The AoM/IAoM has created an integrated, networked paradigm know as MELT (Management, Education, Leadership, and Technology) to facilitate a multidisciplinary, global discourse between scientists and practitioners in these disciplines which challenges prevailing assumptions and theories. One of the fundamental issues undergirding MELT is the notion that management, education, leadership, and technology are on the cusp of a paradigm shift.

In MANAGEMENT, the philosophies of Peter Drucker and Edmonds Deming created during the industrial area continue to drive management practices intended for post-industrial organizations but are becoming dysfunctional in organizations structured as networks of knowledge workers, free agents, and team-based systems.

In EDUCATION, distance education is challenging the pillars of the educational systems from Dewey’s philosophy to the architecture of the brick-and-mortar classroom with students going to the classroom, the faculty acting as the sage on the stage and the very nature of traditional pedagogy which has not changed significantly over centuries.

In LEADERSHIP, the myths of autonomy, control, and omnipotence of the single leader at the apex of the organization are being debunked as followership and the importance of context for organizational survival and fitness are factored into the leadership equation. Leading in an interconnected, adaptive, complex, dynamic environment requires a fundamentally different style of leadership.

In TECHNOLOGY, because of the rapidly changing nature of information and communication technologies, paradigm shifts are more subtle and frequent and seem to take less time to take root since professionals in this domain are used to view change as a constant the drives the future and next innovation.

Taken together, these four domains seen in their political, social, and economic context, provide the framework for many AoM/IAoM activities including the annual conferences, special events, and publications.