Special Issue Call For Papers: Building Digital Silk Roads: Integrating High-Tech Infrastructure in Belt and Road Regions
Guest Editors:
Jeoung Yul Lee – Hongik University Seoul, South Korea, and Chongqing Technology and Business University, China
Dilek Zamantılı Nayır – Turkish German University, Turkey
Fang Lee Cooke – Monash University, Australia
Submission Deadline: August 31, 2025
Asia’s institutional environment has been undergoing a dynamic evolutionary process in terms of business development, economic growth, and novel policy experiments and initiatives (Liu, 2024a). The formation and emergence of regional cooperation and strategic initiatives is shaping the making of a new global order that involves embracing a multipolar world (Liu, 2024b). The “One-Belt-One-Road” or simply “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)” is a massive transcontinental investment project aimed at infrastructural development and economic integration of the countries in Asia, Europe and Africa, along the route of the historic Silk Road (Chen et al, 2020; Jinchen, 2016). The BRI initiative has far-reaching consequences for the global economy and aims to foster connectivity not just through physical infrastructure like roads, railways, and ports, but also through digital infrastructure, including high-speed internet, data centers, and 5G networks (Triolo, 2020). The assistance provided through the so-called Digital Silk Road Initiative (DSR) contributes to the enhancement of recipients' telecommunications networks, bolstering artificial intelligence capabilities, advancing cloud computing infrastructure, fortifying e-commerce and mobile payment systems, fostering the development of surveillance technology, promoting the realization of smart city projects, and catalyzing progress in various other high-tech domains. The DSR has received little attention (Ly, 2020), although this aspect is expected to have significant consequences both in global economics and geopolitics (Hemmings, 2020), especially after the coronavirus pandemic (Zipser & Poh, 2021). A large portion of the geopolitical rivalry and tension associated with the BRI in the future is expected to revolve around the DSR and therefore a greater understanding of the connection between national economic growth and online connectivity is needed (Cette et al., 2005; Qiang, Rossotto, & Kimura, 2009; Venturini, 2009). The digital sector "is for the future what oil and currencies have been … in the last century and a half" (Gordon & Nouwens, 2022).
As countries along the Belt and Road embark on large-scale digitalization projects such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Eurasian e-commerce networks with tech companies like Alibaba and JD.com facilitating the creation of e-commerce platforms; and transcontinental underwater projects to accelerate the construction of bilateral cross-border cable networks (Hernandez, 2019), the digital infrastructure is seen as a vital enabler for economic integration and trade among BRI countries. According to Shen (2018), preventing industrial overcapacity, supporting the international expansion of BRI technology firms, enhancing their global visibility, creating digital infrastructure and promoting an inclusive kind of globalization enabled by cyberspace are some of the goals of the DSR. However, disparities in technological readiness and access remain a significant hurdle.
In this special issue of Asian Business & Management, we want to shed light on how infrastructure gaps across BRI countries affect the implementation of widespread digital solutions, discuss what the digital divide between urban and rural areas means for equitable digital growth, and look into how cybersecurity risks raise vulnerabilities to cyber-attacks, fraud, and violations of data privacy across the region.
Read the full Call for Papers here.
Special Issue Call For Papers: Grand Challenges in South Asia
Guest Editors:
Professor Dr. Mohammad Faisal Ahammad, University of Leeds, UK;
Dr. Elizabeth Wang, University of Leeds, UK;
Professor Dr. Shlomo Y. Tarba, University of Birmingham, UK
Submission deadline: 1 June 2025
Motivation for the Special Issue
The mathematician David Hilbert introduced the concept of "Grand Challenge" (GC) (George, Howard-Grenville, Joshi, & Tihanyi, 2016). GCs represent ambitious objectives aimed at addressing significant social and environmental issues by leveraging science, technology, and innovation on a national or global level (U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2014). These challenges are typically viewed as intricate problems with broad social impacts, lacking straightforward solutions and often requiring the management of extensive complexity and contradictions (Grodal & O’Mahony, 2017; Venugopal & Viswanathan, 2019).
Examples of GCs include climate change, environmental sustainability, gender inequality, global health, renewable energy, and others. These challenges have the potential to cause significant disruptions to both organizational and societal systems, with certain factors potentially leading to organizational and civilizational collapse. Therefore, it is essential to comprehend the causes and impacts of GCs, along with methods to address them within both the internal and external environments of large and small organizations operating in the developed regions and emerging regions such as South Asia. This understanding is crucial because these GCs can significantly disrupt daily operations, competitive positioning, customer retention, and both current and future resources and strategies for innovation (Doh et al., 2019; Sims et al., 2019).
A small but growing number of studies have paid attention to grand challenges. A growing strand of management research has examined how to enhance its relevance and impact (Anderson et al., 2017; Banks et al., 2016). Alongside this evolving body of work, a broad spectrum of global challenges—such as climate change, aging populations, health disparities, sustainable development goals (SDGs), Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risk (Kim, Shin, Lee & Noh, 2024), emerging technologies, and rising sociopolitical uncertainties—has prompted business scholars to pursue more impactful research. These developments have given rise to a contemporary research focus on “grand challenges” (e.g. Buckley et al., 2017; George et al., 2016), which emphasizes the potential contributions of management scholarship to grand challenges. In the context of SDGs, Liu (2024) called for Asian business research and management studies to play a role in shaping future leaders who possess the courage, skills, and will power required to advance the United Nations' SDGs. While we acknowledge that these recent studies have contributed to enhancing our understanding of grand challenge, we still need studies examining the role of organization in addressing grand challenges in the South Asian context.
Aims and Scope of the Special Issue
We invite submissions for a special issue exploring Grand Challenges (GCs) in South Asia—an emerging and dynamic region confronted with significant societal, environmental, and technological issues that demand innovative, multi-disciplinary approaches. Exploring the role of organizations in addressing Grand Challenges (GCs) in South Asia is of immense importance as it directly contributes to addressing critical issues with long-term implications for the region’s socio-economic, environmental, and technological landscape. South Asia, home to over a quarter of the world's population, faces unique challenges due to its dense population, economic disparities, resource limitations, and vulnerability to climate change. The region’s development trajectory is marked by rapid urbanization, industrialization, and digital transformation, which come with both opportunities and pressing challenges that require innovative, evidence-based solutions.
Paper submission in collaboration with the Academy of International Business (AIB) South Asia Chapter Conference 2025
Suitable papers submitted in the AIB South Asia Chapter conference 2025 will be considered for the Special Issue on “Grand Challenges in South Asia”. Please check the following conference website to register and submit paper: Conference registration link: https://aib-southasia.org/aib-south-asia-conference-2025/
However, presenting at the AIB South Asia Conference does not guarantee eventual publication, depending on the submission quality, rigorous double-blinded review process, and fit to the SI.
It is an open-call, and we welcome high-quality submissions and scholarly work to advance this important research agenda.
Read the full Call for Papers here.
Special Issue Call For Papers: SRDI Entrepreneurship, Imitation and Innovation
Guest Editors:
Steven Si, Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania (USA)
Aiqi Wu, Zhejiang University (China)
David Ahlstrom, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK)
K. Praveen Parboteeah, University of Wisconsin (USA)
Supervising Editor:
Lara Agostini, University of Padova (Italy)
Submission deadline: September 3, 2025
In the past two decades, high-tech enterprises in Europe and North America have faced increasing competition from companies in emerging economies in numerous technology sectors. This shift is part of a rapid global economic transformation (Dougherty & Dunne, 2012; Bruton, Filatotchev, Si & Wright, 2013). Over the past decade, many scholars and managers have paid close attention to the rise of what are known as specialized new small and medium-sized enterprises (Dosi, G. 1982; Wiklund & Shepherd, 2003; Lei & Wu, 2022; Si, Hall, Sudabby, Ahlstrom & Wei, 2023). Scholars have increasing interests in investigating the importance of open innovation, disruptive innovation and internationalization on SMEs performance in Asia countries including China and Korean (Lee & Hemmert, 2023; Roh et al., 2023; Yu et al., 2023).
Such specialized small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) survive and develop mainly through innovation and compete in narrow market niches. They focus on specialized technical expertise and deep market insight to maintain leading positions in their niche markets (Simon, 1992; Witt et al., 2024). These enterprises have four distinct characteristics: specialized, refined, differentiated and innovative (SRDI). The SRDI enterprises in Asia are typically embedded in dispersed global production systems (Greeven et al., 2023; Lei & Wu, 2022) and often specialize in specific and core segments of industry value chains by providing specialized components to multinational companies (Lei & Wu, 2022; Schenkenhofer, 2022; Simon, 2009). They have advanced capabilities in manufacturing, technologies and product innovation, etc. Some of them even became leading competitors in a variety of industries, becoming hidden champions and niche leaders (Simon, 1992). Moreover, compared to the “Hidden Champions” of Germany and other countries, SRDI enterprises are smaller, younger and less advanced in technological innovation, and typically lock in toward the bottom of global value chains with marginal profits (Schenkenhofer, 2022; Wu & Shi, 2022). SRDI enterprises, though lesser known, develop their core capabilities and achieve growth by imitating or innovatively learning from the best practices of global and domestic industry leaders (Yu & Si, 2012; Deng, Ma & Zhu, 2022; Li et al., 2022; Zahra, Liu & Si, 2022). Furthermore, innovation in Asian context can manifest distinctive characteristics (Liu, 2024).
Now SRDI enterprises have become an important new research topic. Scholars and managers view SRDI enterprises as a type of competition that emerges in the age of digital technology in new business ecology (Zahra, Liu & Si, 2022). It attracted scholars not only from emerging economies but also from matured economies (e.g., Germany) to research SRDI enterprises. Scholars and practitioners view such companies as a unique force to challenge the long dominant firms in more developed economies. Some predict that in the next ten years, SRDI enterprises will change the competitive landscape of the global market and economy.
This Special Issue seeks manuscripts that analyze the theory as well as practices pertaining to SRDIs. For instance, how do SRDI enterprises address customer/market opportunities and competitive threats in their product strategy? How does SRDI enterprise exhibit its unique innovative patterns in competition? Are they more willing to cooperate than non-SRDI enterprises? How does SRDI orientation affect their ' adaptation in the markets or their strategies in creating niche markets?
Read the full Call for Papers here.
Call For Papers: Healthcare Management, Organizational Resilience and Global Sustainable Development: An East-Meets-West Perspective Research Conference
Co-Organizers: City University of Macau, Brunel University London, University of Reading, University of Bristol, UK
Organizing Committee: Prof. Lixian Jin (City U Macau), Prof. Eugenia Xing (Brunel), Prof. Yipeng Liu (Reading), Senior Lecturer. Phil Davies (Bristol)£200 for the Asian Business and Management Best Working Paper Award The PDW and conference is associated with a thematic-linked Special Issue to be published at Asian Business and Management (SSCI). Papers presented at the event will be provided with feedback from the editors from ABM.
Important Dates
Submission Deadline: 30th May 2024 00:00 Anywhere on Earth
Participants Notified: 3rd June 2024
Registration Opens: 5th June 2024
Registration Closes: 15th June 2024
Programme Announced: 17th June 2024
PDW and conference: 21 June 2024
Abstract Submissions: Please submit your abstract and two-page CV to Phil Davies (Bristol): Email: phil.davies@bristol.ac.uk
Healthcare management is one of the pressing societal grand challenges facing individuals, organizations and society in Asia and globally. In particular, the unfolding of the most recent global health crisis COVID-19 has significantly reshaped the business and management practices around the world (Liu, Lee, & Lee, 2020). Healthcare is complex, dynamic and multifaceted, requesting multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches and a multi-level perspective, including individual-, organisational-, and institutional levels, to capture the nuances of this phenomenon in various contexts (Greenhalgh, Ozbilgin, & Tomlinson, 2022; Kyratsis, Atun, Phillips, Tracey, & George, 2017; Michie & Abraham, 2004). Thus, we encourage researchers from diverse backgrounds and disciplinary roots to investigate healthcare management and explore novel solutions and innovative management practices collaboratively in Asia and around the world.
Learn more about the conference and submit here: https://fhss.cityu.edu.mo/notices/819
Special Issue Call For Papers:
Industry re-configurations and multi-level policy implications of the transition towards the green economy in Asia and Europe
Guest editors: Patrik Ström, European Institute of Japanese Studies, Stockholm School of Economics (email. patrik.strom@hhs.se); H. Richard Nakamura, University of Gothenburg; Yoo Jung 'Yuji' Ha, University of York;
Supervising Editor: Mohammad Faisal Ahammad, University of Leeds (Associate editor ABM)
Submission deadline: January 27, 2025
Motivation for the Special Issue
In the wake of the pandemic, the world is facing a set of new and interrelated challenges that will have profound impact on private industry and public policy alike. At the core of this development, bringing back economically viable growth in mature and emerging countries is key, as well as handling the imminent climate challenge. In parallel, a complex geoeconomic and geopolitical setting is forcing firms and policy actors to new and to some degree unforeseen actions (Liu and Froese, 2020; Fang and Hassler, 2021; Liu, 2024). Hence, the world economy needs to handle a set of interrelated and difficult issues. Coming out of the pandemic constraints, the world is now also facing economic and financial challenges in relation to inflation, soaring interest rates, and geopolitical insecurity. Interrelated within these challenges is the need for developing countries to be able to continuously connect to global value chains, and production networks and not succumb to mounting dept challenges (Solingen et al., 2021; Ikram et al., 2022).
Within this set of challenges, the transition towards a more sustainable or green economy is paramount (UNCTAD, 2023), despite the more short-term economic challenges facing policymakers. The concept of the green economy could have different connotations and implications in different economies and geographies based on the industrial development, configuration and interconnectedness to global value chains and regional and global production networks (Nayyar et al., 2021; Mealy and Teytelboym, 2022; Jones and Ström, forthcoming 2024).
The green transition does not only foresee a reduced environmental impact but also growth that is sustainable from the viewpoint of economic and social development (Wu and Si, 2018; UNCTAD, 2023). The interrelation between geoeconomic issues, geopolitics and sustainability is something that has been put forward as important aspects of ABM in driving both theory development and empirical work (Liu, 2024). In this sense, the transition bridges issues of global economic development, but can also be seen at the regional level of economic development (Wentrup et al., 2016; Gibbs and O’Neill, 2018). At the center of this transition, companies will play a pivotal role. Policy has the possibility to influence development, but the corporate dimension in pushing the transition forward is evident in most sectors. This underscores the connections to markets and consumption as pressures from more informed customers will be vital. In all, this sets management, strategy and location at the centre of development.
The overall transition will be driven by aspects such as digitalization, growth of the service economy, dematerialization of value creation, the platform economy and the circular economy just to mention a few (Maciejewski et al., 2014; Schultz et al., 2019; Hao et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2023), all of which having the potential of driving the pace of the green economy as well as its direction in Europe and Asia. This creates both new possibilities and challenges for economic interrelations between Europe and Asia on several levels. With a strong commitment towards the rules-based world order in relation to trade and investment, as well as the development of the green economy, it would be possible to enhance economic cooperation among countries and companies in Europe and Asia.
Aims and Scope of the Special Issue
This call for papers seeks to stimulate a debate on how the transition towards a green economy could be facilitated and how this development can be attached to various sectors of the economy as well as strategy development taking place on the corporate level. We foresee six main areas of contextual anchoring. First, an overall reflection is needed for multi-level and transdisciplinary approaches for future studies of industries, firms and regions in the global green economy (Jones and Ström, 2024 forthcoming). In addition, this means stimulating research that seeks to bring together and engage with the wider outcome of global cohesion in and between countries in Europe and Asia (e.g., Hamdouch & Depret, 2010; Mitra and Gaur, 2020; Benito et al., 2023).
Second, a geographical approach in studying the ongoing green transition is important since the climate challenge does not stop at borders, but also influenced by the positive and negative actions of local actors. Geographical structures of both natural and economic character can sometimes set the frame for the environmental impact and the possibilities that exist for private and public stakeholders. Hence, we see contributions in this field looking into the spatial and multi-level aspects of the green transition in relation to how countries, regions and local communities can play a role in Asia and Europe. In a similar vein, we see important contributions on how firms anchored in different economic geographical contexts can take a lead in the transition towards the green economy. An example of this development is the wide usage among firms to position their work in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (van Zanten and van Tulder, 2018). This is done to focus on the best possible impact firms can contribute with from a geographical perspective.
Third, the development is bounded in and across industries or sectors. It seems to be clear that some sectors are forerunners and others are more reactive to the green transition. There are also differences among sectors in relation to which part of the value chain they belong. Sectors such as finance have got substantial attention, whereas agriculture, broader parts of the service industries and the intersection of service and manufacturing has received more limited attention in relation to how they will be connected to the green transition. At the intersection of services and manufacturing (known as servitization or product-service-system), more of the generated value is most likely to be found throughout the transition towards the green economy (Retamal, 2017; Raddats et al, 2019). In other words, aspects that will be of utmost importance for both research and policy development are found here. This is related to the development of the Service-Dominant logic, encapsulation the wider changes in society and business (Vargo and Lusch, 2014). This involves the development of digitalization in both the private and public sectors, how Artificial Intelligence can play a role in the transition through enabling better utilization of resources and enhancing industrial processes impacting value and output through Industry 4.0 or Internet of Things (IoT). The scope of sectors contributing to the wider understanding of the dynamics in play within the green economy needs to be broadened.
Fourth, policy, regulation and global governance play a pivotal role for the transition towards the green economy. These are all interconnected, but also act in a multi-layered context, where grand initiatives such as the EU programs on carbon neutrality or the circular economy action plan will have an impact on the regional and local levels (e.g., Ström and Hermelin, 2023). There is also a question on whether policy or regulation can be proactive in driving change or if the response often becomes more reactive to technology development or market formation. Aspects of regulation and governance cut across sectors and different geographies (DeSombre, 2011). In order to not distort trade and investment patterns, finding common positions among countries through bilateral or preferable multilateral agreements will be important. Attempts like the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) or the Green Alliance between Japan and EU are tangible outcomes within this area (Ström et al., 2021).
Fifth, it is of great importance that developing countries, or sometimes referred to as the global south, are included in the green economy (Carmody et al., 2023). Challenges in relation to climate change will be more difficult to handle for many of these countries, and their ability to create welfare for their citizens depends on the possibility to integrate into global value chains and production networks. This kind of industrial reconfiguration in addition involves multinational enterprises from advanced economies and more recently, emerging market multinationals (EMNEs).
Lastly, and related to all the above, aspects of firm level strategy and business development will be evident. Companies anchored in either Europe or Asia will need to develop new ways of operating to benefit from the transition towards the green economy (e.g., França et al., 2017; Liu and Froese, 2020; Benito et al., 2023). New opportunities could arise based on firm-specific capabilities. This development could also see new company configurations in the form of joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. The transition towards the green economy could also be a driver for the formation of more hybrid forms of companies in relation to ownership and technology transfer.
We cordially invite scholarly contributions in the areas of business, organization studies, management science, economic geography and development/industrial economics to explore how businesses, governments and societies are responding to the development of a green and sustainable economy in terms of environmental and economic and social aspects.
Authors are encouraged to submit theoretical, conceptual and empirical papers that draw on qualitative, quantitative, mixed and case-study approaches to explore, evaluate, critique and debate issues arising from the discussion above in the context of Europe and Asia geographical framework and collaboration.
The full call for papers is available here.
Authors should prepare their manuscript according to the guidelines of Asian Business & Management, see: http://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41291/authors/presentation-formatting.
Submitted papers will be reviewed through a double-blind peer review process. We welcome your submissions.
Special Issue Call for Papers:
The Role of Language and Communication in Managing People in Asia
Guest Editors:
Ashish Malik, University of Newcastle, Australia
Ralf Bebenroth, RIEB, Kobe University, Japan
Satish Kumar, MNIT, Jaipur, India & Swinburne University, Sarawak Campus, Malaysia
Alfred Presbitero, Deakin University, Australia
We are open to papers that answer a broad set of question about language and communication in the Asian business and management context. We are looking for a range of papers that offer empirical and theoretical contributions through quantitative and qualitative studies to inform and enrich the theoretical advances in Asian business and management.
In this special issue, we will publish papers with substantial theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions. We are open to any type of methodology, including quantitative and qualitative studies, also considering conceptual work and review articles.
The full call for papers is available here.
To be considered for this special issue, final manuscripts must be submitted by 31 March 2023 via https://www.editorialmanager.com/JABM/default.aspx. The submission system will be open from 1st January 2023.
To ensure that all manuscripts are correctly identified as being submitted for this special issue, please select ‘SI: Language and Communication’ when you reach the “Article Type” step in the online submission process. Authors should prepare their manuscript according to the guidelines of Asian Business & Management, see: http://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41291/authors/presentation-formatting.
Submitted papers will be reviewed through a double-blind peer review process. We welcome your submissions.
If you have questions about a potential submission, please contact Ashish Malik at ashish.malik@newcastle.edu.au, Ralf Bebenroth at rbeben@rieb.kobe-u.ac.jp, Satish Kumar at skumar.dms@mnit.ac.in or Alfred Presbitero at alfred.presbitero@deakin.edu.au.
Special Issue Call for Papers:
Multinational Enterprises, SDGs, and Asia:
Opportunities and Challenges for Firms and Countries
Guest Editors:
Chie Iguchi, Keio University, Japan
Axèle Giroud, Alliance Manchester Business School, United Kingdom
Shasha Zhao, University of Surrey, United Kingdom
Si Zhang, University of Chinese Academy of Science, China
We are looking for a range of papers that offer empirical and theoretical contributions through quantitative and qualitative studies to inform and enrich the theoretical advances in MNEs, SDGs and Asian business and management research. We provide an indicative list of possible topics in the full Call for Papers linked below.
The full call for papers is available here.
To be considered for this special issue, final manuscripts must be submitted by 30 May 2023 via https://www.editorialmanager.com/JABM/default.aspx. The submission system will be open from 1st April 2023.
To ensure that all manuscripts are correctly identified as being submitted for this special issue, please select ‘SI: Multinational Enterprises and SDG’ when you reach the “Article Type” step in the online submission process. Authors should prepare their manuscript according to the guidelines of Asian Business & Management, see: http://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41291/authors/presentation-formatting.
Submitted papers will be reviewed through a double-blind peer review process. We welcome your submissions.
If you have questions about a potential submission, please contact Chie Iguchi at iguchi@keio.jp, Axèle Giroud at axele.Giroud@manchester.ac.uk, or Shasha Zhao at shasha.zhao@surrey.ac.uk.
