Innovation, Geography and Internationalization

in Latin America

Medellin, Colombia - March 20-22, 2014

In March 2013, Medellin, Colombia was named “Innovative City of the Year” in a competition by the Wall Street Journal and the Urban Land Institute and sponsored by the Citigroup from among 200 global contenders, beating out the other two finalists, New York and Tel Aviv. “Few cities have transformed the way that Medellín, Colombia’s second largest city, has in the past 20 years” (Urban Land Institute, 2013). As such, the city serves as the perfect backdrop for the fourth annual meeting of the Latin American Chapter of the Academy of International Business (AIB-LAT), with the theme “Innovation, Geography, and Internationalization in Latin America".

This year's AIB-LAT conference aims to promote the best and latest research findings and theoretical developments related to geographical aspects associated with innovation and internationalization in the Latin American context. Firm innovation and internationalization are often intertwined, as well as being tied to geographic factors such as agglomeration economies within a city or region, or the degree to which the local institutional structure supports these activities. Within this conference, we intend to highlight issues related to how factors such as cities, country boundaries, and various distance types (e.g., Cultural, Administrative, Geographic, and Economic; Ghemawat, 2001) promote and/or inhibit innovation and internationalization. Any contribution that furthers these topics, or related ones, in the context of MNCs in Latin America is most welcome.

We are happy to announce that the Universidad EAFIT in Medellin, Colombia will be hosting this year´s event. Universidad EAFIT was founded in 1960 as Colombia's first business school and since then it has grown into a university with more than 22,000 undergraduate students, 79 graduate (Masters and Graduate Diplomas) and four PhD programs. The Department of International Business offers Colombia's leading undergraduate International Business program with over 1,200 students. It also offers a Master in International Business (MIB), postgraduate diploma in International Business, and the IB department is a forerunner in International Business research in the country. Medellin is immersed in Colombia, a country with an excellent geographical location, constituting a middle meeting point for foreigners from the Americas, and it remains as a point of global convergence for people coming from Europe, Asia, Africa and other continents.

Look for upcoming announcements regarding additional activities associated with the conference, including a Paper Development Workshop, Doctoral Consortium, Case Study Track, Undergraduate/MBA Student Paper Track, and publication opportunities for the Conference Best Papers.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

To submit your work, use the AIB submission system that will be linked from www.aib-lat.org at least one month before the submission deadline. All works will be subject to a double blind peer review process. For more information, please e-mail: [log in to unmask]

KEY DATES:

Full Paper Submission Deadline:                October 15, 2013

Notification of Acceptance:                         December 15, 2013

Submissions will be limited to 30 pages, should meet the JIBS Style Guide format as outlined at http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jibs/style_guide.html

Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez, Local Chair

William Newburry, Chapter Chair