International Management Division of the Academy of Management

About the IM Division

The International Division of the Academy of Management focuses on content pertaining to the theory, research, and practice of management with a cross-border or cross-cultural dimension. Major topics include: the cross-border management of operations, including multi-country, multi-unit, strategy formulation and implementation; evolving forms and management practices in cross-border business; the cross-border differential impact of cultural, social, economic, technological, political, and other institutional forces on strategies, organizational forms, and management practices; the international competitiveness of firms, industries, and nations; and comparative management studies involving two or more countries.

Welcome to the IM Division

Message from Mary Yoko Brannen, Chair, IM Division, Academy of Management 2011 - 2012

Dear IM Division Members,

2011 has been another very successful year for the International Management Division. Our Division continues to grow and currently has a membership of 3006 scholars worldwide. Our Annual Meeting in San Antonio, despite the heat, was well-attended and our Division contributed a wealth of sessions nurturing our members’ understanding about current issues in research, teaching, practice and methods in international management. Our Division social is fast becoming the “must go to” event at the meeting and this year’s gala at the Tower of the America’s set a new standard for networking fun and cross-cultural enjoyment. We are indebted to the many volunteers from our Division and sponsors for their contributions.

In 2011-2012, the Executive Committee (EC) is focusing on maintaining these numerous strengths of our Division while seriously addressing the challenges suggested by our member survey and member feedback at the AOM. These include increasing member involvement, upgrading our web-page, avoiding being North-American centric, making sessions more practical and creating stronger ties with real world phenomena. The EC is continuing to take up these opportunities by looking into other venues beyond the Annual Meeting to bring our members together and expand our Division’s activities. We are also working with our various Division Committees to directly respond to these challenges. In this capacity, we invite you to jump in and involve yourselves in improving our division by offering to serve on one of our Division Committees. Committee members serve a three-year term, and committee chairs are elected from the existing committees to serve for an additional three years, so there are always needs for new volunteers! Currently, we are in particular need for new members in our Research and Teaching committees.

AOM 2012’s theme “The Informal Economy,” might seem a bit obscure to some, but, in fact, it is directly in line with our Division’s focus. The informal economy refers to commercial activities that occur at least partially outside a governing body’s observation, taxation, and regulation. Whereas management scholars have traditionally examined research questions that are almost exclusively centered on the organizations and individuals located in the formal economy, the informal economy’s size and scope is large and growing, neglected by management scholars, and spans the entire international domain. It accounts for 18.3 percent of the economy in Finland, 16.3 percent in Germany, 15.3 percent in France and 8.8 percent in the U.S. and from 50-75 percent of the non-agricultural employment in developing countries. This presents both a challenge and opportunity for research at the individual, organizational as well as policy levels of analysis. With a focus on the informal economy, this is our chance, as Marx has said, “[to] develop new principles for the world out of the world’s own principles. We do not say to the world: Cease your struggles, they are foolish; we will give you the true slogan of struggle. We merely show the world what it is really fighting for, and consciousness is something that it has to acquire, even if it does not want to.” (Marx, 1843).

Our growing and global membership enables our Division to provide thoughtful and innovative insights that address themes pertinent to individuals in differentiated working contexts across all regions of our world. As such, we are particularly suited to raise the consciousness of organizational conditions of the world we live in. We look forward to your submissions and to a 2012 program aligned with this important theme to help the Academy become truly aware and sensitive to the way the world looks and feels from a truly international viewpoint.

We thank three new sponsors — Fundação Dom Cabral, Schaffer Consulting, and The George Washington University CIBER — providing funding for our Strategy/IB Theory, Applied International Management, and Emerging Markets Best Paper Awards. We are also grateful to Booz & Co. for its continued sponsorship of the Booz & Co. Eminent Scholar Award and SKOLKOVO, Moscow School of Management for their five-year sponsorship of our Division’s Best Paper Award.

Thank you again for your support, insights, and innovative submissions. 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.

Mary Yoko Brannen, Division Chair