Theme: The Future of International Business: Post COVID-19
Extended Abstract Submission Deadline: September 10, 2021 (Extended from July 31)
Registration Deadline: October 15, 2021 (Extended from September 30)
Overview: During the past decade, the annual conference of our AIB Asia Pacific Chapter (formally known as AIBSEAR) has been dedicated to globalization-related themes. Certain terms such as connectivity, network, and cooperation have been a part of our previous themes.
Trends in International Business showed the benefits of economic cooperation through the facilitation of trade, investment, and cross-border activities. One global market for inputs and outputs allows firms to achieve efficiency by taking advantage of economic interdependence. As manufacturers have been relocating, emerging economies, including countries in the Asia Pacific region, are now an integral part of this new global supply chain.
Last year we convened the conference under the theme “turbulent times,” where COVID-19 forced companies to rewrite their strategies and crisis management was the top priority. As businesses have settled down, it is time to re-evaluate their long-term strategy. Reliance on foreign countries to serve local consumers may no longer be a risk-free strategy. Deglobalization is on the agenda now. The challenge is how to continually take advantage of globalization whilst simultaneously hedging against its risks. This transition period poses a risk particularly to the Asia Pacific region, as we are now inseparably linked to globalization’s outcomes.