Academy of International Business, Western USA Chapter
2015 Annual Conference
October 22 – 24, 2015
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

Conference Theme: Advancing International Business Research

Submission Deadline: August 1, 2015

The Conference

AIB-W is one of 16 chapters worldwide of the Academy of International Business (AIB), the leading academic organization for scholars and practitioners of international business.  The AIB-W annual conference emphasizes presentation to an international audience of the latest ideas in international business scholarship and practice.  The conference’s professional development focus provides a collegial and supportive platform to discuss and develop ideas, and an opportunity for mentoring authors to enhance their papers for publication.  Although based in the Western United States, the AIB-W annual conference provides a venue for participants from around the world. 

Advancing International Business
The conference seeks to enhance knowledge development on global trade and investment and superior performance in organizations that operate internationally.  Papers are welcome that explain the nature or improve the international competitiveness of firms and non-profits. 

All types of participants are welcome, especially master’s and PhD students, professors of all ranks, and members of the practitioner community.  The conference is an opportunity to present scholarly papers and obtain critical feedback in a professional setting.  Submitted papers can range from works-in-progress to complete articles aimed for journal publication. 

Proceedings
All papers presented at the conference will be published, at the discretion of authors, in the 2015 AIB-W Conference Proceedings.  Copies of the proceedings will be available to participants who pre-order at registration.

Awards
Awards with cash prizes will be given at the Conference to the Best Paper, the Best Student Paper, and the Best Reviewer.

Venue
The conference will take place in Seattle, Washington, USA, on the campus of the University of Washington.  The venue provides an excellent opportunity to develop connections and collaborations in the heart of Puget Sound, with beautiful ocean and mountains nearby.  Seattle is a hub of international business, with a particular focus on the Pacific Rim.  The region is home to large multinationals and innovative firms in sectors including aerospace, healthcare, clean technology, international logistics, and information and communication technology.  AIB-W will arrange a block of rooms for participants at a hotel near the conference site in Seattle.

Paper and Panel Submissions
The main conference activity is paper presentations.  Panel presentations are also possible.  When submitting your paper or panel proposal, please identify the topical track in which you want your submission categorized.  Each paper or panel proposal is submitted to only one track. Select the track closest to your topic from among:

1. IB Theory, FDI, and Entry Mode Strategies
The nature of foreign direct investment (FDI) is evolving in a world characterized by the growing importance of emerging markets and developing economies as both sources and destinations for FDI.  Global economic, institutional, and cultural environments pose important challenges for FDI and the multinational enterprise (MNE).  This track invites papers that investigate FDI and MNEs in terms of investment motivations, location choice, entry mode decisions, or how headquarters interacts with and affects host-country firms, governments, and institutional environments.

2. Global Strategy and Competitiveness
Strategy is a critical dimension of organizational performance.  This track invites conceptual and empirical papers that examine the relationship between organizational strategies and their effect on firms’ competitiveness and performance.  We encourage papers focusing on innovation, knowledge management, and cross-border learning and collaborations as key components of global corporate strategy.

3. International Marketing
This track addresses the role of marketing as a conduit for entering and growing in foreign markets and interacting with diverse customers.  Papers are encouraged that offer new conceptual and empirical insights into the nature and processes of cross-border marketing, and that emphasize issues such as cross-cultural consumer behavior, segmentation, product development, branding, and the digitization of markets.  Papers that examine marketing approaches for emerging economies and base of the pyramid markets are also welcome.

4. International Economics, Finance, and Accounting
Papers in this track should be based on economics and/or finance and accounting literature and research methodology, but should address questions of interest to IB scholars and practitioners.  Relevant topics in this track might include M&As, valuation, capital flows, transfer pricing, exchange rates, international political economy, regional economics, and others.  Papers examining questions on international trade and development are also appropriate.

5. Global Value Chains
This track emphasizes the upstream side of international value chains, including suppliers in global sourcing.  The international marketplace particularly impacts supply chain management, bringing substantial risk or uncertainty.  We welcome submissions that offer important conceptual and empirical insights on the nature and processes of channel development, and on the management and logistics of global supply chains.

6. Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
This track invites papers on successes, failures, and challenges of incorporating sustainability and CSR in the internationalizing firm and the business curriculum.  Topics could include governance, international social entrepreneurship, cross-sectoral partnerships, resource management, poverty alleviation, and fostering business understanding and practice that promote environmental health or stewardship.

7. Entrepreneurship, SMEs, and Born Globals
Large numbers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are participating in international trade, investment, and collaboration.  Born globals represent an important trend and portend the future of international trade and investment.  Research submitted in this track can explore, for instance: how resource-constrained SMEs succeed in complex international environments; how global environments affect international activities of entrepreneurs and SMEs; and how SMEs evolve with growing global commitment.

8. Organization and Human Resources of the MNE
MNEs manage substantial complexity and tensions inherent in their activities through the firm’s most important resource–managers and other personnel.  This track explores ways in which MNEs operate across diverse international contexts, and how they configure themselves internally and externally.  We will consider research on novel organizational forms such as virtual teams, internal knowledge networks, and offshored divisional headquarters.  Papers on topics related to leadership, diversity issues in management, and recruitment and retention of talent in the context of global firms are also welcome.  

9. Emerging Markets and Developing Economies
The growing importance of emerging economies as destinations and sources of FDI has given rise to important research questions.  We invite papers that examine how institutional and environmental factors in emerging economies influence the behavior and performance of MNCs entering these markets.  Also of interest are papers that examine the growing importance of South-South trade and investment; the strategies and performance of emerging market multinationals (E-MNEs); and the country and firm specific advantages of E-MNEs.  We welcome submissions that bridge the gap between theory and practice, and explore links among complementary disciplines (e.g., political science, economics) and international business.  This track is also appropriate for research on NGOs and non-profits operating in emerging markets.   

10. International Business Education
The track invites submissions on innovative approaches to teaching international business.  This includes insights on teaching IB with cases, experiential learning exercises, the use of technology to enhance IB courses, developing study abroad programs, and other curricular issues.  Business cases with an IB focus can also be submitted.

Submit your Paper
All submissions will be handled through the AIB-W online submission system: http://meetings.aib.msu.edu/us-w/2015/

All manuscripts and panel proposals must be submitted by August 1, 2015.  Refer to the Submission Instructions page for information on how to prepare and submit your paper.  

Authors of papers selected for presentation will be notified by late August, 2015.  At least one author of an accepted paper must register for the conference within four weeks of the acceptance notification to secure a place on the program.

Any questions regarding this call for papers should be addressed to the AIB-W Conference Chair Professor Nila Wiese, nwiese@pugetsound.edu.

Submission Guidelines

All submissions must conform to the following guidelines

The document must be stripped of all identifying information:  Do not include a cover page.  The ‘File Properties’ for the documents should be cleared of all identifying information.

Each manuscript should be accompanied by an abstract, not to exceed 200 words. 

Panel proposals should have 3-5 scholars and/or students and a common theme, as well as a chair/discussant.

Submissions must be formatted as follows:  Letter sized page (8.5″x11″ or 215×280 mm), with one-inch (2.5 cm) margins, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 point font. 

Competitive papers should not exceed 10,000 words, and must comply with the JIBS style requirements (http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jibs/style_guide.html).

We recommend you submit your paper in PDF format to ensure reviewers see it in the intended way.  Microsoft Word files are also acceptable.  Check all files for viruses using updated anti-virus software before submission.  Free virus scanners are available at TrendMicro and BitDefender.

All submissions will be acknowledged.  If you do not receive an acknowledgment within 48 hours of submitting your manuscript or proposal, please inform the Conference Chair.

More Information on the AIB
The Academy of International Business (AIB; aib.msu.edu) is the leading association of scholars and practitioners in the field of international business.  Established in 1959, the AIB has more than 3,000 members, across 18 chapters in 87 countries.  We welcome conceptual and empirical papers, as well as teaching case studies and symposia from scholars, business professionals and policy makers.

 

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