Past Conferences

The 2019 Academy of International Business (AIB) Southeast Asia Regional Conference is organized by AIBSEAR during 5-7 December 2019, in Cebu, Philippines. The theme of the 2019 AIBSEAR Cebu Conference is “US-China Trade War, Deglobalization, and International Business”. In particular, this year’s high quality papers will be invited to submit to a Special Issue of the  Journal of Business Research relating to “Bridging the gap between theory and practice in international business: Addressing management challenges”.

“Radical doubts are gripping the global economy. The world appears to be wavering between two alternatives: either a wave of backlash and deglobalization, with nationalism and market segmentation, and national priorities set against “globalism”; or a transition to a very new kind of globalization, sometimes referred to as globalization 2.0” (James Haorld 2017). The withdrawal of US from several trade agreements and a pending trade war with China has ushered in a new era of deglobalization, upset the existing global supply chain. Together with other regional geopolitical events (e.g, Brexit), they are reshaping the horizon of international trade and business. These events and the unraveling trends will significantly affect the cross-border flows of products, capital, and people and a whole array of IB operations including finance, manufacturing, marketing and human resource management. As US renegotiates its trade treaties, many countries are assessing the implications and weigh their options so as to minimize risks and uncertainties. Since both US and China are large economies with a huge domestic market for imports, multinational companies are treading carefully as they rethink of their strategies for investment, manufacturing, and marketing. The implications are crucial for firms from emerging market economies including those in the ASEAN, who are late comers to global markets. To examine the ramification of these trends, we particularly welcome studies about the forces and drivers that shape the new horizon of the world marketplace, theoretical and empirical papers, as well as case studies, along with the outlooks for this region and beyond.

The 2018 Academy of International Business (AIB) Southeast Asia Regional Conference is organized by AIBSEAR during 6-8 December 2018, in Hong Kong. In particular this year, it will be co-organized by Lingnan University as a tribute to Lingnan University 50th Anniversary of reestablishment in Hong Kong. The theme of the 2018 AIBSEAR Hong Kong Conference is “Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Markets”.

New concepts of business inspired by innovations and led by entrepreneurs are changing the world and our lives. The implications are crucial for the emerging market economies, where tremendous growth and opportunity reside. Entrepreneurship and innovation are seen as an integral part of a solution to many challenges facing countries in the region, including providing employment opportunities, spurring economic activities, improving environmental practices, upgrading the industries, and propelling economic growth and prosperity to avoid the “middle income trap.” These changes may also lead to the breakdown of traditional business models, disappearance of old professions and emergence of new ones.  For both local firms and multinationals, entrepreneurship and innovation in emerging markets are no longer just a matter of inspiring employee ingenuity and adapting global products for local budgets and tastes. Increasingly they involve enhancing the sense of ownership, productivity, and R&D activities with an international impact – the development of goods and services for the global markets. Beyond privatization and liberalization, for entrepreneurship and innovation to truly act as a catalyst for further economy growth, it requires radical changes in government policies, the mindset of business leaders, and the pedagogy of educational institutions, before emerging markets can inspire as well as benefit from entrepreneurial activities s and innovations. To shed light on these critical issues, we particularly welcome studies about the forces and drivers that shape entrepreneurship and innovation in emerging markets, theoretical and empirical papers, as well as case studies, along with the outlooks for this region and beyond.

The 2017 Academy of International Business (AIB) Southeast Asia Regional Conference is organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies (HKIBS), Lingnan University, during 7-9 December 2017, in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The theme of the 2017 conference is “Sustaining Growth in Emerging Markets amid Aging Populations”. Emerging market economies, especially those in Southeast Asia, have been some of the fastest growing regions in the world over the past decade. However, the underlying demographic shifts are likely to pose significant challenges to the region’s growth prospect. Ranked third behind China and India, the region’s population has reached a point where growth is expected to slow down, resulting in an aging labor force and more elderly consumers. An aging population, which has gripped the Japanese economy over the past decades, now is spreading throughout Asia, affecting countries like Singapore and Thailand, China and South Korea the most and, to a lesser extent the Laos and Philippines. A shrinking population means slower economic growth and weaker purchasing power, but also presents opportunities and challenges in developing products and strategies to adapt to the shifting population profiles, such as healthcare and robotics, human resource management in light of an aging workforce, greater roles for women; redesigning of workplaces and work processes, just to name a few. Adapting to the challenges of this inevitable trend will inspire scholars and business leaders in their investigations and deliberations for the years to come. Among the common topics in international business, we especially welcome completed empirical works and theoretical papers that examine aging populations in the ASEAN Economic Community in terms of business challenges, opportunities, and measures to adapt to this inevitable trend.

The 2016 Academy of International Business (AIB) Southeast Asia Regional Conference is organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies (HKIBS), Lingnan University during 2-4 December 2016, in Guangzhou, China.

The theme of the 2016 conference is “Connectivity and Prosperity: ASEAN Economic Community and China’s Belt and Road Initiative.” Among the common topics in international business, we especially welcome completed empirical works and theoretical papers that examine the ASEAN Economic Community and China’s Belt and Road Programs and their impact on the economic development, trade and investment, and cross-border activities in the region.