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LAC 2023 Conference: Call for Submissions
Navigating Pendular
Changes in Latin America and the Caribbean: Adaptation and Agency in International
Business
*
ESPM, São Paulo, 29-31 March 2023
The conference and pre-conference will be run entirely face-to-face
Shifts in the political and socio-economic landscape of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have revived known challenges to international business in the region. Examples include higher inflation rates in many economies, slowing public investment in basic infrastructure, technological development and higher education, regulatory changes that emphasize the interests of local stakeholders, and uncertainty regarding the duration of current higher prices of commodities. These challenges shape the context within which the actors of international business behave.
Simultaneously, a steadily growing number of firms is able to circumvent or transcend the region’s challenges through accelerated internationalization, leveraging technology, and developing associations with partners at different levels of government, within global value chains, and within entrepreneurial networks or ecosystems. Moreover, in addition to pursuing economic results, decision makers show awareness of their role in addressing ecological, social and governance agendas as they implement international business strategies.
The LAC region offers a wealth of phenomena that researchers of international business can explore. However, to do so, researchers will need to account for the dynamics of adaptation and agency by connecting levels of analysis and by making innovative use of research methods. To further our understanding of international business within the region and beyond, and to contribute to its enhanced practice, we cordially invite you to present your work at AIB-LAC’s 13th Annual Conference, “Navigating Pendular Changes in Latin America and the Caribbean: Adaptation and Agency in International Business”. The Conference will be hosted by ESPM at its facilities in São Paulo in Brazil, from 29 to 31 March 2023.
We would like to highlight a growing interest in the LAC region within the IB community and strong support for our chapter. Following a joyful re-encounter at the “AIB-LAC plus AIB” 2022 conference in Miami, we are happy to share that the 2023 conference features special activities facilitated by leading scholars and practitioners, including:
● Prof. Maria Tereza Leme Fleury, President elect of the Academy of International Business (AIB) and Full Professor of International Strategy at FGV-EAESP, Brazil
● Prof. Herman Aguinis, President of the Academy of Management (AOM), and Avram Tucker Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Management at George Washington University, United States
● Prof. Pervez Ghauri, Professor and Chair of Strategy & International Business at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
● More to be announced soon
We cordially invite you to submit your research and proposals for developmental activities related to the conference theme and international business in or relevant to the LAC region. The review of manuscripts will be coordinated by the conference Program Chair Michel Hermans (IAE Business School, Argentina) with support from track chairs. The 2023 Pre-Conference will be chaired by Elizabeth Moore (Northeastern University, USA), and Silvio Vasconcellos (ESPM, Brazil) will act as the Local Host Chair.
Important Dates
● Full Paper Submission Deadline: 31 October 2022 (23:59, Eastern Standard Time)
● Submission to the Pre-conference (PDWs and Doctoral Consortium): 30 November 2022
All submissions will be handled through the AIB online submission system. Please refer to the detailed submission instructions page for additional information on how to prepare and submit your submission. Submission system: https://meetings.aib.msu.edu/lac/2023/ (download here)
● Communication of Decisions: 12 December 2022
● Gala Dinner: Evening of 31 March 2023
Conference Tracks
We have structured the Conference Tracks as follows:
1. Political, Financial and Economic Environments and Institutions
Keywords: Latin America and Caribbean institutional environment; Institutional voids; Political context; International business policy; Corporate Political Activity; Development banks and multilateral finance institutions; Regional integration; Trade agreements.
Track Chair: Diego Finchelstein (Universidad de San Andres, Argentina) and Jacobo Ramirez (CBS, Denmark)
2. Internationalization Strategies and Process
Keywords: Global strategy; Regional strategy; Export-based strategy; Internationalization process; Entry modes; Gradual vs. rapid internationalization; Early internationalization; Internationalization and performance; De-internationalization; Re-internationalization; Born-global firms.
Track Co-Chairs: Dinora Floriani (UNIVALI, Brazil) and Guido Rojer (University of Curaçao)
3. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
in International Business
Keywords: Business ethics; Reputation; Corporate governance; Corporate social responsibility (CSR); Sustainable development goals (SDGs); Climate Change; Transition Risk; Decarbonization; Corporate Sustainability; Environmental sustainability; Sustainable global value chains (GVCs); Stakeholder engagement; Shared Value; Economic inequality; Circular economy
Track Co-Chairs: Miguel Cordova (PUCP, Peru) and Ligia de Azevedo-Rezende (FGV-EASP, Brazil)
4. International Entrepreneurship and Family Business
Keywords: International entrepreneurship; Migrant entrepreneurship, Transnational entrepreneurship, Diaspora entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial networks; New venture incubators / accelerators; Start-up programs; Venture capital; Family ownership; Family’s local embeddedness vs. internationalization; Business groups.
Track Co-Chairs: Indianna Minto-Coy (University of West Indies, Jamaica); Clarice Kogut (COPPEAD-UFRJ, Brazil)
5. International Marketing and Consumer Research
Keywords: Cross-cultural marketing; Advertising; Pricing; Marketing channels; Distribution channels; Product and service portfolios; Standardization and adaptation strategies; Brand management; Consumer behavior; Customer relationships; Customer Experience; Digital marketing.
Track Co-Chairs: Melanie Lorenz (Florida Atlantic University, USA) and Juan Carlos Sosa Varela (Universidad Ana Mendez, Puerto Rico)
6. Innovation, Technology and Supply Chains
Keywords: International R&D management; Reverse innovation; Open innovation; Innovation networks; Digital technology and platforms; Technology transfer; Replication and imitation; Global production networks; Global operations; Global sourcing; Outsourcing; Offshoring; Relocation of production; Nearshoring; Reshoring.
Track Co-Chairs: Fernanda Cahen (ESPM, Brazil) and Guillermo Dávila (Universidad de Lima, Peru)
7. International HRM, Global Leadership, and
Diversity
Keywords: Cross-cultural management; International human resource management; Global leadership; Cross-cultural leadership; Intercultural competence; Expatriate management; Talent management; International mobility; Diversity; Race; Ethnicity; Disability; Age; Gender and gender roles; LGBTQ and transgender issues; Workplace discrimination; Workplace inclusiveness.
Track Co-Chairs: Maria Beamond (RMIT, Australia); Roshnie Doon - The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine (Trinidad and Tobago)
8. Research Methods in International Business
Keywords: Data collection; Qualitative research; Quantitative research; Mixed methods; Ethnography; Interviews; Theory-building; Surveys; Experiments, Triangulation, Analytical rigor, Methodological rigor; Meta-analysis; Interdisciplinary research; Methodological innovation; Equivalence; Reliability; Transparency; Replicability.
Track Co-Chairs: Juan Velez-Ocampo (Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia) and Madeleine Bausch (Universidad de Chile, Chile)
9. Teaching and Learning International Business
Keywords: Experiential learning; Developing an IB curriculum; Internationalizing the business school; Internationalizing the curriculum; Cross-cultural classrooms; Case teaching; Executive education; Role of international experience; Simulations and role-playing; Blended learning; IB teaching tools.
Track Co-Chairs: Cyntia Vilasboas Calixto Casnici (University of Leeds, UK) and Karla Maria Nava-Aguirre (UDEM, Mexico).
10. Special Focus Track: Foreign Direct Investment from Emerging Market Economies into the LAC region
Over the past two decades, companies from an increasingly diverse range of countries have invested in the LAC region. Whereas traditional home countries of FDI include the United States, Germany, metropolitan countries in relation to their former colonies (e.g. United Kingdom vis-à-vis Barbados or Jamaica), national interests (e.g. Russia’s vaccine-diplomacy, China’s need to secure access to natural resources) and the globalization of companies in specific industrial clusters (e.g. IT services in India; cybersecurity in Israel) have increased FDI from home countries that were historically less likely to be sources of FDI into the LAC region. This track invites submissions that focus on the drivers of FDI from non-conventional countries, institutional support, firm strategies, and impact of FDI from non-conventional home countries in host economies.
Note: Accepted papers in this track with a focus on the LAC region or inward FDI to LAC countries will be eligible to be published as book chapters in an edited volume published by Palgrave Nature.
Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Africa; Middle-East; Russia; India; China; South-East Asia; Israel; Turkey; Economic diplomacy; Home country orchestration; Host country promotion; Emerging Market Multinationals; Natural resources; Technology-based Comparative Advantage.
Track Co-Chairs: Mohamed Amal (FURB/UNIVAL, Brazil) and Armando Borda (ESAN, Peru)
This Conference theme track welcomes papers that focus on firm behaviors, reactive and proactive, in light of the historical challenges of Latin America and the Caribbean. Examples of questions that we would be interested in are the following. How do the different levels of local market munificence during the commodities cycle affect firm internationalization strategies? What is the effect of inflation in home economies on emerging market multinationals’ financing structures? How do leaders of internationally operating firms (exports, regional, global) interact with leaders of populist governments? How do internationalization strategies that aim to minimize risk (e.g., asset-light, beachhead) affect the development of organizational capabilities? How does migration of knowledge workers or star employees to more developed economies affect business operations and leadership development in Latin America and the Caribbean? We encourage researchers to use research methodologies that are less common in international business such as survival analysis, tools from diffusion research, necessary conditions analysis, ethnographies, and case studies.
Keywords: Economic cycles; Populism; Commodities; Industrial and corporate renewal; Internationalization motives; Re-emergence of management tools and practices; Case studies; Survival analysis; Diffusion research; ethnography; Case studies.
Track Co-Chairs: Daniel Friel (Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina), Marcelo Alvarado (Univ of Toledo, USA)
Conference Host Institution
For over 70 years,
ESPM (Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing) hasbeen recognized for academic excellence in the areas of advertising,
marketing, international relations, and business administration. ESPM programs
are considered among the best in the country, and ESPM alumni are consistently
recruited by top companies and academic institutions in Brazil and abroad. ESPM
faculty are excited to serve as host of the 2023 AIB-LAC annual meeting and
look forward to welcoming you to Sao Paulo.
Silvio Vasconcellos, ESPM, Brazil, Conference Host Chair
Further Information
● AIB-LAC website: http://www.lac.aib.world
● AIB events website: https://www.aib.world/events/
● Program Chair: Michel Hermans, IAE Business School – Universidad Austral, Argentina
● Pre-Conference Chair: Elizabeth Moore, Northeastern University, USA
● Conference Host Chair: Silvio Vasconcellos, ESPM, Brazil
● Chapter Chair: Jorge Carneiro, FGV EAESP, Brazil
● Communication Officer: Diana Bank Weinberg, TCU, USA
● AIB-LAC social networks:
○ AIB-LAC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AIBLAT
○ AIB-LAC LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7493695/
○ AIB-LAC Twitter: https://twitter.com/AIB_LAC
