Globalization of Knowledge Creation and Innovation in the Context of Emerging Economies

Co-sponsored by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) School of Business, HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies, City University of Hong Kong, and the International Association for Chinese Management Research (IACMR)

Hong Kong, December 4-7, 2014

We are very pleased and excited to announce the Inaugural Management Organization Review (MOR) Research Frontiers Conference. The purpose of the annual MOR Research Frontiers Conference is to serve as the exploration mode of the journal to stimulate investigation and knowledge creation of phenomena in the social sciences underlying management and organizations and globalization through boundary-crossing dialog and discourse.

The conference is intended to provide the Editors of MOR the basis for framing future special issues of MOR.

The conference draws together social science thought leaders, management and organization scholars, executives, entrepreneurs, policy-makers, and non-business scholars in a community building and enhancing setting.

The core theme of the inaugural conference revolves around the Globalization of Knowledge Creation and Innovation in the Context of Emerging Economies. Potential sub-themes include but are not limited to the antecedents and future of emerging economy innovations; exploiting formal institutional voids embedded in state and local policies and  national innovation systems of emerging economies; industrial clusters and innovation; MNEs and innovation in emerging economies; culture goods; social and management innovations; the role of universities on innovation in emerging economies; new ways of organizing innovation of emerging economies in the global ecology of innovation; evolution and role of  global on-line STEM communities and innovation in emerging economies; role of national culture and creativity at the individual and group levels; business management practices and promotion of creativity and innovation; innovation competition between emerging economies (e.g., China and India).

The choice of the overall theme is wide ranging by design. It recognizes the national aspirations and priorities that emerging economies are placing on knowledge creation as a new lever of economic development and a new arena of competition between nations in the sphere of knowledge creation. It creates the opportunity to examine many other evolving dynamics such as structural changes in the supply and location of science, and technology pools of talent, the emerging online communities of talent and the reality of companies rethinking how and where to conduct their innovation activities including the reorganization of processes and the many activities involved in R&D and engineering support functions.

Assembling and Functioning of the Program

The design of the program itself also involves a new approach. The program will consist of 7 plenary panel sessions in addition to the opening and closing gala plenary sessions. The Program Committee is soliciting 3-4 page proposals for plenary panels on any aspect of the theme of the conference. The proposals must describe the sub-theme focus of the panel and why it represents an underexplored but important line of inquiry. The proposal must also identify 4-5 panelists, the nature of their expertise, and the panel sub-theme that they will inform and motivate. Together each panel is expected to outline and delineate the contours of new lines of inquiry and opportunities for leading edge research directions. Panelists are not expected to present lengthy papers. The challenge for each panelist is to plan on a high level, 15-minute compelling presentation. Lastly each plenary panel proposal must also include explicit statements from each panelist committing to personally participate for the entire conference if the plenary panel proposal is accepted for presentation and discussion in the conference.

Each plenary panel session is allocated two and half hours (150 minutes). The format of each plenary panel involves a maximum of 90 minutes for the presentations by the panelists and the leadoff commentator. The formal presentation is followed by commentaries and discourse among the participants. It does not follow the traditional Q&A with panel. The key is to stimulate conversation and plant the seeds for follow up networking and new collaborations. At the conclusion of each plenary panel the panelists will be given a few minutes to reprise and respond to discussion that followed the plenary panel presentation. Each day will also include a period of downtime for networking, reassessment of discussions, emergence of new collaborations, and decompression.

Attendance

Participation in the MOR Research Frontiers Conference is by invitation only on the basis of the quality, originality, and fit of the panel proposal with the overall conference theme.  The program committee will make every effort to ensure that the assembled participants represent a cross section of senior and junior scholars including advanced PhD students and that participants come from as many diverse geographies as possible. Attendance in future MOR Research Frontiers Conferences will strictly implement a requirement that 50% of the participants have not participated in a prior MOR Research frontiers Conference. This rule is intended to ensure that this prestigious and influential conference continues to stay vigorously stimulating, welcoming of new ideas and new perspectives and counteracts formation of an in-groups and creeping parochialism.

The program committee expects that much of the plenary program will be created from proposals and suggestions received from scholars wishing to participate in the Inaugural MOR Research frontiers Conference. Some authors will be able to join the conference by participating in a pre-conference Paper Development Workshop to be organized and hosted by City University Hong Kong (details to be announced separately at a later date).

Individuals interested in attending the Inaugural MOR Research Frontiers Conference but not as participant on the program are invited to please submit a statement expressing desire and reasons for participating. The program committee will make every effort to accommodate such requests. The application deadline for plenary panel proposals or individual applications to attend is May 5, 2014. However, overall participation will be limited to a maximum of 60 participants organized in a Chinese Banquet arrangement (round tables accommodating up to 8 persons each) at all sessions.

Conference Venue and Schedule

The conference is hosted on the campus of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). The conference will open with a plenary gala session on December 4^th 2014. Plenary sessions will be held December 5^th and 6^th. The closing Gala and special closing plenary and wrap up sessions will be held evening of December 6^th and morning of 7^th. The pre-conference paper development workshop will be organized and hosted by City University Hong Kong.

Program Committee

Arie Lewin (Duke University), Kwok Leung (City University of Hong Kong), Albert Park (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), Chen Jin (Tsinghua University), Martin Kenney (University of California, Davis), and MOR Senior Editors Silvia Massini (University of Manchester), J. Peter Murmann (University of New South Wales), Bilian Sullivan (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), and Michael Witt (INSEAD, Singapore).

Local Arrangements Committee 

1. T. Li (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), Albert Park (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), Brian Boyd (City University of Hong Kong), Jiing-Lih (Larry) Farh (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), Sam Garg (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), Yaping Gong (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), Paul Hempel (City University of Hong Kong), and Bilian Sullivan (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology).

Submission of Plenary Panel Proposals

Plenary Panel Session proposals should be submitted to Ms Stefanie McAdoo (smcadoo@duke.edu)

Submission of Papers for Paper Development Workshop (details to come)

Accommodations and Registration Fee (details to come)

Individuals having substantive questions are invited to contact the convener of the Inaugural MOR Research frontiers Conference and Editor in Chief of MOR Professor Arie Lewin (ayl3@duke.edu)

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