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AIB 2016 Annual Meeting
New Orleans, USA
June 27-30, 2016

Call for Papers

Theme: The Locus of Global Innovation

Program Chair: Charles Dhanaraj, IMD ( [log in to unmask] )

Submission Deadline: Friday, January 15th, 2016

Conference Website: http://aib.msu.edu/events/2016/

We are at an inflection point, with public and private institutions around the world being disrupted. Global integration, which is driving this disruption, is the new playing field, and innovation is the way to win this game. -- Samuel J. Palmisano, former Chairman, IBM - Rethink: A Path to the Future, 2014

The multinational enterprise (MNE) is a central unit of analysis for international business (IB) scholars. Despite the persisting imbalances across nations, MNEs continue to increase their global footprint, skillfully integrating their activities across the globe, leveraging their global presence with hybrid organizational forms in many instances. Nowhere is the impact of this global integration felt more strongly than in the arena of innovation-R&D and related activities. The interconnections between MNEs, entrepreneurs and local firms are shaping a new paradigm for global innovation. We invite your ideas, data and insights to explore the changing contours of global innovation.

A conspicuous characteristic of this global innovation paradigm is the tilt towards emerging markets. MNE investments in R&D in emerging markets are dramatically increasing, signaling a radical departure from the MNE structure early IB scholars had envisioned. Frugal innovation approaches and business model innovations are enabling resource-scarce emerging market firms to compete alongside MNEs from developed markets. However, in many of these markets, institutions that support innovation remain weak. It is not clear if, and how fast, emerging markets are moving out of the low-cost focus to innovation. How common is "reverse innovation" in MNEs? We need to study emerging empirical realities to understand the locus of global innovation.

The intersection of global innovation and emerging markets presents great opportunities to address pressing social concerns. More and more MNEs aspire to using "business as a force for good" and creating "shared value". Be it clean water or rural education, social problems are intensely local. However, global non-profit organizations, such as the Gates Foundation, have ably connected local problems to develop global solutions, and apply them in a customized manner to the locale. IB scholars have for decades explored how organizations manage global integration and local responsiveness. How do we extend such models to a systematic study of social innovation?

IB scholarship has a rich tradition of contributing to policy dialogues, with its unique vantage point gained from its comparative studies across geographies. Given the diverse policy environments MNEs have to operate in, how do these shape MNEs' global innovation choices? How can we advance the contours of policy research as it affects global innovation and its value to the local economy?

Come, and let us together explore the future of global innovation and the role of MNEs in creating this future! See you in New Orleans!

For a full list of tracks, descriptions, keywords, and submission instructions, please visit the full AIB 2016 New Orleans Call for Papers:
http://aib.msu.edu/events/2016/callforpapers.asp  .