Research with Impact for Society & the Enterprise

November 29 & 30 2021

Campus of Social Sciences, Huvelin Street, Beirut, Lebanon

Conference Chair: Dr. Pierre El Haddad, Saint Joseph University

Hosted on EasyChair

The successive crises shaking the modern world challenge basic concepts that have profoundly shaped management practice and education. Conventional concepts like procedurality, ecosystems, quality systems, accounting models, and the primacy of efficiency, are among many concepts being revised in light of the latest sanitary, economic, social, and environmental crises. The entanglement of emergencies and brutal disruptions presage a frantic pace of change. Businesses, non-profits, and hybrid organizations alike, evolve in perpetual ontogenesis and a sense of urgency. Faculty, business leaders, and public service kingpins increasingly play the role of educators anchoring their constituents in deontic and inclusive systems, devolving power to the collective talent. From this perspective, and more than ever, management scholarship is requested to rejuvenate its relationship with the practice of management with iterative observation, theorization, and application to deliver practice-oriented knowledge.

This global fact, locally vivid, called upon the Faculty of Business and Management (FGM) of Saint Joseph University of Beirut (USJ) to host an international management conference on 29-30 November 2021 in Beirut, Lebanon.
#RISE2021 Conference is co-sponsored by:

  • Management Consulting Division (MCD) of the Academy of Management (AOM), a global professional association of 20,000 members based in New York, USA, devoted to developing both rigor and relevance for the research and education of management professionals.
  • Institut de la Socio-économie des Entreprises et des Organisations (ISEOR), Lyon, France, a research center dedicated to intervention-research and management consulting focused on the socio-economic approach. ISEOR is led by Pr. Savall and Zardet of IAE Lyon business school, Jean Moulin University Lyon III. It has a staff of 25 professionals and a network of 150 intervener-researchers in 42 countries.

#RISE2021 emphasizes applied research with direct benefit to the management community and society in general. The conference aims to bring together scholars and practitioners, therefore works with practical aspects are prioritized.

#RISE2021 will include:

  • plenary and thematic paper sessions.
  • poster sessions dedicated for innovative research at their creative ideation phase and student projects looking for genuine feedback.
  • workshops led by international scholar-practitioners with focus on building ties with global management organizations and the publication of applied research.

The conference committee invites scholars, practitioners, scholar-practitioners, consultants, and students to submit their papers, consulting cases, doctoral and master research, and posters. The committee encourages particularly works that are intellectually provocative and immediately applicable. Works can be submitted to the following tracks: (1) Transformational Change and Development in Crisis; (2) Sustainable Development, Non-profits and Public Management; (3) Performance Indicators, Quality and Compliance, Accounting, and Managerial Finance; (4) Public Health, Crisis Preparedness and Performance; (5) Leadership, Innovation, and Improvisation in Times of Crisis; (6) Workspace Technologies, ICT and AI implementation; (7) Women, Gender, and Inclusivity in Decision-Making; (8) Human Resources in Age of Disruption; (9) Engineering in the service of society; (10) General Track. Follow the link here to access track details.

 

Paper submit format

  • Paper: APA 7th edition, not exceeding 25 pages, times new roman 12, double spacing, including diagrams, tables, bibliography, and appendices.
    Two separate word documents: The first document includes author name(s) and affiliation(s). The second document with no mention of author(s).
  • Poster submission format: 60x90cm, free style.
    Submitting authors are required to review at least one manuscript.

#RISE2021 is an online event.

Timeline

For more information, fgm.rise@usj.edu.lb or contact Dr. Pierre El Haddad: pierre.haddad@usj.edu.lb

 

TRANSFORMATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE IN CRISIS


Whether planned or unplanned, incremental or abrupt, change is unavoidable and an integral part of today’s organizations. Transformational processes are more critical than ever across countries and sectors. This track aims to bring together practitioners and scholars to share their experiences and research results on all aspects of  transformational change and development. The objective is to shed light on systemic change in the face of ambiguity, disruption, and crises. Possible contributions include, but are not limited to:

  • How can managers at all levels lead transformation in their organizations?
  • How can organizations deal with conflicting demands in times of turbulence?
  • What methods and processes help practitioners better respond to the challenges that come with
    change?
  • What factors, tools, and indicators foster change processes?
  • How can consultants and OD experts create and disseminate innovative models for
    transformational change?
  • How should organization development be applied in times of ambiguity and abrupt change?

 

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, NON-PROFITS, AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT


Almost all the world’s societies acknowledge that Sustainable development goals aim for a combination of economic development, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion. Specific objectives differ between and within societies.
Three related efforts are the sustainable livelihoods movement, the global solidarity movement, and the corporate responsibility movement.
The movement for sustainable livelihoods consists of local initiatives that seek to create opportunities for work and sustenance that offer sustainable and credible alternatives to current processes of development and modernization.

The global solidarity movement seeks to support poor people in developing countries in ways that go beyond the altruistic support for development funding.
The corporate responsibility movement has three dimensions:

  • efforts by NGOs to change corporate environmental and social behavior
  • efforts by corporations to contribute to sustainable development goals and to reduce their negative environmental and social impacts;
  • international initiatives such as the UN Global Compact that seek to harness the knowledge, energies, and activities of corporations to better serve nature and society.

Cooperation and partnerships between private enterprises, non-profits, communities, and public administrations remain the foundation of sustainable development. However, cooperation is an acquired skill that starts at the internal level to build up into systemic competency.
This track invites papers that address the responsibilities of private, public, and non-profit organizations towards their internal and external societies. It also invites research that addresses cooperation among and within organizations towards sustainable development issues and goals.

 

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, QUALITY AND COMPLIANCE, ACCOUNTING, AND MANAGERIAL
FINANCE


Performance indicators are essential tools for measuring and tracking progress in different areas in finance, accounting, and management. They can be applied in private businesses or public institutions in order to measure their overall health, point on the under-performing areas and evaluate the effectiveness of the adopted policies. This allows decision-makers to be proactive in adopting the necessary reforms (financial, accounting, and managerial) that would prevent potential losses and ensure long-term sustainability. This track will cover research related to performance indicators in different operational areas of finance, marketing, management, accounting, production, customer services, and others. A discussion of the performance indicators’ failures is to be discussed in this track.

 

PUBLIC HEALTH, CRISIS PREPAREDNESS AND PERFORMANCE


The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront the field of public health and has highlighted the importance of efficient, stable healthcare systems. It has also highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of health systems as well as their preparedness to face crisis.  Most importantly it has exposed the importance and need for:

  • clear and transparent leadership and governance,
  • strong independent public health structures and bodies, highly qualified healthcare professionals,
  • performant material and equipment

This track invites research and case studies describing and analyzing public health experiences related to crisis preparedness and management at the macro, meso and micro levels, the responsiveness of the system, innovative competencies developed, the impact on performance and the lessons learned.

 

LEADERSHIP, INNOVATION, AND IMPROVISATION IN TIMES OF CRISIS


Leadership in crisis investigates key leadership competencies and systemic leadership attributes to face crisis challenges. The implications of difficult times and overlapping crises include large-scale changes and transformational competencies to survive and bounce back. High-performing leaders are in the spotlight in times of crisis. They are imbued with self-awareness and flexibility towards innovation and improvisation.
This track will feature papers about leaders, managers, and consultant experiences facing crisis-level challenges and complexities. It will focus on resolving issues by innovation and improvisation, and by setting new standards of planning and executing. It also focuses on team learning and coordination under challenging conditions.

 

WORKSPACE TECHNOLOGIES, INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (ICT)
AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IMPLEMENTATION


There are two sides to the implementation of new technology systems in an organization: the technical functionality of the system, and how the people involved interact with and adopt it. While papers related to technological innovations are encouraged, our greater focus will be on the human side of the implementations. Possible research questions may include:

  • What processes were or will be used to involve the right people in the design, implementation, and ongoing maintenance of the system(s)?
  • What challenges came up in technology implementation, and how were they addressed?
  • How are human biases being programmed into (or out of) AI systems?
  • What problems will the implementation of new technology systems solve?
  • What problems will the implementation of new technology systems create?

 

WOMEN, GENDER, AND INCLUSIVITY IN DECISION-MAKING


In this track, we ask submitters to reflect on the motivations, dynamics, and practices that contribute to supporting or resisting diversity in decision-making in organizations including but not limited to gender, sexual orientation, religion, or others. We welcome theoretical, empirical, and practice-oriented paper submissions that further develop our understanding of the role of leaders for greater inclusion in organizations’ decision-making process. Possible questions include, but are not limited to:

  • What is the role and relevance of organizational leaders in supporting or resisting inclusion?
  • Which role does organizational hierarchy play in challenging or facilitating women’s contribution in decision-making?
  • Is there a difference in supporting diversity in decision-making across industries e.g. universities versus for-profit or not-for-profit organizations?
  • How do women, disabled people, or other minorities construct their identities when reaching higher decision-making positions?
  • Why and how do organizations support and resist inclusion in general or any specific inclusion characteristics such as gender, sexual orientation, race, or others?
  • What is the role of institutional context stance towards inclusion?
  • How can organizations encourage their executives to foster inclusion?
  • How can country policies encourage its businesses, for-profit or not-for-profit organizations to foster inclusion?

 

HUMAN RESOURCES IN THE AGE OF DISRUPTIONS


The current global pandemic has made an irreversible societal impact. The disruption affected all Human Resources (HR) functions such as planning, recruitment, compensation, training, performance appraisal, and employee relations. HR is in need to play an important role in the survival of organizations while instilling a flexible mindset and sustain the motivation of employees.
This track covers the complete field of HR with a focus on the impact of disruptions on the different functions and procedures. Empirical studies, theoretical contributions, and interdisciplinary research are welcome.

 

ENGINEERING IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY


Engineering is the application of fundamental sciences by which properties of matter and resources of nature are made useful to people. Engineering, therefore, has managerial, social, and policy implications.
The engineering in the service of society track encourages researchers to submit practice-oriented and technical research papers that directly impact society and decision-making.
Submissions include but are not limited to:

  • Innovative materials
  • Water resources management
  • Waste management
  • Recycling and life cycle assessment
  • Sustainability, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
  • Road Safety

 

GENERAL TRACK


The general track has three purposes. The first is to attract practice and research papers whose authors find no fit with other tracks. The second purpose relates to the interrelation of business, civil society, and public administration. All three sectors are fundamental for society to advance and prosper, and to fend off crises.
Their intersections are seldom treated from the collaborative perspective, rather from the idiosyncratic lens of each of the disciplines. This track invites papers that explore the interrelationships of the three sectors, and intra and inter-sector cooperation. The third purpose is to encourage bold and provocative intellectual contributions that challenge common wisdom, just as audacious managers envision opportunities and lead their organizations through dire times to emerge ahead of the pack.

 

SUBMIT PAPER HERE