Message From the President

dt ogilvie
EAM President, Rutgers University

 

 

Hello, EAMers:

 

I hope you had a great summer and that your semester is getting off to a good start. First, I want to extend kudos to Judi Neal, our Past President, for her leadership last year, and to Eric Kessler, former VP Program and currently President-Elect, and his team for a wonderfully successful conference. Everyone I spoke to said they thoroughly enjoyed the conference.

 

Second, I want to update you on recent developments. I have appointed Kent Zimmerman as the OMJ Advisory Board Chair to assist Jeanie Forray, Editor of OMJ,  in building a quality e-journal. I have also formed a Finance Committee to advise me on the finances of EAM. The members of the committee are Ted Peters (Treasurer), Bonnie Betters-Reed, Cheryl Tromley, Susan Baker, and David Desplaces. I am delighted to announce that Bonnie has agreed to chair this committee. Its charge is detailed below:  

The charge of the Finance Committee is to provide oversight of the financial affairs of the Eastern Academy of Management. It shall assist the Treasurer in preparing and monitoring the budget and advise the President on the finances of the organization. The committee reviews financial statements, suggests financial policy, and recommends the annual budget to the board for approval. An important role of the committee is to provide organizational memory regarding financial policy and to ensure consistency and clarity of financial reporting. The short-term charge of the Finance Committee is to set up controls for and monitor spending, advise the treasurer and local arrangements group on financial matters as appropriate, and advise and alert the board regarding fiscal matters as indicated. The work of the committee shall primarily take place assisted by technology.

We are fortunate to have such a super group of EAM members on this committee and I am supremely confident that with our new Treasurer at the helm and with the leadership of the Finance Committee, we will resolve our fiscal situation and be well-situated for our future endeavors. Please contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or comments.  

 

I have invited the EAM Fellows to make recommendations on their role as EAM Fellows. Our Fellows have a wealth of experience, information, and wisdom that we do not wish to lose. However, without a defined role to keep them engaged and to tap into what they have to offer, I fear we won’t be able to benefit from them as much as we might.

 

Folks join EAM for various reasons: networking, professional development, making friends in their profession beyond colleagues at their school, having a place to showcase or present their research, as a place friendly to and supportive of PhD students, etc. EAM is an organic organization, but there are certain immutable characteristics it possesses. I remember when I first came to Rutgers. I was encouraged by folks like Patti Greene to submit a paper to the Easterns. I remember EAM being described as different from the Academy, as being a warm and supportive organization where you could submit a paper and get supportive feedback, a place that, because of its smaller size, was warm and friendly.

 

We have grown and changed over the years, as we should, be we still retain our basic identity. That is our strength. I am encouraged to see former PhD students taking leadership roles in the EAM, folks like Paul Bacadayan, Eric Kessler, Marguerite Schneider, and Shanti Gopalakrishnan, among others. That is a testimony to our strength and our nurturing environment. I am encouraged by the leadership and initiative shown by newer members, like Alvin Hwang, David Desplaces, Kristen Backhaus, and others of you. I am encouraged by the diversity of our membership and the availability of opportunities for our diverse members. We are way ahead of the Academy of Management (except for their GDO division) on this—we truly reflect the values we espouse.

 

This coming year proves to be very exciting. We have EAM-I in Capetown, South Africa. Please note the submission deadline has been extended to 1 November 2004! I had the good fortune to visit Capetown some years ago with OBTC, and I can tell you, it’s a marvelous city. I realize there is some expense involved, but this is an opportunity you should not pass up! I was so glad I bit that bullet and went. This may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this city in such a warm cocoon of friends and, perhaps, family. There are just some cities you should not miss if you have the chance, and I rate Capetown as one of those. As I can attest, you only live once, so try to experience this opportunity. Mzamo Mangaliso and Tony Butterfield are going to have a great program of local visits for us. The conference hotel will be the Breakwater Lodge and we’ll have a block at a few other hotels for those who want more upscale digs, since the Breakwater, a former prison, is serviceable, but not very fancy.

 

We also have Springfield with EAM and that will be a very exciting conference. I was privileged to be able to work with Shanti Gopalakrishnan and she has put together a very compelling roster of speakers! She’s gotten Eric Pillmore, Senior VP at Tyco for Governance and Corporate Ethics, as our keynote speaker for Friday morning; and noted author, David Callahan of Demos; my colleague Ed Hartman, Ethics Professor and Director of the Prudential Business Ethics Center at Rutgers University; and Sandra Waddock of Boston College as panelists.

 

I am proud to be a member of EAM and to be your President. I look forward to continuing the path set by my predecessors of building and strengthening this great organization by providing you my best thinking, judgment, and service.