Welcome to the AIB RM-SIG.
Mission:
“To advance the quality, diversity and understanding of research methodologies in international business, and to promote innovation in research methodologies.”
WHAT’S NEW
Fast Facts
- Event Date: 2 July 2024
- Registration Deadline: 1 May 2024
- Point of Contact: Marianna Marra, University of Sussex, M.Marra@sussex.ac.uk
So, You Want to Conduct an Experience-Sampling Study: An In-Depth Discussion of Conceptual, Operational, & Logistical Issues
Workshop Lead: Joel Koopman (Texas A&M University)
Time and Date: 2 July 2024, 9am-12pm KST
Experience sampling (ESM) is a well-known and widely used study design aimed primarily at examining within-individual covariation of transient phenomena utilizing repeated measures. ESM studies are increasingly popular among researchers, however there are a number of important considerations and nuances associated with these method. While many papers have been published and talks given on advanced issues pertaining to ESM studies, what remains largely undiscussed are some of the basic operational and tactical decisions that must be made when designing and running an ESM study. Thus, the purpose of this talk is to walk through some of the basics of these studies and demystify the processes in service of helping scholars to collect data that captures their focal phenomenon with a high degree of accuracy and validity.
Conducting Mixed-Methods Research in IB: Potential and Pitfalls
Workshop Lead: Niina Nummela (Turku School of Economics)
Time and Date: 2 July 2024, 9am-12pm KST
In this workshop, we cover the foundations of mixed-methods research in International Business. After the workshop, the participants will get an overview of mixed-method research strategy, from the philosophical underpinnings to practical applications. At the workshop, participants will learn about best practices of conducting mixed-method research and have an improved understanding whether this strategy would be purposeful in their own research. We will also discuss the challenges related to publishing and reviewing such research. The workshop will close with a session in which the participants can pose questions and reflect on their learning.
RM-SIG Masterclasses
AI, GPT4, Measurement and the Epistemology of Research
Masterclass Lead: Andrew Delios (National University of Singapore)
Time and Date: 2 July 2024, 1:30pm-4:30pm
The science of social science develops and improves over time. But how much of social science is science, in the strictest sense of the definition of science? This question is not a new one, but it is an important one for understanding what skills we need to develop as social scientists involved in research on organizations. Its importance extends from the practices we adopt and the practices that we focus on improving, in order to progress the rigor of our methodologies and the consequent level of confidence we have in empirical results. Our session will oscillate between big picture epistemological issues and specific examples that consider techniques related to improving measurement, alternatives to the solo-hero researcher model, and the incorporation of large language models such as GPT4, Claude 2 and Bard into our research processes.
Qualitative Research in Emerging Markets
Masterclass Lead: Tian Wei (Fudan University)
Time and Date: 2 July 2024, 1:30pm-4:30pm
The importance of theory building makes qualitative research undeniable in today’s rich, open and complex international environment. Recently, an explosion of new international business phenomena in emerging markets increases the pressure of building theories and provides attractive research sites for qualitative scholars. Yet, existing literature on the trustworthiness of qualitative methods in international business follow western methodological convention, which originates from developed economies and is not easy to capture contextual richness of emerging markets. This masterclass targets early career scholars and PhD students. It firstly reviews two traditional philosophical paradigms of qualitative research: qualitative positivism, and naturalist paradigm. After that, it explores the context of emerging markets and identifies action risks in establishing trustworthiness of qualitative methods in emerging markets. Finally, after discussions and brainstorming, it suggests approaches and procedures on contextualization and theorization in overcoming action risks.
AIB SIG Webinar: Doing Research in Emerging Economies
Date & Time: 24 April 2024, 12:00 UTC (View Local Time)
Hosts: AIB Research Methods Shared Interest Group
Point of Contact: Roberta Aguzzoli (roberta.aguzzoli@durham.ac.uk)
Event Recording Access: Current AIB members will be able to access a recording of this event in the “AIB Video Archive” section of our login portal. New webinar recordings are typically posted within five business days of the original event date.
Event Overview: IB scholars have advocated for more research that can enhance social impact and address Grand Challenges. One way of to achieve this aspiration is to conduct research in emerging economies. Yet, there are considerable methodological challenges when conducting research in different countries. To explore these and related issues, the AIB Research Methods SIG will be running a webinar on Doing Research in Emerging Economies. During this webinar, world-leading scholars will share their methodological experiences in using quantitative and qualitative methods to research emerging economies while addressing the methodological challenges and opportunities of doing research in those markets. This is a great opportunity for scholars to discuss methodological challenges, learn more about other contexts, and benefit from the experience of those with considerable expertise in the publication.
PRESENTERS
Fang Lee Cooke is Distinguished Professor at Monash Business School, Monash University, Australia. She is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Her research interests are in the area of strategic HRM, knowledge management and innovation, international HRM, Chinese migrant business, and SDGs and HRM. Fang has published over 150 journal articles and 70 book chapters. She is Co-Editor-in-Chief of International Business Review and Consulting Editor of Journal of World Business. She was a DAAD (German Academic Exchange Scheme) Visiting Professor, Georg-August-Universität Goettingen, Germany (2016), and visiting professor at King’s College London (2022) and University of Sussex (2020-). Fang is a panel member of the United Nations Environment Programme-International Sciences Council (UNEP-ISC) Foresight Expert Panel (2023-2024). Fang was ranked by a Stanford University study as one of the top 2% scientists in the world in research citation impact.
John Luiz is Professor of International Management and Strategy at the University of Sussex Business School, and at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town. He was a Visiting Scholar at the University of California Los Angeles, at Nova School of Business and Economics in Lisbon, at the Università degli Studi di Macerata, Italy, a Senior Global Fellow at the School of Public Policy and Institute for Advanced Study at the Central European University in Hungary, the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin, a Visiting Professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and a Research Affiliate at Columbia University. He is a member of various professional bodies and was President of the Economic Society of South Africa. He was appointed by the South African Cabinet to the national South African Statistics Council and served from 2013-2018. He is on the Editorial Board of several journals and a referee for over a dozen more. John has published in excess of 150 publications including around 100 articles in leading journals. He works as a consultant and has undertaken work for the United Nations, African Development Bank, UK Department for International Development, Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Industrial Development Corporation, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the United States Agency for International Development, amongst others. He is active in executive education and consulting at several leading multinational corporations, public entities, and NGOs.
Helena Barnard is a full professor at GIBS and responsible for the GIBS doctoral programme. Her research interests are in how knowledge (and with it technology, organisational practices, and innovation) moves between more and less developed countries. She researches both organisational mechanisms (notably emerging multinationals and internet-enabled businesses) and individual mechanisms such as scientific collaborations, doctoral training, and the diaspora. Her research examines how these processes play out in the often turbulent African context. Prof Barnard has published in the Journal of Management (ABS4*), Journal of International Business Studies (ABS4*), Research Policy (ABS4*), Journal of World Business (ABS4) and others. She was on the organising committee for the Academy of Management Africa conference at GIBS in 2013, was the Academy of International Business (AIB) Vice President for Administration for 2017 to 2020 and serves as the founding chair of the AIB Shared Interest Group in Emerging Markets. She was the 2018-2019 Dunning Fellow at the John H Dunning Centre for International Business at Reading University. She has been rated as an internationally recognised scholar by the South African National Research Foundation.
MODERATOR
Duc Nguyen is a Lecturer in International Business at the Alliance Manchester Business School, the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. His research interests include qualitative research methodologies, cross-sector social partnerships, and the commercialization of science-based innovations. He has published his research on top journals such as Journal of World Business and International Journal of Management Review. He has been an officer at the AIB RM-SIG since 2018 and is the current co-editor of the RM-SIG’s bi-annual newsletter.
AIB 2024 Call for papers
Consider submitting to Track no 8: Research methods and theorizing.
Call for Proposals: AIB Research Funding Grants
Program Description: Members of the Academy of International Business (AIB) at many schools, especially schools located in developing economies, do not have access to funding for research expenses (e.g., databases, software, interview, and fieldwork expenses, etc.) to support them in writing academic articles in international business. To help address this lack of access, the grants in this program support an AIB goal to level the playing field in terms of allowing all AIB members to have access to funding needed for research projects. Combined with various research seminars that are being conducted (e.g., via the new joint initiative with CIBER), the goal of these grants is to give researchers access to both the tools (e.g., methodologies) and materials (e.g., data) needed to conduct high quality research.
The total sum of grants for this cycle is US$50,000. Each grant will be up to US$10,000.
Target Applicant: A full-time doctoral student, post-doctoral researcher, or faculty member. The applicant must have a university affiliation and be an AIB member. Priority will be given to applications from developing countries and in cases where it can be demonstrated that access to research funding is limited. An applicant can only be part of one proposal each funding cycle.
Submission Deadline: February 1, 2024
Grant Period: April 1, 2024 — March 31, 2025
Eligible Expenses and Deliverables: The program is open to all types of methods and research topics in international business and provides grants toward direct research expenses, such as data collection and analysis, software purchase, and compensation for research assistants. Grants cannot be used for work or expenses that occurred prior to the submission of the application or expenses such as conference-related costs, any form of compensation for the applicant, and any type of university overhead.
Each proposal must be led by a Principal Investigator (PI) who satisfies the criteria for the target applicant. A proposal may include Co-Investigators (Cis), but the PI is responsible for signing an
agreement with the AIB. The PI will also be required to provide a final report on the project within 60 days of the end of the grant period. The final report will briefly summarize the preliminary research findings and document how the grant was used vis-à-vis the proposed budget.
AIB encourages grantees to look for opportunities to share their findings with the AIB membership through presentations at an AIB conference or by submitting a manuscript to one of AIB’s publications.
Submission Guidelines: The PI can submit the proposal here: https://member.aib.world/forms/ResearchGrants.asp. The proposal should be in a single pdf file as follows:
- Cover page
- Title of the project
- Funds requested (up to $10,000)
- Name, title, and affiliation of the PI and CIs (if any)
- Research proposal of 3 pages
- Research question(s), brief review of relevant literature, and expected contributions.
- An overview of the research design, including how data will be collected and analyzed.
- Disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest, non-disclosure agreements, sources of project funding, or conditions to where the resulting research can be published.
- Statement that any resulting publication will acknowledge AIB’s funding of the research.
Detailed budget and schedule for the usage of funds.
Evaluation Process: The evaluation committee consists of three board members of the AIB Research Methods Shared Interest Group, one member of the AIB Emerging Markets Shared Interest Group, and one member of the AIB Executive Board. The committee members will review eligible applications according to the criteria outlined above and make collective decisions through discussion and, if needed, majority vote counts. The committee will notify applicants regarding their decision by March 1, 2024. The evaluation committee will announce the grant recipients but will not offer individualized feedback on the proposals. The evaluation committee will focus on four key areas when evaluating each proposal.
- Potential theoretical or empirical contribution to international business research.
- Potential contribution to international business research methods.
- Research design and methodological quality.
- The extent to which the grant will impact the contribution and success of the project.
For any questions regarding the application process, please contact Stav Fainshmidt (sfainshm@fiu.edu).
RM-SIG AIB 