AACSB Accreditation Standards challenge post-secondary educators to pursue excellence and continuous improvement throughout their business programs. AACSB Accreditation is known, worldwide, as the longest standing, most recognized form of specialized/professional accreditation an educational institution and its business programs can earn.

This special issue represents an opportunity for affirmative dialog about the role of accreditation in management education in developing a new generation of leaders capable of managing the complex challenges faced by business schools and their stakeholders in the 21st century. This focus is especially salient given the ongoing debates about the influence and relevance of business education in delivering a quality education to prepare their students for productive jobs in business. We believe it is important for faculty and administrators to (1) understand the 2013 AACSB standards, the evolution of the standards, and their relationship to quality business education programs; (2) share knowledge about their curriculum, policies, practices, and experiences implemented to acquire or maintain AACSB accreditation; and (3) critically interrogate the opportunities and challenges associated with AACSB accreditation.

Integrating AACSB into the business and management curriculum and administration requires distributing emerging knowledge and best practices which in turn can promote collective inquiry into associated philosophical, conceptual, empirical and pragmatic issues. Key topics may include but are not limited to:

• · 2013 AACSB Standards
• · Assurance of Learning (AoL)
• · Enhancing and Measuring Impact - AACSB accreditation standards
• · The Future of Accreditation and Management Education

These key issues might be addressed at the following levels of analysis:

• • Course Level. What are course designs that successfully integrate AACSB standards? Which experiential exercises promote students’ learning with respect to the AACSB standards? What professional development activities support the ability to deliver AACSB standards to students?
• • Institution Level. What curriculum configurations support AACSB standards? What political and/or intellectual challenges did individuals face in advocating for AACSB standards’ adoption at their institutions and how were these overcome? Is there a distinction among AACSB standards that can or should be taught at the undergraduate, master’s, and continuing executive education levels?
• • Discipline Level. Are there teaching and learning and assessment strategies better suited for various content areas? How does AACSB accreditation provide options to integrate intellectual content within and across disciplines? How do changes in cultural or nation state environments influence AACSB accreditation? What current educational assumptions or practices does AACSB accreditation force educators to question and challenge?

Conceptual, empirical, and practice-focused papers are welcome. Authors are encouraged to contact the guest co-editors regarding paper development sessions at various 2015 and 2016 professional conferences. Individuals knowledgeable about AACSB standards and practices are encouraged to volunteer as reviewers to the issue by contacting any of the issue co-editors below.

The deadline for submissions is March 28, 2016. Information on submissions formatting and submission can be found at the journal homepage, www.tandfonline.com/uomj. Submissions should be original, not published in any other source, and no more than 35 pages long, including references, figures, tables, appendices, etc. Submit electronic submissions, Word or RTF files only through the journal homepage link at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/omj . Under submission type, select Special Issue: AACSB. Prospective authors as well as potential reviewers are encouraged to contact one of the guest co-editors.

Kathleen J. Barnes
University of New Haven
kathleenjbarnes@gmail.com

George Smith
University of South Carolina Beaufort
geosmith3@gmail.com

Sarah Vaughan
La Rochelle Business School (Groupe Sup de Co LaRochelle)
vaughans@esc-larochelle.fr

Call for conference papers: AIB-Lat 2016

Innovation Environments and Global Value Chains in Latin America

6th AIB-LAT Annual Conference - February 18-20, 2016 

São Paulo - Brazil

Innovation environments (clusters, technology parks and business incubators) can play an important role in integrating Latin American firms into global value chains (GVC) in a more qualified way. On the one hand, innovation environments have attracted R&D&I units of MNCs to Latin America and thus have fostered innovation in the region. There are successful cases in specific industries such as oil and gas, automotive, biomed, IT and others. On the other hand, there is growing interest in inserting Latin American firms in GVCs in order to increase international trade and capture value in the innovation steps in those GVCs. The Global Open Innovation approach can help in this regard. However, this context imposes several challenges and questions arise:

How to attract R&D&I units of MNCs to innovation environments in Latin America? How to insert Latin American firms into the innovation steps of GVCs? What are the dilemmas in the internationalization of innovation environments? How to manage Global Open Innovation? What is the role of government? How to identify which industries should be focused upon? How to stimulate the internationalization of technology based firms from Latin America?

To deal with these interesting issues, the Latin American Chapter of the Academy of International Business is pleased to announce that the conference "Innovation Environments and Global Value Chains in Latin America" will be held in São Paulo, Brazil at FEA – Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade, USP - Universidade de São Paulo, on February 18-20, 2016. This AIB-LAT conference aims to promote the best and latest research findings and theoretical developments in the fields of Innovation Environments and Global Value Chains in Latin America.

We cordially invite you to share your experience in this research field by submitting empirical and conceptual papers explicitly or implicitly related to the theme of the conference. Papers more broadly based on international business and Latin America will also be accepted. Below is an illustrative list of topics that will be considered:

• Global value chains in Latin America
• Internationalization of innovation environments
• Global strategy and innovation
• Global open innovation
• Multinational and subsidiary management
• Internationalization in Latin America and entry modes o Knowledge management in the region
• International marketing
• International human resources management
• Corporate social responsibility and international business ethics 
• Inward and outward FDI
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Offshoring and outsourcing in the region
• Corporate governance, international finance,  international standards
• Regional policies, IGOs, NGOs
• International social entrepreneurship
• Research methods in international business o Cross-cultural management
• Internationalization of family firms

Submission of papers:

Deadline for full paper submissions: 19th October 2015
Communication to the applicants: 26th October 2015.

O
Visit the AIB-LAT website in the next few weeks for more information: www.aib-lat.org

or submit your questions to: lat2016@aib.msu.edu


Conference Chair: Dr. Moacir de Miranda Oliveira Jr., University of São Paulo Chapter Chair: Dr. William Newburry, Florida International University

AIB-LAT is the Latin American Chapter of the Academy of International Business (AIB) and it is the leading association of scholars and specialists in the field of international business in Latin America. In its mission to advance the teaching and scientific research of all areas of international business, AIB-LAT is now accepting proposals related to the conference theme.

Call for papers. New advantage and liability sources in entrepreneurial firms:

Group & Organization Management 

Call for Papers for a Special Issue

NEW ADVANTAGE AND LIABILITY SOURCES IN ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRMS: ASSESSING PROGRESS AND EXPLORING POSSIBILITIES

Submission Period: June 30, 2015-August 31, 2015

Guest Editors:

Hans Landström, Lund University Franz Lohrke, Samford University

Background and Special Issue Purpose

2015 marks the 50th anniversary and 2016 the 30th anniversary, respectively, of Stinchcombe’s (1965) landmark work on liabilities of newness and Auster and Aldrich’s (1986) seminal work on liabilities of smallness. Do new ventures (NVs) still face the same daunting survival odds scholars first asserted a half century ago or are they innovative, flexible organizations that attract customers, suppliers, and investors? Are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) unable to compete effectively with or can they respond to changing competitive environments better than their larger counterparts? Extant research provides ample evidence that both these contrasting views may be valid.

On the one hand, scholars have found a positive relationship between firm newness and failure, often referred to as ‘liabilities of newness.’ These findings support the long-standing hypothesis that factors related to newness, such as low organizational legitimacy with external stakeholders, may contribute to high NV financial distress and failure rates (DeVaughn & Leary, 2010). Similarly, scholars have noted that SMEs face size disadvantages (i.e., ‘liabilities of smallness’), including inabilities to capture economies of scale, develop a strong brand name, attract top managerial talent, or gain bargaining power with key stakeholders (Strotmann, 2007).

On the other hand, other theoretical and empirical studies have suggested that NVs and SMEs may actually enjoy important strategic advantages. For example, NVs may enjoy ‘assets of newness’ resulting from high strategic flexibility and attractiveness to early adopters (Choi & Shepherd, 2005). In addition, SMEs may be able to avoid organizational inertia and respond more quickly than large enterprises can to competitive threats in dynamic environments (Chen & Hambrick, 1995).

These latter perspectives may be enhanced by recent innovations and other trends that could boost NV and SME advantages and/or partially mitigate their disadvantages. For example, NVs and SMEs can now build a brand name and find critical human resources talent via social media, access essential software via cloud computing, prototype products with 3D printing, outsource production to overcome capacity constraints, run geographically dispersed operations with virtual teams, and raise capital for new business ideas through crowdfunding. In addition, national and local governments have often tried to support entrepreneurship by passing favorable legislation and establishing incubation facilities. These innovations and policies have lowered industry entry barriers as well as enhanced the ability of NVs and SMEs to compete on a more equal footing with their more established and larger counterparts.

Although research has provided insights into some innovations and trends affecting liabilities of newness and smallness, studies of other topics remain extremely limited. For example, although a large body of work exists examining the value of incubation facilities, only a handful of studies, to date, have examined advantages entrepreneurs can gain from employing social media, 3D printing, virtual teams, and crowdfunding to help overcome their firms’ respective liabilities.

Accordingly, this special issue seeks to examine if and how critical issues related to liabilities of newness and liabilities of smallness have changed, given recent technological innovations and other trends. We believe that a special issue devoted to these topics is especially timely, not only because this research can inform current management theory, policy, and practice but also because it has now been five and three decades, respectively, since the publication of Stinchcombe’s (1965) and Auster and Aldrich’s (1986) seminal works. These anniversaries provide an ideal time to reflect on findings, to date, and examine future research avenues.

Possible Research Questions

For this special issue, we are looking for submissions that provide important conceptual and empirical insights about liabilities of newness or smallness that would be of interest to a wide range of organizational scholars. Appropriate topics might include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Entrepreneurship and innovation: Do NVs and SMEs implement organizational changes required by the advent of new technologies more easily than their older and larger counterparts? How are NVs structurally “imprinted” by their founding during times when new technologies develop? Does adopting new technologies enhance NV or SME innovation? What role does absorptive capacity in these firms have on their ultimate success with innovations? 
• Strategic management: What specific strategies can firms use to overcome liabilities of newness and smallness? How and when can NVs exploit ‘assets of newness’ to develop competitive advantages? How will recent innovations affect the overall entrepreneurship process of opportunity identification, evaluation, and exploitation? 
• Public policy: How can government policies help mitigate liabilities of newness and smallness? What role do institutions such as business incubator and university technology transfer programs have in reducing these liabilities? How could lower entry barriers resulting from these technologies and trends impact industry structure and, in turn, NV and SME performance? 
• Technology and innovation: What impact will new technologies and trends have on NV and SME access to critical resources such as capital and human resources talent? Can these firms use technologies developed externally to build a sustainable competitive advantage? 
• Social entrepreneurship: Do key success factors for employing new technologies differ between public organizations and private firms? Do non-profits and socially missioned for-profit firms have any advantages or disadvantages relative to traditional for-profit firms in using new technologies like crowdfunding?
• International management and entrepreneurship: How will these innovations impact the process of creating and managing new international ventures? Can small companies employ innovations such as virtual teams to expand their operational scope internationally? 
• Behavioral issues: Are NVs and SMEs with higher entrepreneurial orientation more likely to adopt and successfully exploit new technologies? What linguistic cues and other actions can entrepreneurs use to enhance the probability of successful crowdfunding campaigns? 
• Ethical and legal issues: What ethical issues arise for entrepreneurs when employing technological advances such as 3D printing, social media, and crowdfunding? What impact will these technologies have on the value of patents and copyrights? 

Deadlines, Submission, and Review Process

Submissions should be prepared in accordance with Group & Organization Management guidelines. The submission window will be open between June 30 and August 31, 2015. For additional guidelines, please see ‘Manuscript Submission” at http://www.sagepub.com/journals/Journal200823/ manuscriptSubmission.

Further Information

For questions regarding the content of this special issue, please contact the guest editors:

• Hans Landström, Lund University, hans.landstrom@fek.lu.se  
• Franz Lohrke, Samford University, ftlohrke@samford.edu

References

• Auster, E. R. & Aldrich, H. (1986). Even dwarfs started small: Liabilities of age and size and their strategic implications. Research in Organizational Behavior, 8: 165-198. 
• Chen, M.-J. & Hambrick, D. C. (1995). Speed, stealth, and selective attack: How small firms differ from large firms in competitive behavior. Academy of Management Journal, 38: 453-482. 
• Choi, Y. R., & Shepherd, D. A. (2005). Stakeholder perceptions of age and other dimensions of newness. Journal of Management, 31, 573-596. 
• DeVaughn, M. L., & Leary, M. M. (2010). Antecedents of failure for newly chartered banks in the U.S. banking industry. Group & Organization Management, 35, 666-695. 
• Stinchcombe, A. (1965). Organizations and social structure. In J. G. March (ed.), Handbook of organizations, pp.142-193. Chicago: Rand McNally. 
• Strotmann, H. (2007). Entrepreneurial survival. Small Business Economics, 28, 84-101.

Call for papers. Special Issue: Entrepreneurship in the Informal Sector: institutional perspectives

Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship

Call for Papers

Special Issue: Entrepreneurship in the Informal Sector: institutional perspectives

• Guest Editors: Colin C. Williams, University of Sheffield, UK
• Marijana Baric, University of Buckingham, UK 

Background

The informal sector refers to activities that are lawful in nature but not declared to the public authorities and thus are fully or partially outside of formal government regulation, taxation, and observation. In recent years, there has been growing recognition that many entrepreneurs operate wholly or partially in the informal sector. This tendency of entrepreneurs to operate in the informal sector is applicable not only in developing countries but also in transition economies as well as western developed nations.
Indeed, it is recognized that although this is a sizeable realm in global perspective, such entrepreneurship is more prevalent in some global regions and nations. It is also widely recognized that this is a heterogeneous sphere and that its character varies across populations. In some populations, it may be largely necessity-driven entrepreneurs operating in the informal sector; in others, it may be opportunity-driven entrepreneurs.
Special Issue on entrepreneurship in the informal sector: institutional perspectives
This special issue seeks to explore entrepreneurship in the informal sector from a range of institutional perspectives. Economic relations and institutions are shaped within - and thus are an integral part of - the surrounding political, social and cultural context. As such, informal sector entrepreneurship has to be understood within the broader political, social and cultural context of the places in which it is found.

The aim of the special issue is to bring together studies of informal sector entrepreneurship drawn from a wide variety of contexts. Empirical as well as conceptual studies are welcome. Topics of interest might include but are not restricted to the following:

• The influence of formal and informal institutions on informal sector entrepreneurship
• The role of weak institutions and corruption
• Tax morale
• Public perceptions of informality
• Social entrepreneurship in the informal sector
• Vulnerable groups and entrepreneurship/bottom of the pyramid studies
• Necessity- versus opportunity-driven entrepreneurship
• Public policy perspectives on informal sector entrepreneurs
• Case studies of policy initiatives to tackle informal entrepreneurship
• Social capital and informal entrepreneurship
• Risk of detection and informality
• Comparative studies of informal entrepreneurship

Other topics not mentioned above are welcome so long as they conform to the broad theme of the special issue.

Submission instructions

The deadline for the submission of papers is 15th January 2016.

Papers must be submitted electronically at: http://www.edmgr.com/rsbe/
Papers for the Special Issue should be prepared and formatted according to the Journal’s Instructions for authors available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission…

Enquiries regarding this special issue can be addressed to: Marijana Baric (marijana.baric@buckingham.ac.uk) or Colin C. Williams (C.C.Williams@sheffield.ac.uk).