Winter 2024 Newsletter

EAM 2024 Conference

Providence, Rhode Island

May 14-17, 2024

Submission Deadline: January 31, 2024

Letter from the President

Mariana Lebròn

Towson University

Dear Colleagues,

I trust this message finds you well and invigorated for the semester ahead. Reflecting on the past semester, I’ve had the privilege of connecting with many of you, whether it was at #EAM2023, #CASE2023, our Fall 2023 Learn & Shares, #AOM2023, #SMA2023, our new EAM Doctoral Student Advisory Board Monthly meetings, or our new LatinX Task Force planning session, or even online with our active LinkedIn accounts. What has inspired me most during these interactions is the unwavering passion within each of you to make a meaningful difference in our world in your roles as educators, scholars, administrators, consultants, and community leaders --but most of all, as #EAMThoughtLeaders.

This semester, I invite us to work together to harness the extraordinary power within our collective voices. As individuals, we are experts in our fields, impassioned teachers, and resilient scholars. Undoubtedly, we are facing challenges in academia that we must explore together with purpose, an open-mind and determination.  As I have heard from many of you, there are questions and opportunities that demand our attention.  Here I want to share with you the challenges, opportunities, and questions that our colleagues have shared with me:

1.     Artificial Intelligence & Technological Innovation.  With the rapid advancement of technology, how is business education adapting to meet the evolving needs of businesses and non-profit organizations? How are we investing in our faculty and students to build new technological skills and knowledge that reflect the innovation and new careers our students are facing? How can we partner with industry to optimize opportunities and resources while preserving the essential human authenticity and ingenuity in education?

2.     Increasing Resource & Opportunity Gap Among Business Schools.  Is there a growing disparity among business schools in terms of available resources, access, and opportunities? How can we ensure that increasing demands on faculty members do not compromise their ability to excel in teaching and research?  How are we creating time for those who must go outside their own institutions to build new knowledge and skills reflective of the changing needs of our business landscape? How are we providing opportunities for the ‘best practices’ for research to be shared with all doctoral students and faculty regardless of institution they are at?

3.     Need for more Industry-Academic Partnerships.  I cannot stress how much both our tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty have shared with me about the necessity of strengthening our ties with industry partners.  Many of our non-tenure track faculty have asked to recognize the wealth of experience and knowledge they bring and leverage it to impact our world through innovation.

4.     Doctoral Student Mentoring, Support, and Opportunities.  Doctoral students are more than our future, they are our ‘now’. Yet, doctoral students within and external to EAM have shared with me that their experiences vary across institutions. Some doctoral students are experiencing life-changing mentoring and opportunities, while other doctoral students are fearful to share the challenges and inequities they are experiencing. Their focus is not on sharing concerns about their own experiences, but rather, they want to have more opportunities to learn from those outside their own institutions. What career opportunities exist? Are tenure-track positions decreasing?  What different types of research and teaching opportunities exist? How can they learn more about pedagogical research? Many are interested in learning about opportunities beyond higher education. How can they use their knowledge/skills to positively and directly impact businesses in consulting? What careers exist within business for their doctoral degrees?  

5.     New DEI Legislation & Threats of “Book Banning”.  Our community faces new challenges stemming from legislation affecting academic freedom, support and value for equity and inclusion research, as well as how banning of books impacts our faculty and students. How can we provide "a dynamic and supportive community for all of our members, embracing the full diversity of our backgrounds and experiences” to navigate these challenges while upholding the values and principles inherent in our EAM values?

6.     Public Opinion about the Value of Higher Education Degrees. In an era of questioning and the increased availability of information, how are our business degrees in their current form being perceived by stakeholders? What can we do to reinforce their value, relevance, and necessity in our current world?

I call on all of us to be open to learning from each other in safe, inclusive ways in which we choose the power of voices over silence for mutual learning benefits. Your unique perspectives have propelled you to your current positions of influence, and I am excited to help you share your wisdom and insights with all of us so we can learn together. This semester, we must embrace choices that empower us by mobilizing our value to “respect our members’ values and amplify their ideas.”

As we prepare for our #EAM2024 Annual Conference in Providence, RI and our #EAM-International 2024 Conference in Taipei, Taiwan, let us boldly embrace innovation and nurture voices from different experiences, cultures, and perspectives across the world, academic ranks, and industries. Together, with your active engagement, we can positively transform the status quo through innovation, while honoring our cherished traditions.  

In the spirit of passing the microphone to our thought leaders throughout the association, I invite you to share your thoughts on the challenges and opportunities facing higher education. Send your insights to mlebron@towson.edu by February 15, and we will showcase your wisdom later this semester for the benefit of all. 

Remember the work you do each day has a profound impact that reaches far beyond what you may realize.  And in the coming months, we will celebrate your remarkable achievements in research, teaching, and service on local, national and global scales thanks to the help of our amazing Board of Directors, conference track chairs, Organization Management Journal Editorial Board, CASE Board, JME & MTR editors,  strategic partners, and our university and college liaisons, whose voices are more important now more than ever. Thank you to them and all of you for being willing to open new doors for innovative opportunities ahead.

With deep gratitude for your leadership and, always, your powerful voice…

Best,

Mariana

Mariana J. Lebrόn, Ph.D.

President, Eastern Academy of Management

Associate Professor of Leadership and Management

Towson University

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariana-lebron/

Email: mlebron@towson.edu 

Join us in celebrating the 61st EAM conference!

Noel Criscione-Naylor

Program Chair

Stockton University

Providence, Rhode Island May 14-17, 2024

The Eastern Academy of Management Annual Conference and Meeting will be held May 14-17 in Providence, Rhode Island at The Graduate.

This premier event offers more than 200 educational sessions, a variety of networking events, professional development opportunities, and student consortia for those who are interested in various areas of management. EAM is an affiliate of the Academy of Management, and the membership of EAM consists of more than 500 members, representing more than 200+ colleges, universities, and business firms. We anticipate a conservative number of 130 in-person attendees.  

• Submission portal is open through January 31, 2024, and we encourage you to engage, reimagine, and make a difference with our community of #EAMThoughtLeaders.  

• Conference registration is open. Take advantage of early registration rates available until April 14^th along with a special one-day pass for adjunct/NTT members. Click here to register.

• Hotel room block is open. Take advantage of our hotel block pricing of $145 plus tax, available until April 14^th at The Graduate. Click here to book your room.

• Get your EAM gear now! Now offering EAM t-shirts and sweatshirts. Click here to order. All gear will be distributed at conference check-in, currently direct ship is not available.

You shared, we listened! This year, we have added additional, value add programming including but not limited to:  

• New Supply Chain and Operations Management Track. This track invites submissions related to how firms manage and develop suppliers to engage in environmental practices. It also covers manufacturing/service employees' engagement on managing processes to support green supply chain management. Submissions related to how firms learn from their customers and involve customers to make green products are also welcomed. Further, this track welcomes works in the field of manufacturing/service operations that enhance environmental performance.
• New Undergraduate and Graduate Student Research Pitch Competition. The Research Pitch Competition (RPC) highlights undergraduate and graduate researchers' projects while promoting concise and effective storytelling. Finalists will present an extended version of their pitch during the conference in front of the EAM community and panel of judges. 
• New Industry and Academic Panel. In this panel, industry and academic partners will come together to discuss challenges and opportunities toward creating a more sustainable and socially responsible future through technology innovation, adaptation, and evolution. 

SUBMISSION DEADLINE:  January 31, 2024 

Theoretical and empirical papers, symposia, panel discussions, case studies and posters are welcome! 

Conference website: Eastern Academy of Management - Home (eaom.org)

 EAM 2024 Best in Conference Awards

Eastern Academy of Management Annual Conference best papers receive plaque and cash awards in the following categories:

• Best Conceptual Paper
• Best Empirical Paper
• Best Student Paper

In addition, the best paper of each competitive track as well as Experiential Learning Activities track receive certificate and cash award. We also offer a Best Reviewer award. The papers are nominated by the Track Chairs and selected by an Awards Committee. The EAM Fellows sponsor the cash awards for EAM 2024.

EAM 2024 Sponsorship Opportunities

Vishal Gupta

President Elect

University of Alabama

Eastern Academy of Management is a top regional affiliate of Academy of Management is accepting a variety of sponsorship opportunities for your organization to engage with our membership.

EAM is known for its motto “Where Scholarship and Collegiality Meet” and our conference provides a variety of session formats to allow all faculty to participate and benefit from a variety of professional development opportunities. EAM conference participation provides a wonderful forum for management faculty and researchers of all categories to develop relationships with colleagues from other institutions. EAM also publishes Organization Management Journal (OMJ) and its affiliate, The Case Association, publishes the CASE Journal which provide high-impact opportunities for publication of work presented at the conference.

As we get ready for the Conference in Providence, we invite institutional and corporate sponsors to support us, so we can continue to support the development of new and experienced faculty in the management disciplines.

We heard your feedback and we listened to create a more diverse array of sponsorship and engagement opportunities. Check out our EAM 2024 sponsorship prospectus to explore your options and see what fits with your strategic plan. If the specific sponsorship opportunities don't fit your needs, we have a flexible option!

Sponsorship Committee:

Vishal Gupta, Chair, EAM President Elect, University of Alabama

Mariana Lebron, EAM President, Towson University

Tejinder Billing, EAM Past President, Rowan University

Felix Fan, EAM Treasurer, Fairfield University

Lisa Stickney, EAM Director At-Large, University of Baltimore

Eastern Academy of Management International Conference

Join us in celebrating the 40th Anniversary of EAM-International and the 20th EAM-International conference! 

Taipei, Taiwan – June 17-21, 2024 

EAM-I will be celebrating its 20^th conference and will include some unique Taiwanese cultural visits. 

Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, is a modern metropolis with Japanese colonial lanes, busy shopping streets, and contemporary buildings. Taipei has emerged as one of Asia’s best-loved destinations. The rapidly developing city has restaurants and hotels that hold their own with the best in East Asia but remains more budget-friendly than Tokyo or Hong Kong. Taipei is also known for its lively street-food scene and many night markets, including the expansive Shilin market. 

The submission deadline has passed, but you can still attend and actively participate! Presentation types include case studies, theoretical or empirical papers, symposia, panel discussions, and posters.

Our two 2024 EAM-I conference hosts:  National Taipei University Business School and Fu Jen Catholic University

Conference Theme: Artificial Intelligence in Business: Opportunities and Challenges 

Senior Director: Marie-Line Germain, Western Carolina University, USA

Junior Director: Shalei Simms, SUNY Old Westbury, USA

Program Chair:  Holly Chiu, Brooklyn College, CUNY, USA 

Coordinator: Rickie Moore, emLyon Business School, Lyon, France

Host Coordinator: Lichung Jen, NTUB, Taiwan

Host Coordinator: Chung-Ling Hu, FJCU, Taiwan 

Conference website: https://eamiconference.org

EAM Learn & Share

Gabby Swab

Vice President, Program-Elect

Georgia Southern University

Two successful and well-attended EAM Learn and Shares took place online last Fall – both organized by the Program-Chair Elect – Gabby Swab. We are excited about the opportunities this Spring - be sure to check your email and LinkedIn for invitations! Reminder - these are free and open to anyone (including non-members).

In true EAM fashion to encourage scholarship, collaboration, and collegiality, the first L&S brought together 4 of the 5 regional Academy of Management (AOM) affiliates:

• Eastern Academy of Management (EAM)
• Southern Management Association (SMA)
• Southwest Association of Management (SWAM)
• Western Academy of Management (WAM) 

The panel included:

• Co-editors of the Organizational Management Journal, Dr. Robert Yawson, Quinnipiac University & EAM, and Dr. Vance Lewis, Oklahoma City University & SWAM
• Editor of the Journal of Management, Cindy Devers, Virginia Tech University & SMA
• Editor of the Journal of Management, Richard Stackman, University of San Francisco & WAM
• CARMA Director, Larry Williams, Texas Tech University, AOM, and all regional affiliates
• Additional panelists & moderators: John Harris, Georgia Southern University, EAM, & SMA, Gabby Swab, Georgia Southern University, EAM, SMA, & WAM, and Jestine Philip, University of New Haven, EAM, and SWAM. 

The second L&S included another focus near and dear to EAM – Experiential Learning! Gabby brought together three experts to discuss the design and writing of these exercises for academics at any stage of their careers.

The panel included some of EAM’s finest:

• Presenter, Vicki Fairbanks Taylor, Shippensburg University
• Co-creator, Steve Meisel, LaSalle University
• Moderator, John Harris, Georgia Southern University

This event included breakout sessions where small groups had practiced coming up with a Management related activity based on something on your desk, requiring all participants to think outside the box! It was an interactive session, and we thank all attendees, and particularly Gabby, John, Vicki, and Steve for their support of EAM!

Doctoral Student Advisory Board

For the first time in EAM history, we are actively engaging our Doctoral Students to provide mentoring, career support, and the opportunity to #passthemic to the future of our fields. The doctoral students have been so excited to have their voices heard and serve as a catalyst for innovation. They are actively working on a special section of our website dedicated to doctoral students, those considering doctorates, and early career graduates. Their first major initiative? 

Pioneering Change: #Ecovisionaries & #PasstheMic - A Virtual Sustainability Campaign! 

Our #Ecovisionaries Sustainability Campaign is a digitally-driven initiative conceived by our Doctoral Student Advisory Board centered around starting conversations on the UNPRME Sustainability Goals!

Campaign Core: Promoting Thought Leaders

Our doctoral students are researching sustainability and social responsibility, and we want to Pass the Mic to them. In today's world, where sustainability and social responsibility are paramount, our campaign underscores the urgent need for sustainable, socially responsible business practices. Amidst AI's rapid advancement, ethical and responsible application is crucial.

Interested in joining and sharing your voice as an EAM Thought Leader or future leader? Reach out to chair, Athina Skiadopoulou, PhD Student, University of Alabama. 

Follow us on LinkedIn where we are sharing their bios, highlighting their accomplishments, and featuring their initiatives to reach out to more doctoral students and #PasstheMic to build a network of #Ecovisionaires and #EAMTHoughtLeaders.

Strategic Partnerships

The Power of the PhD Project

Since 1994, The PhD Project has been encouraging historically underrepresented minorities to pursue business PhDs. Its mission is to increase workplace diversity by increasing the diversity of business school faculty who encourage, mentor, support and enhance the preparation of tomorrow’s leaders. So, it is no great surprise that KPMG, AACSB and GMAC founded The PhD Project and still support it today. And that many other leading corporations are current PhD Project Partners. These companies recognize that a systemic approach is necessary to ensure a diverse pipeline now and for generations to come.

Each year, The PhD Project hosts an annual conference for Black/African Americans, Latinx/Hispanic Americans and Native Americans who are considering doctoral studies. Those who decide to begin an eligible doctoral program become members of their discipline-specific group (Accounting, Finance & Economics, Information Systems & Sciences, Management and Marketing) and then meet annually in conjunction with their related conference.

However, the power of The PhD Project goes beyond just its members and the students from these underrepresented groups. Bringing diverse perspectives to the classroom benefits ALL students and provides them with the tools needed to succeed in today’s global work environment. Just listen to EAM Member Pooja Khatija, a PhD candidate at Case Western University.

“I remember my first conversation with Mariana about my appreciation of all that The PhD Project does. I found home in my PhD Project colleagues who make me feel like I belong - and how important that was for me being an international South Asian woman PhD student in the US. All of this helped me even though I am not a member. We spoke about the essence of what The PhD Project does for underrepresented minorities in the US, the impact it makes, and how important that work is! It just took one conversation for Dr. Lebron to become invested in my success and since then she has been one of the biggest cheerleaders, acknowledging every milestone. And I know she does that for many others. Dr. Lebron is a leader who shows up genuinely, takes action, and is a relentless advocate, especially for underrepresented and marginalized identity groups."

The PhD Project network brings together corporate and university partners with current and future faculty for a unique model that benefits everyone. Its next annual conference for prospective doctoral students will take place March 21-22, 2024, and the deadline to apply is January 31, 2024. For more information about The PhD Project and its annual conference, visit www.phdproject.org.

News from Organization Management Journal (OMJ)

Robert Yawson

OMJ Co-Editor in Chief

Quinnipiac University

Organization Management Journal (OMJ) is an open access, double-anonymous peer-reviewed online publication focused on the diffusion of articles on all aspects of management. The journal is sponsored by the Eastern Academy of Management and Southwest Academy of Management.

This year marks the 20-year anniversary of OMJ and we are excited for the growth opportunities and exposure that have characterized the journals quality and impact factors. 

As we celebrate our 20-years anniversary, we are proud to present the very 1st Editorial from our founding Editor-In-Chief on May 1, 2004 by our own Jeanie M. Forray.

https://lnkd.in/eK242FVU

The journal has grown considerably since then and we encourage you to submit your scholarship for publication.

Sincerely, 

Robert Yawson

OMJ Co-Editor-In-Chief

Quinnipiac University

Call for Papers

Preparing Leaders to Tackle Grand Challenges

For better or poorer, business actions reverberate beyond the boundaries of the organization.

Business actions aggravate or mitigate major global issues such as inequality, poverty and sustainability. Business leaders drive these actions and thus determine the direction of their impact. Scholars assert that the field of management has much potential to help address these Grand Challenges (George et al., 2016).

This Special Issue responds to the urgent call for scholarship. It aims to stimulate advances on how management education can develop leaders who are ready to tackle Grand Challenges.

We invite conceptual and empirical papers that apply quantitative or qualitative methodologies. The deadline for the submission of full papers is on the 31st of August 2024.

For more detailed information, read the formal call for papers here or contact the guest editors listed below.

Guest Editors

Sandra Alday
sandra.seno-alday@sydney.edu.au

Allan Bird
allan@bird.org

John Dilyard
jdilyard@sfc.edu

Daria Panina
dpanina@mays.tamu.edu

Sasha Zhao
sasha.zhao@surrey.ac.uk

Call for Volunteers - Social Media Advocacy

Alison Wall

Director of Communications

Southern Connecticut State University

Are you a frequent user of social media or have experience in web design? We are looking for volunteers to be on our social media/digital footprint committee. We know you are excited to share your accomplishments and grow your web presence - so are we! 

The time commitment is small, but the impact can be significant, both for your personal network and the profile of EAM. Engagement opportunities include:

• Like, comment, and share our posts and notify us about posts you want shared.
• Consult on or participate in the website re-design
• Generate blog and discussion posts for our website and social media
• Any other ideas you have - remember we are #PassingtheMic and #ElevatingVoices, you are our #EAMThoughtLeaders and we want to know!

If you are interested, please contact me at walla4@southernct.edu

Member Highlights

#EAMThoughtLeaders #PasstheMic

Monica Amadio, EdD, Stockton University, recently published a LinkedIn article on hoe "Creating a positive, healthy workplace environment is essential for attracting and retaining top talent, fostering innovation, and achieving long-term success." Read it here.

Herman Aguinis, PhD, George Washington University, has a new book coming out this year which aims to be an all-encompassing and one-stop resource for methodological best practices to improve the credibility and usefulness of our research. Ask for a free exam copy for instructors here. 

Robert Yawson, PhD, OMJ Co-Editor and Amy J. Paros, PhD, Quinnipiac University, recently published in Sage Open on the Balanced Scorecard Approach for Organizational Development and Change. Read their article here.

Want to be highlighted in a future newsletter? Contact Alison Wall, EAM Communications Director, Southern Connecticut State University.

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