EMS 2021 Theme - "The Really Big Problems"

The world of the practitioner-scholar requires a mindset that focuses attention on identifying the problems facing the applied community and the application of the theories, methods and tools of the scientific approach to solve them. In other words, the practical application of scholarly knowledge.

Individuals, their organizations and the societies in which they reside are under constant disruption from global forces stemming from rapid changes in digitization, innovation and the constant development of the global community. The methods and practices of the past are becoming obsolete in the face of this disruption and the need for new knowledge and practices to address these challenges is ubiquitous. Success must come from creating a balance between the purely academic or theoretical approach and a practitioner-scholar one which prioritizes problem identification and solution generation while acknowledging the limitations brought forth by practice, availability of information, and daily resource constraints. Add to that the challenge of determining exactly what problems are of the highest priority and will require an immediate focus, in order to develop solutions that will provide an annuity of benefits.

The problem “tree” bears fruit at all levels and the low-hanging variety becomes immediately attractive to those who desire to make a change for the better in the near term. The real problems of importance and their solutions often position themselves out of reach and require a clear understanding of the value proposition associated with tackling them. While finding a solution is always the goal, identifying the really important issues is always the challenge.

To that end, the theme of the 2021 11th International Conference on Engaged Management Scholarship (EMS) will be focused on “The Really Big Problems” facing the global community today, and a call to action for the practitioner-scholar community in both identifying them and crafting their solutions. While not an exhaustive listing, we focus our attention on questions such as:

• What are the important challenges facing the various sectors of our global business community?
  • Sustainability and Resiliency - Economic Development, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Transportation and the Environment
  • Innovation - Technology, AI, Finance/FinTech, Healthcare and Education
  • Institutional - Government, Military, Non-Profit and Academia
  • Service Delivery - Retail, Marketing, Sports, Hospitality and Tourism
  • Organizational- Leadership, People, Values and Purpose
• How can these problems be identified and isolated such that a scientific approach to their solutions be applied?
• How can the practitioner-scholar community assist in prioritizing such challenges to bring the most value for the effort expended?
• How can we best bring scholarship to the workplace to identify the necessary resources and operationalize their application?

Submissions for papers, panels, workshops, consortium and posters to the 2021 EMS conference should tailor their message to bring to light answers to the examples above and other related questions that will provide an understanding of the really big problems of today and beyond.

All submissions must be original and not currently under review by another journal or conference. All submissions will be carefully reviewed, and accepted submissions will be expected to be presented by one or more authors registered for the conference – either in person or virtually.

All submission information can be found on the conference website at ems2021.fiu.edu.

The EMS 2021 conference gathers doctoral students, alumni and faculty from Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) programs to focus attention on the acceleration of engaged management research and evidence-based management. EMS2021, which celebrates the 11th anniversary of the Engaged Management Scholarship conference, will be hosted both in person and via online delivery by Florida International University in Miami, Florida, USA on September 9-11, 2021.

Participation in EMS2021 will bring many benefits and opportunities through networking with a community of management practitioner-scholars from varied professional backgrounds involved in creating and publishing high quality research on meaningful, salient problems as experienced by organizational stakeholders. Attendees will learn from inspiring keynotes, participate in insightful interactive sessions, build personal contacts and forge new connections and relationships. Through the high-quality research presentations and keynote speakers, attendees will better understand the leading edge of the practice and theory of management with an emphasis on evidence-based insights to guide your individual, organizational, and systemic transformation for the betterment of the global business community.