The 44th Academy of International Business (UK&Ireland Chapter) conference will be held 6-8 April 2017 at Henley Business School, University of Reading. The conference should attract a range of top-notch scholars of International Business. The central theme of this year’s conference is deglobalization. I’m interested in putting together a panel of business historians that would grapple with the issue of deglobalization and its impact on firm strategy. I believe that looking at previous episodes of deglobalization can help firms to think about their strategies in light of the accumulating evidence (see here, here, here, and here) that we may be entering a deglobalization phase in world economic history. I’m not entirely convinced by the now fashionable deglobalization narrative, but I will certainly admit that there are many data points to support it.
Anyone who would be interested in being on such a panel should contact me. We would need to submit our panel proposal and paper by 9 December at the very latest.
The theme for the conference is Contemporary Issues in International Business: Are we seeing the tail-end of globalization?
As we enter 2017, we are faced with growing uncertainty and sociology-economic challenges that suggest we may be seeing the tail-end of globalization: Zero growth, the panama papers, an immigration push-back, Brexit, Donald Trump, a new debt crisis, social unrest, even a possible recession. We contend that globalization is not an unstoppable force, and there are costs of maintaining globalization’s momentum. Society is inertial in accepting the new realities that come with globalization: less control over the ‘domestic’ economy, widespread use of international transfer pricing, the free movement of people, growing inequality. Our debate panelists will discuss what this means for international business from various perspectives.
The full CFP is here.
If you are interested in being on this panel, please contact me.
The Past Speaks 
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