Minutes of the IFSAM 2002 Council Meeting

(held on 10 July 2002, Conrad Jupiters Hotel, Broadbeach, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia)

Present Greg Bamber (in the Chair), Jacky Akoka, Mary Barrett, Sue Bruning, Elizabeth Chell, Zhicheng Chen, Ray Cooksey, Su Dongshui, Ursula Hanssen, Zhiyi He, Sten Jönsson, Rolf Lundin, Roderick Martin, Albert Mills, Elizabeth More, Eleanor O’Higgins, Yvon Pesqueux, André Petit, Sun Sianzhang, Eric Simon, Yoshiaki Takahashi, Shinshi Takaoka, Pieter Terlouw, Fang Hua Wang, Dave Whetten, Zhang Yang.

Apologies Joan van Aken, Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson, Koji Okubayashi, Lyn Purdy. It was also noted that there had been difficulties getting in touch with members from Italy, Spain, Brazil and Argentina and that these members had been unable to attend.

1 Welcome and introductions The Chairperson welcomed all members to the meeting at 9.30am. All members introduced themselves.

2 Representation and voting rights Each member association is entitled to two voting representatives. Since two representatives were present from each of two associations in China, one voting member was designated from each of them.

3 Agenda 3 Item 7 was moved to the afternoon, otherwise the agenda was confirmed as per the version that had been previously circulated by email.

4 Correction to minutes of the meeting held on 4 September 2001 in Cardiff, UK In item 17 para 1, line 4, ‘conference’ should read ‘council meeting’. The 2001 minutes were accepted with this correction.

5 President’s report The President’s report was tabled (copy attached)

It was agreed that the President’s report be accepted.

6 Treasurer’s report The Treasurer’s report was tabled (copy attached). The Treasurer made the following points:

a) The accumulated surplus on p. 1 is indicated as $107,000, but this includes $10,000 extended to the President until the end of his mandate and part may be reimbursed if the 2002 Congress makes a surplus. Similarly, the figure of $10,000 on the same page is to be regarded as a budget item. It is hoped that this figure will be reimbursed following the current Australian congress, if it makes a surplus.

b) The figure of 140,000 apparently coming from Canada was in French francs, and therefore should be around US$30,000.

It was agreed that IFSAM’s financial statements be approved with these clarifications or corrections.

7 Surplus from world congresses Members discussed what was to be done with any surplus arising from congresses. There was presently no fixed pattern about what happens to the surplus. For example, in Montreal it had been agreed that if there was a surplus, it would be split three ways: IFSAM, the member association and the host university. The division of the surplus also often varied depending on which party takes the risk on the conference going into deficit. Sometimes the hosting school or university has borne the risk.

It was agreed that IFSAM adopt a working guideline that surpluses and deficits be shared by parties investing in the Congress in proportion to their contributions. This item should be revisited at future Council meetings to check how it worked in practice.

(Action: Pieter Terlouw)

8 Paying and non-paying member countries Some countries appeared not to have paid dues for this year; others had paid sporadically or not at all. Russia and Korea had been ejected because their member associations were not representative. The number of associations who were formal members of IFSAM was not indicative of the level of interest in IFSAM, since the 12 member associations cover 30 countries. André Petit pointed out that earlier in IFSAM’s history the annual membership dues had been $3,000 each year. This was later reduced to $1,000 each year, but this no longer covered the travel etc. costs of members at Council meetings. (Subsequently it has been expected that council members’ home academy or institution would pay for such travel etc. costs.)

9 Report on 2002 VIth World Congress. The VIth Congress had attracted more than 400 delegates, of whom about 300 were presenting papers. About two-thirds of the papers had come from countries outside Australia or New Zealand, including from countries which did not have a member association at the moment. At this point it was not possible to predict the financial outcome exactly. The number of delegates is much less than in Montreal, perhaps as a result of September 11. In addition, some intending delegates from China had been refused visas at the last minute. More than 60 papers had been submitted from China and 50 delegates wished to attend, but only 24 had been granted visas. Many scholars who had sought visas apparently were good scholars with good English. The Chinese associations of management guarantee that every scholar plans to return to the PRC.

It was agreed that the President of ANZAM and Mary Barrett draft a letter to the Australian Prime Minister by 30 December 2002 to complain about the Australian immigration authorities failure to grant visas to senior Chinese delegates to this 2002 Congress as well as the unfortunate refusals and/or visa delays to international students recruited by Australian universities. (Action: Elizabeth More and Mary Barrett)

Further discussion of the current Congress included the following points:

If the Congress makes a surplus, many parties want to share it, as was the case with Montreal. If the Congress makes a loss, as could happen with the current Congress, usually there is not the same rush to share the deficit. A number of the sponsors would like their money back plus dividends. The organisers had budgeted for 1000 people originally, on the basis of the Montreal experience. So Conrad Jupiters Hotel had been booked on the basis of these numbers, which would have exceeded the capacity of Griffith University to host the Congress at its Gold Coast campus.

The funding package for the Congress had included a grant of $10,000 as seed funding, and a smaller grant from the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM). The balance of the seed funding was supplied from a combination of university sponsorship from Australia and New Zealand, including several schools at Griffith University. Support in kind had been received from Southcorp wines, and Saatchi and Saatchi had sponsored one of the keynote speakers. Much less commercial sponsorship had been available than in Montreal. Much of the corporate sector appeared to have been ‘sponsored out’ by the Sydney Olympic Games. The organisers had been unable to attract government sponsorship, unlike in Montreal, despite employing a sponsorship co-ordinator. State and federal governments have been tight about sponsorship for this kind of activity. A range of other conferences were taking place on approximately these same dates in Australia and New Zealand so publishers’ sponsorship has been stretched thinly. IFSAM had chosen the dates for this Congress on the basis of the dates of past congresses, but IFSAM may want to reconsider such dates for the future.

10 2004 World Congress Sten Jönsson reported on the 2004 World Congress, first offering apologies on behalf of the Dean of the organising committee who was not able to be present at this meeting. The 2004 brochure was available with the registration material for the current Congress. A Congress homepage had been established. Conference rooms at Göteborg had been booked and the price was being negotiated. ‘Understanding the new economy’ had been chosen as the conference theme; this could encompass other topics. The Scandinavian Academy of Management is the host organisation. A prime aim was to attract Scandinavians to the conference, but one question was whether to invite EURAM to have an association with this IFSAM Congress. The issue was controversial since EURAM is a competitor with EGOS, but the organisers propose to extend an invitation to EURAM.

Professor Bamber suggested EURAM involvement could have a strategic advantage for IFSAM and EURAM. It was suggested that both EURAM and EGOS be invited, but EGOS would be having their conference at about the same time.

The proposed schedule for the 2004 Congress currently included 4 July, which might present a problem for U.S. delegates. China would prefer a date after mid-July. The organisers will reconsider the 2004 dates.

11 Location and date of future Council meetings Brazil had not confirmed its interest in hosting the Council meeting due in 2003, so the question was reopened.

It had previously been agreed that a Council meeting would be held in 2004 in Göteborg, in association with the VIIth World Congress. In odd-numbered years, the Council meeting is usually held in conjunction with the conference of one of the IFSAM’s member associations. Sometimes this arrangement could be varied, for example with a regional conference being held alongside the Council meeting. There would be few cost implications for the host, since IFSAM pays the cost of the Council meeting. One custom is that a joint reception is held, ie the local academy or association hosts a reception for the IFSAM Council. The German-speaking Management Association may also have an interest, but Ursula Hanssen would need to check with a colleague in Switzerland, since the German-speaking Management Association’s next conference would be held there. Pieter Terlouw said there would be interest in holding the 2003 Council meeting in the Netherlands, in association with a conference of the Netherlands national association. The conference language would be English.

After an election, it was agreed

a) that Pieter Terlouw should consult his Netherlands colleagues and IFSAM Council members as soon as possible about establishing a firm date for the 2003 IFSAM Council Meeting, probably to be held in the Netherlands. (Action: Pieter Terlouw)

b) that Pieter Terlouw should liaise with Ursula Hanssen and the German-speaking Management Association concerning a possible date and venue for 2005 Council meeting, but a definite decision might not be made until the 2003 Council Meeting;

b)

12 Proposal for the World Congress in 2008 in Berlin: The German-speaking Management Association had given approval to host the 2008 Congress in Berlin. Ursula Hanssen would give further details later.

13 Role of IFSAM Greg Bamber pointed out that IFSAM had developed around holding world and regional congresses. More recently discussion had developed concerning the future role of IFSAM and how best it could support its member organisations. This had been discussed at the Montreal Council meeting. Greg Bamber and Mary Barrett had prepared a paper on how Congresses could develop and support IFSAM’s activities (see attached). Mary Barrett had also circulated a request for feedback on this issue to all members. So far eight responses had been received.

It was agreed to request more responses to this survey following the meeting. (Action: Pieter Terlouw)

14 Membership of IFSAM Dave Whetten had undertaken to prepare a paper on expanding the membership of IFSAM. He had begun this task by preparing a list of countries with at least 10 members in the Academy of Management, where the country’s academy of management was not part of IFSAM. Some associations have a fair number of AoM members, but the question was whether there are professional management associations in those countries, and whether they were interested in becoming aligned with IFSAM.

Members made the following points in discussing this item:

André Petit had had the opportunity recently to visit the UN facilities in Geneva. The International Industrial Relations Association was supported by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

It was agreed

a) that all members of Council and especially the Executive Members should each try to take initiatives to help to develop the IFSAM membership. Dave Whetten will follow up and report further on his initial survey of the potential for attracting new members in particular parts of the world. He might be able to suggest possible people in some countries who could help to put IFSAM in touch with appropriate contacts with national or regional associations or academics who might even help to initiate national or regional associations, where they do not already exist. He might also be able to identify and suggest foundations that could act as possible sources of funds. (Action: David Whetten and all Council and Executive members)

b) that Yoshiaki Takahashi would explore the issue for Korea, and report to Council. (Action: Yoshiaki Takahashi)

15 Hosting of 2006 Congress A paper was tabled by CNEMA proposing Shanghai as the venue for the 2006 Congress. This presented a difficulty since CAMS, the Beijing-oriented association, also wished to submit a proposal.

Following separate discussions after the formal Council meeting between Chinese representatives and the IFSAM President, Greg Bamber, President-elect Rolf Lundin and immediate-past President Andre Petit, it was agreed informally that the Chinese Associations via Sun Sianzhang, Zhang Yang, Zhicheng Chen and Zhiyi He would try to cooperate to submit to the IFSAM President g.bamber@mailbox.gu.edu.au a revised joint proposal for the 2006 IFSAM World Congress by 30 December 2002. As a compromise, this proposal could involve part of the Congress being held in Beijing and part in Shanghai, but it must be a well-coordinated program, organised cooperatively by the two Chinese associations. It was suggested that if the two Chinese associations were not able to agree on a jointly-agreed arrangement for hosting the 2006 Congress, then IFSAM might propose to hold the 2006 Congress elsewhere (e.g. in Berlin perhaps, depending on whether the German-speaking countries’ association was able to bring forward its offer from 2008). (Action: Representatives of Chinese associations CAMS and CNEMA)

16 Nominations for terms of office for 2003 and 2004 André Petit explained the nomination procedure. Rolf Lundin, representing the Scandinavian Academy of Management, would become President, and Greg Bamber would become the immediate Past President. Nominations were sought for the positions of President-Elect, Secretary and Treasurer.

André Petit outlined the duties of the executive office bearers as follows. The President-Elect traditionally liaises with the organisers of the forthcoming IFSAM conference. Rolf Lundin, accordingly, had liaised with the Swedish conference organisers. The President-Elect also liaises with organisations intending to join IFSAM or those who have withdrawn. The President-Elect does not have to come from same country as the one in which the Congress is being held. The Secretary takes minutes at meetings and distributes them and generally ensures good information flows. This had been a challenge in the past, given the tendency of members to move on, addresses to change and so on. The Treasurer carries out financial transactions. (There had been two women Presidents-Elect in the history of IFSAM: Janice Beyer and Carolyn Dexter).

Nominations and elections were held as follows:

It was agreed that

a) All members of IFSAM Council should consider submitting nominations for IFSAM President-elect to André Petit apetit@adm.usherb.ca by September 2002. Nominations should include a 100-word biography and a 100-word statement about their vision/manifesto for IFSAM. (Action: André Petit)

b) Immediate-Past President André Petit would aim to conduct the election by e-mail in September 2002. (Action: André Petit)

It was proposed that the IFSAM President-Elect, Rolf Lundin, would coopt an Asian colleague to the IFSAM Executive 2003-04. It was proposed that such an Asian colleague would represent all the associations in China and Asia, with a responsibility to try to develop IFSAM’s membership in the Asia-Pacific region including, for example, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Korea, Singapore, and the Indian sub-continent. (Action: Rolf Lundin)

17 Secretariat An invitation for expressions of interest in hosting the IFSAM Secretariat had been circulated. The suggestion was to establish the Secretariat at one IFSAM member academy or association for a fixed term, eg 4 years. Pieter Terlouw had submitted a formal expression of interest in having the Netherlands association host the Secretariat. An informal proposal had been received from Australia from David Lamond of the Sydney Business School. Greg Bamber spoke to David Lamond’s proposal, pointing out that David Lamond had been a secretary of IFSAM and a secretary of ANZAM. He had established successfully a continuing Secretariat of ANZAM at Macquarie some years ago.

Pieter Terlouw spoke to the Netherlands proposal expressing interest in hosting the Secretariat; costs were in euros. He has been granted a staff member who is experienced in administration and who will prompt people to produce the papers they promised. A ‘divorce’ clause should be included as per the proposal.

It was agreed that the Netherlands’ proposal be accepted. (Action: Pieter Terlouw)

18 IFSAM website: Eric Simon explained the structure of the website: www.ifsam.org It was to be noted that countries and member associations did not necessarily correspond and that the ‘hot links’ and other information should be improved. For example, Germany was only one country represented among several via the German-speaking Management Association.

It was agreed that

a) the secretaries (presidents, or other representatives) of all members of IFSAM (irrespective of whether they were present at the 2002 IFSAM meeting) should contact the IFSAM Secretariat [Peter Terlouw p.terlouw@sms.utwente.nl/and Eric Simon <e.simon@essca.asso.fr] before 30 December 2002 to ensure that there are 2-way ‘hot links’ established with IFSAM’s website. (Action: Eric Simon, Pieter Terlouw and all IFSAM representatives)

b) Eric Simon and Pieter Terlouw should try to develop further the IFSAM website, including a separate section of the IFSAM web site which would be password protected and only for members of IFSAM Council. This might include, for example, draft agendas, minutes and other papers for IFSAM Executive and Council meetings, some of which might have restricted access. (Action: Eric Simon, Pieter Terlouw)

19 Congresses’ role in ‘value adding’ to IFSAM Greg Bamber and Mary Barrett tabled a paper on the way congresses added value to IFSAM’s goals. IFSAM is an association of academies, not an association of individuals. So the question is how IFSAM can add value to its member organisations. A symposium on the topic of management associations or academies would take place during the current Congress. Discussion would centre around how academies of management need to adapt to changing circumstances and how a broader conception of IFSAM could be developed. Rolf Lundin said that the best aspect of IFSAM is its multicultural character; one way to get the best from IFSAM is to learn from the experiences of other members. The international aspect needed more vigorous promotion as did the formation of new academies, for example, in Eastern Europe.

20 Closure: André Petit bade the IFSAM Council farewell as he would no longer be Immediate Past President and wished it the best of luck. Rolf Lundin thanked the organisers of the 2002 Congress and looked forward to seeing members in 2003 and 2004. The meeting closed at 4.20 pm.

Mary Barrett

Honorary Assistant Secretary

7 August 2002