Conference 2016

(International Business and Management Conference, November 11 – 12, 2016)

Held at the Hotel Don Giovanni Prague, the Conference assembled close to one hundred participants from over twenty countries from within the European Union, the British Commonwealth, Turkey, and the United States.

This year, the Conference was addressed by three guest speakers: Professor Henry Mintzberg, an internationally renowned academic and author on business and management from McGill University, Montréal, Canada, Professor Yadong Luo from the University of Miami Coral Gables, Florida, and Thomas Hanson, IEECA Director and former Ambassador and American diplomat to Central and Eastern Europe.

Particular attention was given to the selection of the conference theme, Business and Management Challenges – 2017 and Beyond. Research indicated that global management interests in recent years concentrate on the areas of organisational development, workforce diversity and multiculturalism, process improvement and technology, as well as, international trade. Each of these tracks and discussions was chaired by an expert in the field. In addition, to accommodate growing interest, a Round Table on Industry 4.0 and various ad-hoc sessions on Action Learning were also added.

Not only did our participants and their outstanding research presentations contribute to the success of the conference, our prestigious guest speakers attracted interest in their own right. Three renowned individuals, leaders in their respective fields, provided much needed knowledge given recent world events.   Professor Henry Mintzberg, Professor Yadong Luo, and diplomat emeritus, Mr. Thomas Hanson provided their audience with insight relative to the conference theme.

A successful conference is oftentimes measured by the contents of the varied contributions from the participants, its speakers, but also its sponsors. In addition to the hosts, the Department of Management of the Prague University of Economics and Business and MacEwan University School of Business (Canada), we must thank the Institute of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (USA), the University of Hradec Králové (Czech Republic), the Cross-Cultural Management Centre and the Centre of Digital Transformation of the University, and lastly, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic for their valuable assistance.

Despite the uneasy global climate, participants enjoyed the events and the camaraderie, thus truly demonstrating that the pursuit and sharing of knowledge overrides politics. The presentations and discussions demonstrated the vitality of combining academic research and praxis.

Photos from conference