Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Welcome to Warsaw, to our 2023 AIB Conference.
The theme for this year’s conference proposed by our Program Chair, Kaz Asakawa: “International Business Resilience under Global Disruption,” summarizes the global scenario we all live in. Topics include resilience to develop or maintain a new world order, to disinvest or invest in international operations, to deal with innovation, to cope with changes in consumer behavior, global value chain disruption, and issues regarding cyber security, among others.
The choice of location: Warsaw, Poland, is the most appropriate to shelter our discussions and reflections. Warsaw is a beautiful city that has witnessed many transformations during the last century, mainly in the previous three decades: economic, political, technological, and cultural. The Old Town was rebuilt after being devastated during the II World War and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Warsaw has hosted many international events: cultural, artistic, pro-sustainability, and other relevant topics.
And today, they are hosting us to present, discuss, and consider high-impact themes that concern not only us as scholars, researchers, and public policy makers but as citizens. Diversity, in all its dimensions: race, gender, sex, cultural and inclusion, will be present, permeating our debates. The AIB Annual Conference, rotating its location in different continents and countries offers an opportunity to fully experiment this cultural dimension. You will have panels and sessions on the different themes attracting large audiences.
The Academy of International Business is a unique association with 13 chapters spread around the world, in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean, hosting their conferences and activities. Our Shared Interest Groups now include Women in AIB, Research Methods, Teaching and Education, Sustainability, and Emerging Markets. All of them are organizing webinars as well as teaching and research activities, working closely with the chapters in a matrix model. A new SIG is being created on Global Digitalization; we are all excited about its prospects.
On the educational front, the AIB-CIBER Doctoral Academy, under the leadership of Tamer Cavusgil, working closely with the T&E SIG, is being launched and will select candidates soon. The Emerging Markets SIG has successfully launched a program for young scholars and students on International Business. We will have a panel about the AIB-CIBER Doctoral Academy and a special session for researchers and scholars from the emerging markets.
Our three journals continue to perform extremely well: JIBS, JIBP, and AIB Insights. JIBS has a new editor: Rosalie Tung, and JIBP: Ari Van Assche. I want to express our special thanks to the previous editors: Alain Verbeke and Sarianna Lundan.
I also want to express my gratitude to our hosts from SGH: Piotr Wachowiak, rector of SGH Warsaw School of Economics, as well as Miroslaw Jarosinski, Local Chair, and Wioletta Mierzejewska, Local Co-chair. Thanks also to Kaz Asakawa and Catherine Welch, our Vice Presidents, who put together an array of panels and activities for the conference and pre-conference.
The AIB board: Peter Liesch (incoming president), Andrew Delios, Kaz Asakawa, Catherine Welch (VPPs), Dana Minbaeva, Vas Taras, and Matt Raskovic (VPAs) have been unflagging in their dedication to AIB. I am grateful to all of them and warmly welcome our newly elected leaders Gary Knight, Sri Zaheer, and Liena Kano.
Our Executive Director, Tunga Kiyak, is a crucial engine in organizing this conference and the AIB activities together with his team – my special thanks to you all.
Being part of the Academy of International Business is a learning process that unites all of us. We learn how to be not only citizens of our country but citizens of the world.
Welcome to the 2023 AIB Conference.
Sincerely,
AIB President
