CORPORATE AND PRACTITIONER SUBMISSIONS AND CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS/PAPERS
The AoM/IAoM extends this invitation to senior executives, middle managers, and administrators of institutions of higher learning to ensure that the annual conference of the AoM/IAoM is achieving the balance between academicians and practitioners. We are proud to introduce M.E.L.T. as the organizing paradigm for this year’s conference. We trust that you find this model intellectual challenging and provocative, since it may offer a useful framework beyond the context of this conference. This call is for a variety of conference-related activities and describes the different types of submissions the Association is seeking this year. In addition, it provides information about the M.E.L.T. Paradigm, which represents the organizing framework, along with membership information, the AoM/IAoM publication portfolio, individual leadership, and support/sponsorship opportunities.

For more information see our Submission Guidelines.

GENERAL CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
Traditionally, the academy has been viewed as the source from which new management and leadership theories and innovative models of education originate. Practitioners are expected to both accept and apply the theories of academicians with little opportunity to provide input, feedback or alternative versions of the theory. Transformational leadership may serve as an example. It has been the poster child of leadership theories for more than two decades, generated a large body of empirical and theoretical research, led to the creation of instruments that presumably measure transformational leadership and produced programs that promised to transform managers into transformational leaders. Yet, with the exception of the use of the term ‘transformational leadership’ itself, which has become popular in business circles, practitioners have had few opportunities to share their experiences with transformational leadership theory with the academic community. For example, how are the foundational concepts of transformational leadership known as the four Is – intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, idealized influence, and individualized consideration - translated in the world of practice? How do they resonate with practitioners? How do they manifest themselves in interactions between leaders and the led in your organization?

The AoM/IAoM departs from the assumption that practitioners must have an equal voice in the construction of new theories and models around the MELT paradigm. The questions closest to managers, which also underly the core of MELT, are what constitutes good management, effective leadership, cutting edge education for both the workforce and management and state-of-the-art technology? With their eyes firmly fixed on hands-on knowledge that comes from knowing the nature of the business, strategy and workers and the integrative knowledge that is the synthesis of management itself, managers have been founding and re-founding the practice of management everyday while academics have been fighting over the definition of a discipline that can teach future managers.

As a practitioner, you understand that by necessity your decisions have to be evidence-based regardless of whether they are supported by contemporary theories or not. In fact, many times practitioners are disillusioned with the artificial nature of theories and models coming out of the academy which have little relevance in the real world. In fact, it has been said that some of the theories cherished by academicians are simply “gadgets” that do not work. On the other hand, theories such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs or Deming’s total quality movement, which have been criticized in the academy for having little scientific value, have been very popular in the world of practice, and they should not be!

The AoM/IAoM is making a concerted effort to balance the partnership between academics and practitioners in a way that is gives both parties equal legitimacy. At AoM/IAoM, we wish to open the doors for practitioners to showcase their experiences, present their viewpoints and perspectives and constructively challenge theories and empirical studies produced by academicians.

Topics for consideration may include, but are not limited to:

The AoM/IAoM is actively seeking the participation of leaders of private and public sector organizations into its MELT program. Specifically, we are soliciting contributions from: