Dear Colleagues,
I realize there is only one week left to submit proposals
for the meeting in Nagoya, but I am hoping to find people eager and willing to
participate in two panels I want to construct. One addresses the
financing needs of SMEs and will be submitted in the SMEs, Entrepreneurship,
and Born Global track. The other is a broad discussion about how climate
change may transform how we view globalization and most likely will be submitted
in the Global Strategy, Alliances, and Competitiveness track. Both are
intended to generate discussion among and between the panelists and
attendees. As such, I am not looking for formal papers, however if you
have written something on the topics within each panel (see below) that would
be great.
Described below are what I envision for the panels.
Panel 1: Meeting the Financing Needs of the Missing
Middle: Challenges and Opportunities
The term ‘missing middle’ is being used to
describe a large and growing number of entrepreneurial endeavors in all types
of economies which are too large for micro financing and either too small or
too young to attract venture capital. They represent a challenging yet
potentially quite rewarding opportunity for investors, however they are largely
unknown to the investment community (hence the term ‘missing middle’).
The panel as envisioned will focus on four areas:
1.
Is there a need for a new investment ‘model’
which addresses the particular characteristics of the missing middle.
These characteristics include the lack of a credit history, a relatively short
(in terms of time) record of financial performance, home countries with weak
and/or developing financial infrastructure, the ability to adapt quickly, good
management, and a solid, if not always documented, business plan.
2.
The benefits and limitations of the institutions which
currently focus on this group, particularly not for profits such as Endeavor,
Ashoka, Acumen Fund, etc.
3.
The attitude of financial institutions toward this group
in the aftermath of the global economic downturn.
4.
Governance, transparency and home country
regulatory/taxation issues.
Panel 2: Will Climate Change Transform Our Concept of
Globalization?
Climate change is a fact, and climate change is a global
event. While it will affect nations differently, all nations need to
address it, as the consequences of climate change will have global
ramifications. The premise behind this panel is that dealing with climate
change will require ‘global’ thinking in addition to ‘national’
thinking, and that as a result how we think about the global community will
change. Currently these five topics are planned for discussion:
1.
Natural resource allocation and management with a sustainability
as an objective.
2.
Food supply versus food security (assuming that climate
change will be relocating the world’s bread baskets).
3.
The impact and consequences of human migration due to
dislocation caused by rising sea levels, urbanization, and human resource
allocation.
4.
The best way to raise and manage capital needed to
address climate change, particularly the mix between private and government
funding.
5.
The role of competition (at the national and business
levels) in addressing climate change: when is it helpful, when is it
harmful.
The format of both panels is not finalized, and I welcome
input. I firmly believe that both panels will be excellent additions to
the conference and are topics that need to be addressed, so please let me know
as soon as you can if you are interested and want to participate.
Thanks for your time.
Dr. John Dilyard
Associate Professor
Management & IT Department
St. Francis College
180 Remsen Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 489-5347