2013 SYSBS International Management Symposium
Innovating Business Models for Global Competition
Guangzhou, China
December 7-8, 2013
Organized and Hosted by
Sun Yat-Sen Business School (SYSBS), Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
Sun Yat-Sen Business School (SYSBS) is pleased to announce its third International Management Symposium to be held in Guangzhou, China, on December 7-8, 2013. Each summer and winter, the School organizes a series of advanced research methods and frontier theories in international management. This winter’s IM symposium focuses its theme on business model innovation for global competition. It will bring strategy, management, and business scholars from China together with their global counterparts to co-learn and co-develop emerging theories and winning strategies on how firms, local or foreign, can better develop and execute innovative business models in and for global competition.
This symposium also corroborates with the Special Issue of
Global Strategy Journal (GSJ) in the manner that submitted proposals, presentations or papers with good potential and fit are encouraged to submit completed manuscripts to this special issue whose deadline is December 31, 2014.
ABOUT SYMPOSIUM: This symposium aims to advance research on business
models in global competition. International firms, whether long-established MNEs or emerging market new ventures, create and capture value through business models that are undergoing a radical transformation worldwide. A business model describes a formula
of unique value creation. It typically consists of a unique customer value proposition and profit-making scheme, as well as key resources and processes coupled together as a system to operationalize value creation. The quest for building global competitive
advantages in today’s market landscapes, such as the permeating use of information technologies, increased reliance on emerging markets, heightened threats from low-cost rivals, and growing pressure to be locally resilient yet globally integrated, prompts
business model innovations. Emerging opportunities, including those at the middle income level and bottom of the pyramid in developing countries, and new challenges, such as the economic slowdown in the developed world, put additional pressure on international
firms to innovate with their business models. In global competition, the business model describes how the firm creates value distinctively in the global marketplace by combining technology, capital, products, brands, brainpower, and value-creation activities
that suit peculiarly well foreign or global market needs, resulting in an advantage over its global rivals and sustained profitability. As business activities reach out internationally, a business model will have extended and enhanced ramifications for MNE
performance at both global and local levels. Transnational operations also imply that business models may vary across different countries in which the MNE operates and competes.
While “innovating business models” suggests many potential research questions, this symposium emphasizes presentations and discussions
that span theoretical boundaries and disciplines to create new perspectives or frameworks that improve our understanding of the processes, forces, paths, evolution, outcomes or contextualized factors associated with developing, innovating, or executing business
models for global competition by multinationals from developed and developing countries.
EXAMPLE TOPICS:
The Symposium will focus on the global relevance or global process of business models adopted by international companies. Below are some examples of topics that fall under the domain of this symposium,
which are illustrative at best and are not intended to define the boundaries of this special issue:
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: With an intention to provide an academic platform
that nurtures research on business models in global competition and further leads the discourse on some fresh perspectives on designing and innovating business models for multinational companies, this symposium will be featured with keynote speeches by internationally
recognized scholars in the area, such as Peter Buckley, Yadong Luo, Klaus Meyer, Jeff Reuer, Oded Shenkar, and Stephen Tallman, among others.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Invited submissions are proposals (7-10 pages) or work-in-process papers (per GSJ format) relating to the symposium theme. Only original, unpublished work is sought. The academic committee of the symposium
will select and invite those proposals or papers that fit the theme to be presented in the symposium.
Deadline for submission: November 1, 2013. Please send submission or inquiries to Ms. Josephine Gan at
[log in to unmask].
ABOUT SYSBS:
Established in 1985, Sun Yat-Sen Business School (SYSBS) was the first business school in mainland China instituted by an overseas foundation. As one of the oldest and leading business schools in the
nation, SYSBS has earned triple accreditations (AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB). Its EMBA was ranked #11 (2012) and Master’s in Management #44 (2013) worldwide by FT. In 2013, its business administration programs at undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels was tied
with Tsinghua U. for the second best nationwide awarded by the central government.
SYSBS is located in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province, China, also adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau. Guangzhou is the
third largest city in China. Visitors have been drawn to the metropolitan glamour and excitement of Guangzhou for the diversity and richness of economic, cultural and social life found here.