Responsible Research Academic Summit 2021
Brief Report
Overall Summit Objective
To share experiences and explore new ideas to deepen and broaden the transformation toward responsible research in business schools by deans, editors, association leaders, senior and young scholars.
Specific Summit Goals
- To share significant actions by deans, scholarly association leaders, and scholars in various disciplines in pursuing, encouraging, and supporting research to enable better business and management practices for a better world.
- To discuss and share experiences or best practices in responsible research observed or experienced by summit participants.
- To choose one actionable idea by participants in their role as leaders in schools or associations, and as senior or aspiring young scholars to support, encourage, facilitate, or engage in responsible research.
On April 26, 2021, 199 participants from 31 countries, 140 schools/institutions, representing the major disciplines in business schools (accounting, finance, management, marketing, and operations management), and major internal stakeholders of the research ecosystem (including deans, editors, association leaders, senior and junior scholars, and doctoral students) gathered virtually at this Responsible Research Academic Summit. This event was open to all members of the RRBM community, with special invitations to the leaders of professional associations and editors of the major journals of the disciplines. The participants included 27 association leaders, 24 deans and associate deans, 11 PhD directors, 34 editors, department, and associate editors, 81 senior scholars, 28 junior scholars, and 30 doctoral students. They shared experiences and discussed best practices for advancing societally meaningful and useful research.
The three-hour summit had a fast-paced and action-oriented agenda consisting of three different panels, and two breakout group discussions. The first two groups of panelists (three B-school deans and three association leaders) highlighted numerous initiatives by business schools, disciplinary associations, and journals that contribute to building momentum that embraces responsible research principles. A third panel of scholars in three different disciplines shared their personal stories on pursuing responsible research. Two rounds of breakout group discussion sessions allowed participants to share personal experiences, explore new opportunities, discuss lessons learned when facing challenges, and most importantly, develop actionable commitments related to their professional roles.
This Summit is available to you through video recordings (links below in Agenda section) of the three panels. A full report is being prepared to highlight the major actionable ideas for each of the stakeholders from the Summit. Watch out for the announcement of this report in a future RRBM newsletter VOICES. Please support our work and join the community by endorsing our position paper and joining the RRBM community as an endorser.
We extend our sincere appreciation to all those who contributed to the engaging and energizing conversations, especially the nine panel speakers, six panel moderators (see biographies here), and 36 breakout group facilitators. In advance of the full report, the spirit of this Summit and the action-oriented RRBM movement was captured in this blog.
Agenda
Welcome and Introduction
Mary Jo Bitner, Professor and Edward M. Carson Chair in Service Marketing Emerita, Arizona State University, USA
Panel 1. How deans encourage faculty research with societal impact (35 minutes)
Moderator: Mary Jo Bitner, Professor and Edward M. Carson Chair in Service Marketing Emerita, Arizona State University, USA
Co-moderator: Ruth Bolton, Professor of Marketing Arizona State University, USA
- Jonathan Levin, Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean, Stanford Graduate School of Business, USA
- Ansgar Richter, Professor of Strategy and Dean, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, The Netherlands
- Zhixue Zhang, Incoming President (2021) of the International Association for Chinese Management Research; Professor of Management, Peking University, China