The William Davidson Institute
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Upcoming BoP Events

Call For Papers

New Directions in Global and International Strategy Research:
Beyond the Transnational
Journal of International Management

Guest Editors:      Anoop Madhok, York University 
   Stephen Tallman, University of Richmond
   
Deadline:  June 30, 2006 

 

 

 

The world of business has changed dramatically in the last decade or more since the Strategic Management Journal Special Issue on Global Strategy was published in 1991. In practice, the end of the Cold War; the emergence of new market economies in Eastern Europe, China, and India, among others; the consolidation of the European Union; a decade of stagnation in Japan; and the re-emergence of the United States have altered the political economy of the world. New technologies such as the internet and the worldwide web, cell phones, wireless networking, and massive capacity increases in data storage and analysis provide constant communication and access to ever-increasing amounts of information.   Globalizing trends in culture, technology, and financial markets drive global demand and global supply chains.   In response, multinational firms have evolved into much more complex, yet flexible, organizations that seek economic gains and efficiencies through increasing their scope of operations, penetrating ever more obscure markets, and accumulating knowledge from ever wider networks of subsidiaries, alliances, and acquisitions. 

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Journal of Management Education
Special Issue on Management Education in the Context of Poverty  

Co-Editors:     Ana Maria Peredo, University of Victoria 
   Richard Moore, California State University
   
Deadline:  Februrary 15, 2007 


As a human race, we face two major global challenges: inequality and environmental degradation.  These challenges have become a worldwide priority, expressed through The World Bank, the UN and other internatonal agencies.  This is the context for a special issue of Journal of Management Education, in which scholars are invited to consider the role that management educators should play in poor areas of the world.

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Conferences

Product and Market Development for Subsistence Marketplaces: Consumption and Entrepreneurship Beyond Literacy and Resource Barriers

Conference Chairs:     Madhu Viswanathan, University of Illionois at Urbana-Champaign 
   José Antonio Rosa, University of Illionois at Chicago 
   
Date:  August 2-4, 2006


Over 4 billion consumers in the global marketplace earn less than two dollars per day. In spite of their low income, these consumers manage to purchase goods and services, secure financing for large purchases and homes, pay for the education of their children and other family members, and accumulate savings; many of them achieving these and similar objectives by managing their own small business.  These consumer entrepreneurs represent billions of dollars in investment, spending and saving power, and have largely been ignored by global providers of goods and services.  Responding adequately to their needs requires that business theory and practice incorporate issues of resource allocation and availability, family support, literacy, and poverty, and address questions such as:
 
  • What are the common and distinctive characteristics of low income/low education consumer/merchants across the many countries they represent?
  • How do these consumer/merchants make decisions about purchases and investments, and participate in the global marketplace?
  • How should products, services, and distribution systems be designed for them?
  • How should market research be designed to accurately capture customer responses to new product and service concepts, promotional tactics, and distribution channel innovation?
  • How can micro-entrepreneurs among these largely ignored groups participate in value chains and the wealth creation process?
These are some of the topics that we expect to cover in the conference, in pursuit of which we have invited distinguished academicians.  We are planning a small conference to allow for interaction and dialogue among a mix of academicians and practitioners who are interested in issues relating to these unique consumer/merchants, and who are willing to share their research and ideas in an energizing environment.