Call for Papers for a Scholarly Symposium at the Academy of Management 2011

East Meets West: A South Asian Perspective on Management Theories and Practices

San Antonio, Texas (August 12-16, 2011)

http://annualmeeting.aomonline.org/2011

Symposium organizers:

• Jawad Syed, University of Kent, UK, j.syed@kent.ac.uk
• Naresh Khatri, University of Missouri, USA, khatrin@health.missouri.edu
• Shaista E. Khilji, The George Washington University, USA, sekhilji@gwu.edu

This is a call for papers for  a symposium  entitled, ‘East meets West: A South Asian perspective on management theories and practices’ that we intend to submit for formal review to one or more of the following divisions of the Academy of Management: International Management (IM); Organization and Management and Theory (OMT); Organizational Behavior (OB); and, Critical Management Studies (CMS)

Note: The papers accepted for this symposium will also be considered for a Special Issue of the South Asian Journal of Global Business Research (SAGBR) to come out in early 2012. Published by Emerald, SAJGBR is devoted to advancing theoretical and empirical knowledge of business and management issues facing organizations in South Asia,  thus expanding the scope of international business/management theories (Editor-in-Chief: Shaista E. Khilji). This special issue will be Guest-edited by Jawad Syed and Naresh Khatri.

Aims of the symposium:

The aim of this symposium is to highlight the indigenous workplace theories and practices from South Asia, as well as to draw attention to the many challenges that organizations of all kinds confront in South Asia. The emphasis is on critically examining the relevance of the mainstream (Western) management theories and practices in the South Asian cultural and institutional context as also on formulation and propagation of new theories, concepts, and models that have more explanatory power than existing management theories in understanding complex management problems and challenges that organizations in South Asia currently face and are likely to encounter in years to come.

South Asia is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises an emerging economic giant India and a number of pre-emerging/frontier economies including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. With a population exceeding 1.6 billion, South Asia is home to approximately one fourth of the world’s population, making it one of most densely populated and  one of the world’s fastest economically growing regions.

Broadly, we welcome papers and/or abstracts that address the 2011 AOM conference theme: “West meets East: Enlightening, Balancing, Transcending.” More specifically, the papers on the following topics or issues will fit the scope of the symposium:

• Western and Eastern societies vary significantly on a number of cultural dimensions. It would be of interest to explore how the different, and sometimes opposite, cultural assumptions may affect behaviors of individuals and organizations in respective cultures.
• The civilization in South Asia is one of the oldest and has seen a lot of ups and downs and survived. There is a lot of wisdom and many lessons that it has learnt over time. The papers bringing and highlighting the wisdom of South Asia in managing organizations effectively will be very useful.
• The South Asian culture may differ not only from the Western culture but also from the culture of the Fareast Asian countries. The systematic study of such differences is likely to be quite fascinating. Especially, China and India are two major emerging economies. Both have their unique strengths and weaknesses. The examination of their contrast is likely to be of deep interest to scholars and practitioners for a long time to come. Well-informed and argued propositions on where these societies are headed will be relevant for the symposium.
• Companies in and from South Asia are playing an active role in global expansion and innovation. The world appears to be in a transition from “West leads East” to “West meets East”, or possibly “East leads West” as has been argued by Cappelli et al (2010)[1].  What are the special features of emerging companies and businesses in South Asia? Can they compete at the world stage?
• A potpourri of countries included in the South Asian region presents a plethora of interesting issues and challenges and offers an opportunity for creative thinking based on the “East-West” debate.
• South Asia is faced with several challenges in terms of population growth, poor infrastructure, corruption and cronyism, dysfunctional political culture, elitism, and fractured societies. In order to turn these challenges into opportunities, we will need to draw on enlightenment, balance, and transcendence.
• In sum, we are interested in new ideas and insights that are likely to improve management of organizations in South Asia.

Format and deadline:

Scholars need to submit their paper in two stages: (a) long abstract (approx. 1000 words with references) due by December 1, 2010, and (b) full papers (approx. 7000 words including references) due by March 1, 2011. Abstracts received by Dec 1, 2010 will be evaluated on their contribution to the symposium theme and cutting-edge ideas. You will be notified of the selection (or not) by Dec 15, 2010. Those selected will be invited to submit full papers by March 1, 2011.

We welcome both theoretical and empirical papers for the special issue. We do not have a preference for a research paradigm, therefore welcome any appropriate research methodology.

This call is open and competitive, and the submitted papers will be blind reviewed in the normal way. Submission will be taken to imply that a paper contains original work that has not previously been published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Authors should follow the AOM’s regular guidelines. http://annualmeeting.aomonline.org/2011

AOM Rule of 3 + 3: All intended participants need to agree to participate and confirm that they are not in violation of the AOM rule of 3 +3. The Rule of Three + Three allows an individual to submit or be associated with up to three PDWs and up to three scholarly submissions (papers and symposia). This does NOT mean that the individual can submit or be associated with 6 total submissions. The maximum number of participation in the PDW program (Friday – Sunday) is three, and the maximum number of participation in the scholarly program (Sunday – Tuesday) is three. This is why this rule is called the Rule of Three + Three.

South Asian Academy of Management
The South Asian Academy of Management (SAAM) is a professional association for scholars dedicated to creating and disseminating knowledge about management and organizations in South Asia. This includes information about the South Asian diaspora in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. http://atomic-temporary-16473468.wpcomstaging.com

Prospective contributors are welcome to liaise with the symposium organizers before the submission date to discuss the suitability of their work for this symposium/publication.

[1] Cappelli, P., Singh, H, Singh, J., & Useem, M. (2010). The India way: Lessons for the US. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 24 (2): 6-24.