International biz scholars look at India for inputs

Global body, Academy of International Business, holding meet in India for first time

In India, most academic institutions are focused on knowledge dissemination and not knowledge creation, unlike developed countries. In West, the primary job of the academia is to create knowledge, get papers published and then teach the knowledge thus gained, in the classrooms which help the learners get in sync with the latest developments in business, technology or in any other field, says experts. And this is more evident in a discipline like ‘International Business’ because of its dynamic nature.

But things may change fast with the Academy of International Business (AIB), a global association of scholars and specialists in the field of international business deciding to hold its international conference in India for the first time, in Bengaluru, thanks to the efforts of some members of AIB who are of Indian origin.

On way to the preparation of the four-day event that began at the weekend, during December last, a team from AIB including Prof Sumit K Kundu, vice-president (administration) at AIB, flew down to Bengaluru to organise a two-day workshop on how to improve the quality of papers. “This helped people learn how to write quality papers so that they would be of good quality and be accepted,” said Kundu, also a professor at College of Business, Management and International Business, Florida International University.

Papers published by majority of the researchers and academics who attended the workshop were accepted at the four-day conference, ‘Global Networks: Organizations and People’, that kicked off on Saturday.  “Writing paper is an art; a lot depend on how one can make it presentable,” adds Kundu.

Though the AIB was established in 1959, in its 56-year history, the global body is holding its first international conference in India, though it had already organised one in China in 2006 and in Brazil in 2010.

“This has been our aspiration to bring the AIB conference to India, especially to showcase the global academia and researchers the progress the country has made. So that, when they go back, publish papers and impart the knowledge, India certainly will figure high on their minds,” said Nakiye Boyacigiller, president, AIB, who hails from Turkey.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD, Biocon, was presented the 2015 AIB Fellows Executive of the Year Award at the conference.

AIB has around 3,351 members who are spread across 87 countries. Around 860 participants from around 50 countries are attending the AIB 2015 conference in Bengaluru.

Some 572 papers authored by scholars from across the world will be presented at the conference, she added.

The Indian chapter of the Academy of International Business (AIB) was started in 2003 at IIT, Bombay. In 2012, the India chapter was brought to Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

“The conference, being held in India for the first time, will enhance our understanding of complex international business issues faced by corporations doing business in and out of the emerging markets in the 21st century,” pointed out Kundu.

On winning the award, Mazumdar-Shaw, said, “I am very honoured that I am sharing this award with Professor Nick Binedell of GIBS (Gordon Institute of Business Science) at the University of Pretoria, South Africa who has been awarded educator of the year.”