RGS-IBG Annual Conference 2010, 1st-3rd September, London UK
CALL FOR PAPERS
The economic geography and management interface: building opportunities for knowledge exchange?
Sessions sponsored by the Economic Geography Research Group
Organiser: Jennifer Johns (University of Liverpool)
Despite sharing several areas of common interest, the disciplines of economic geography and management science interact relatively infrequently. Economic geography’s concern with the role of transnational firms in the global economy has produced research on several complementary themes including the organizational geographies of TNCs, their impact on host economies and the causes and outcomes of uneven economic activities. This has necessitated drawing on key contributions from management science and international business (for example the work of Hymer and Dunning). Indeed, the global and cross-disciplinary success of Dicken’s Global Shift serves to highlight the potential for sharing knowledge within the areas of overlap between economics, management and geography. However, the focus of economic geography on space and place has lead to a degree of criticism of existing trade and growth theories. Yeung’s work, including his 2009 paper on Dunning’s Multinational Enterprises, suggests that while geography is considered a key factor in analyses of TNC activities, too narrow a view is taken and subsequently the significance of space, place and spatial scale is under-emphasised. As such, economic geography could contribute to existing research on TNCs in other disciplines such as management science, but this is dependent upon greater interaction and communication. This session engages both economic geographers and management scientists in debate around the potential for (and form of) greater knowledge sharing and discussion of current research being conducted across these disciplinary boundaries.
The first session will include a key note contribution from Henry Yeung (National University of Singapore) and commentaries from Andrew Jones (Birbeck College, University of London) and Gary Cook (University of Liverpool Management School). We invite contributions for the subsequent session(s) from geographers that engage with economics and management science in their research. Such papers may include one or more of the following aspects:
• theoretical engagement with management approaches;
• empirical findings that supplement (or indeed, contradict) those of existing management research and associated theoretical frameworks;
• reflections on the value of engaging with management science and the particular contribution(s) geographers can make to current understandings.
The sessions are designed to demonstrate the nature and extent of current research within geography that engages with management science and to discuss the capacities for (and desirability) fostering increased cross-disciplinary dialogue. Enquires and ideas are welcomed.
If you are interested in contributing, please submit a 250 word abstract to me by February 12th 2010. Jennifer Johns ([log in to unmask])
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