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Message from John Mezias, Chair, IM Division, Academy of Management 2012 - 2013  Dear IM Division Members, I am honored to serve as your division chair and fortunate to work with such talented people in our division’s leadership. Our membership stands at 2861 scholars worldwide, and we are the fourth largest Academy of Management (AOM) division. Last year we accomplished a lot. The Executive Committee (EC) focused on leveraging our strengths and addressing challenges raised by members in our survey and at the AOM meeting. Our division committees were the primary venue for addressing the challenges of increasing member involvement, improving communications, and making our conference more practical, impactful, and engaging. We worked hard to sharpen committee scopes and increase membership, and we greatly appreciate our committee members’ hard work and dedication. This year the EC will work to build on these improvements and expand services and activities offered via our webpage and other venues outside of our annual meeting. Please help by sharing your ideas and/or serving on a committee (committee descriptions and membership are on our webpage). I hope you will contact me or a committee chair to discuss your ideas. Our Annual Meeting in Boston was well-attended and our Division offered many thought provoking sessions addressing key issues in international management research, teaching, and practice. Special thanks to Program Chair Jennifer Spencer, Professional Development Workshop (PDW) Chair Sea Jin Chang, and Division Chair Mary Yoko Brannen for exceptional leadership. Our Division Social is a “must attend” event, and this year’s gala atop the Prudential Building provided sightseeing with great food and music, as well as a fun environment for networking and catching up with friends. We also thank our Division Paper Award sponsors: Schaffer Consulting, Fundação Dom Cabral, The George Washington University CIBER, and Gustavson School of Business (University of Victoria), and SKOLKOVO, Moscow School of Management (Division Best Paper Award sponsor). We are grateful to Booz & Co. for its continued sponsorship of the Booz & Co. Eminent Scholar Award, and to Schaffer Consulting for generously supporting our Division Social. We are excited about the 2013 AOM meeting in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Our PDW and Program Call for Papers are posted on our webpage and included in our newsletter. “Capitalism in Question” is the conference theme. The ongoing global financial crisis has caused many to question aspects of capitalism and laissez-faire economics. However, no clear consensus on reforms or possible solutions has emerged, which underscores the need to develop theories and analyze modified, hybrid, and alternative economic approaches. This crisis also affects pedagogy: Considerable attention has been focused on the role of teaching, especially in business schools. Given the diversity of our global members and their experience with different economic and political systems, we expect our PDWs and sessions will be among the most insightful and provocative on this topic. Program Chair Sea-Jin Chang and PDW Chair Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra are eager to work with you to ensure innovative and interactive sessions and PDWs. I encourage you to contact them to discuss ideas to leverage this theme or other key international management issues to create a truly collaborative conference. Thank you again for your support, insights, and innovative submissions. Organizing division activities requires an integrated, global effort and we look forward to working together for another successful year. Let’s stay connected through the communication tools currently available for all members, including the IMD-L List, our division’s groups on Facebook and LinkedIn, and AOM Connect. John M. Mezias, IM Division Chair |
