Call for papers - (English)
XXXV annual AIDEA Conference
(AIDEA 2012) Salerno, October, 4-5 th 2012 Management beyond boundaries Management studies: tradition and emerging paradigms
Quickfacts AIDEA 2012
Date: October,4-5th, 2012
Location: University of Salerno (Italy)
Paper deadline: May 31st, 2012
Full paper (Final draft)
Paper acceptance:June 30th, 2012
Website: www.accademiaaidea.it
Conference site: www.aideasalerno.unisa.it
Email for submission: aideasalerno2012@gmail.com
Our Perspective about Management Studies
The changing context in which private companies and public sector organizations are now having to devise their business strategies requires new perspectives in business practice; these, moving from the classic paradigm, aim at approaching and analyzing managerial issues in an innovative way. The traditional view of the firms' management as at the "helm" of the firm, handling all the relevant information and provided with the drivers necessary to guide and coordinate the various activities of the firm in an organic and harmonious way, is now being integrated with new approaches that take into account the complexity of the managerial function and the challenges it faces in the new millennium.
The more recent contributions from scientific business literature recognize the need to broaden the scope of research into managerial issues, building upon the assumption that organizations are conceived as entities without clear boundaries (boundaryless), within which the capacity to create loose links and ties and symbiotic relations with stakeholders operating within the same viable context is fundamental to create sustainable and long-term competitive advantage. Such a context clearly shows how the cross-fertilization of knowledge and skills, as well as information sharing and the creation of holistic relations, generate competitive advantage that are difficult to be imitated by competitors.
As a consequence, managers need to acquire new "resource". In addition to strategic planning, budgeting, the definition of the firm's financial structure, human resource management and purchasing-production-marketing relations, managers need to acquire the competences and skills related to the management of inter-firm relations, the promotion of corporate innovation and flexibility, crisis and risk management and the enhancement of the intellectual and social capital of the firm. More professionalism is needed in order to merge the "presidium" and the "defence" of the organizational boundaries with the role of catalyzing interaction with the outside.
In such a scenario, the traditional approach to the analysis of corporate issues and the professional functions associated with those issues, should be enriched by the integration of innovative theoretical frameworks, which offer the opportunity of broadening the perspective of the analysis, in order to take into account the essential qualities that enable a firm to start out on a successful systemic pathway.
Research Questions & Thematic Areas
The XXXV AIDEA Conference aims to contribute to the evolution of the management studies outlined above, by proposing perspectives of analysis and research that, moving from classical approaches, stimulate the elaboration or the improvement of approaches, models and theories enabling an original understanding of current administrative concerns. To this purpose, the following research questions are of interest among others:
- Can traditional governance approaches be reviewed to align them with changing environmental conditions?
- How do changes in the context (on the macro level) affect meso and micro levels and, in particular, how do they affect traditional managerial functions?
- What types of innovative systemic approaches can be developed to respond to the competitive challenges imposed by the contemporary scenario?
- What contribution can empirical research offer to the development of innovative managerial networking approaches?
- How can business economics research and studies contribute to overcoming the critical situation in which most organizations now find themselves as a consequence of the current economic and financial crisis?
- What managerial and organizational approaches and tools can be used in order to create harmonious relations between a firm and the environment?
- Which technological and non-technological corporate innovations can help managing private and public sector organizations in an environment that is losing its characteristics of stability and predictability in the short- and medium- term?
- What innovative approaches are emerging in the world of banking and financial institutions?
- What is the impact of complexity on decision-making and the measurement and assessment of the corporate performance of financial intermediaries and non-financial firms? What is the role of risk management and compliance?
- How can business economics research benefit from experiences outside the for-profit world? And how can they benefit from theories deriving from disciplines that are unrelated to business economics?
- Are there a specific Italian experience and a distinctive Italian managerial culture on the international scene?
- How can corporate relations and firm-consumer relations be enhanced in contexts of growing complexity?
Contributions, may be:
- Reviews of national and international literature on the issue of public and private management, with a focus on innovative approaches to the study of managerial functions;
- Empirical studies, using deductive or inductive methods, based on qualitative or quantitative data, to provide in-depth knowledge of currently arising issues related to management, organization and accountability, in order to devise new strategies to respond to growing environmental challenges;
- Development of innovative theories and models for the study, analysis, evaluation and improvement of functions of specific managerial functions, acknowledging the various points of view from which they can be approached.
Papers: guidelines for submission and publication
Only one paper may be presented, either as Author or co-Author; contributions may be submitted by researchers from Italy or abroad, and can submitted either in Italian or in English.
The paper:
- should not exceed 20 pages (including figures, tables, graphs, notes and references) of 2200 characters each (including spaces). Font: Times New Roman, body of text 12pt, body of infra-text 11pt, notes 10pt;
- should be sent in electronic format (.doc. or .pdf) to aideasalerno2012@gmail.com by May 31st, 2012. Communication of acceptance or rejection will be notified no later than June, 30th, 2012. Parallel sessions will be defined by July 15th, 2012.
Papers submitted and accepted by the Scientific Committee will be collected - with the Authors' permisson - in a CD-ROM entitled "Management beyond boundaries - Management Studies: tradition and emerging paradigms". A selection of the papers, chosen by the Conference Scientific Committee, will be presented during the parallel sessions of the Conference. The Scientific Committee will also select the best papers, which will be published in a special issue edited by AIDEA with Il Mulino.
Several journals, including those accredited by AIDEA, will be involved in the organization of the discussion sessions of the papers and, subject to approval, for subsequent publication. The Journal of Management and Governance will release a special issue related to the Conference, by selecting and publishing several papers.
The best contributions among the papers submitted exclusively by researchers, research fellows, PhDs and PhD candidates (also in working-groups) will be awarded a special prize.