Looking back on this year’s conference and all the encouraging feedback we’ve received, I’ve become increasingly convinced that AIB Copenhagen can be counted among the most successful events in our organization’s history. Not only was it the biggest AIB conference ever with over 1,400 registered attendees, but also the biggest pre-conference—this year’s pre-conference paper development workshops featured expert insights from a record number of IB journals, including JIBS, JIBP, International Business Review, Global Strategy Journal, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of World Business, and Management and Organization Review. It was also the most technologically connected conference ever: There were nearly 1,900 engagements on social media throughout the event and over 1,100 downloads of the AIB Events app.

Many thanks are owed to the individuals who made this historic event possible, first and foremost to Maria Tereza Leme Fleury (VP-Program 2019) for preparing the conference program and Rebecca Piekkari (VP-Program, 2020) for managing the pre-conference program. I also want to acknowledge the AIB Secretariat for their hard work behind the scenes and contributing their expertise to various workshops, panels, and paper sessions. Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Local Committee Chair Dana Minbaeva and her team at CBS who made the conference run so smoothly and provided tons of fantastic opportunities for our members to experience the city of Copenhagen and Danish culture in general.

Alternatively, and with much regret, I would like to share some bad news with you. Marjorie Lyles, our AIB President Elect, has stepped down from the AIB Executive Board because of a health-related issue. As a result, she will not serve her term as the 2019-2020 President of AIB.

To address this gap in our leadership transition plan, we have consulted the provisions in the AIB Bylaws for managing vacancies on the Executive Board, which state:

“Any vacancy occurring on the Executive Board caused by death, resignation or otherwise may be filled for the remainder of the unfinished term at the next meeting of the Executive Board through a vote of a majority of the remaining members of the Board. The President or Acting President shall have two votes in case of a tied ballot.”

In accordance with these bylaws, AIB’s Executive Board held an official vote at their June 22 meeting. The following unanimous decisions were reached:

  1. Chuck Kwok will continue to serve as President until January 31, 2020.
  2. Jeremy Clegg, President-Elect, will succeed Chuck Kwok as President on February 1, 2020; his term will run until July 31, 2021.
  3. While Jeremy Clegg is President, Chuck Kwok will serve as the Immediate Past President.

I am sure that you will all want to join me in sending best wishes for Marjorie’s rapid recovery and return to full health.

Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to our outgoing AIB board members for their valuable service to AIB: Lorraine Eden (Past President), JT Li (VP Past Program of 2018), and Hadi Alhorr (VP Administration). Personally, I would like to express special thanks to Lorraine Eden, not only for her diligent efforts, but for serving as a role model of AIB leadership. During the two years of overlap in our presidencies, I learned a lot from Lorraine and I look forward to sharing those lessons with our future leaders.