WHY ICBMEM 2017
The trends that shape the
emerging markets of today
are constantly evolving. The
businesses and organizations in
emerging markets have faced
tremendous changes due to fast
changing environmental factors
on the one hand and pressing
new global development priorities
on the other. This has brought
significant implications on the way
the organizations are managed.
The fast technological changes,
transformation of institutions
through continuous policy reforms
and rapidly changing industry
boundaries, have necessitated for
both academics and practitioners
alike, the need to better understand
the opportunities and challenges
that come along with the trends.
It is thus important to understand
the key drivers and outcome of
these trends that shape emerging
markets of now and future not
because of their sake but because
of the global interconnections.
For example what is happening
in China today do have impact in
several other countries even if they
may not have direct trade links.
What will define the 21st Century is
the pace of science and Technology
in advancing humanity. With these
developments come the moral
questions that need to receive
proper attention from ethical
point of views. The triangle of
harmonious business will thus
be defined in terms of how the
businesses collectively take into
account the planet, people and
profits. The dynamics that are
taking place in our societies
redefine and shape the role
of business, government and
community.
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Technological
changes
have
provided OPPORTUNITIES for
more asymmetric information
where in some cases the enterprises
know better than governments
and lawmakers. The pace of
adapting to the opportunities
that are offered by the changes in
the modern world have not been
optimized especially for firms in
emerging markets. The pace of
adapting new global challenges has
not been well echoed adequately
in the scholarly world.
Emerging markets of Africa
have started to focus on
industrialization and sustainable
development. Newly Tanzanian
government for example, has set
this as a top national agenda. The
role of government in economic
development for most emerging
markets of Africa used to be active,
but today it is passive (through
shaping policies and regulations
that enable better business
environment). We believe that
the changes and dynamics that
we witness in emerging markets
are an important laboratory
for researchers. I believe that
scholarly cooperation will yield
timely and better insights that will
shape corporate and government
decisions. Further, the scholarly
cooperation will have a multiplier
effect
than
government-to-
government cooperation.
The outcome of the research
effort that takes into account the
contextual elements of emerging
markets may not necessarily mimic
those in developed economies.
This is due to the differences in
historical and cultural aspects.
The ICBMEM 2017 was thus an
important platform that gear
towards forming an international
scholarly effort in addressing
and shaping research agenda for
emerging markets.
Theories are not made in vacuum
but are developed to explain the
rationale behind practice, and in
doing so, help to predict behavior
in similar occurrences. The
strength of social sciences theories
in particular depends on how they
take into account the context
specific issues. With this emerging
scholarly
cooperation
that
combine both scholars to reflect
issues related to emerging markets,
we hope there will be better
insights and new perspectives that
will shape our understanding of
emerging markets.
Conference Members in a group photo.
Convocation Newsletter | 2017