Entrepreneurship: Passion and Practice
2015 | University of New Brunswick
The 45th Annual Atlantic Schools of Business Conference will be hosted by the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton from September 25th to 27th, 2015.
The theme of this year’s conference is “Entrepreneurship: Passion and Practice”.
The pursuit of opportunity requires both drive and a reality check. Without passion, and a set of other traits typically associated with entrepreneurs (whether it is being tenacious, having a vision, or being comfortable with risk), it becomes hard to guide initiatives through treacherous unknown futures. It comes as no surprise that behind most new ventures stand driven, passionate entrepreneurs. Yet, new endeavors require their founders to put their passion in check. Assumptions about the opportunity (be it the customer and their needs, the proposed solution or the business model), need to be put to the test in practice. Rather than conceptualizing detailed plans and building organizations in isolation, engaging the real world along the way offers a valuable learning ground for falsifying and validating the entrepreneurial vision.
How do we balance this passion with the need to learn from practice? Could practice stifle innovation? Why is it that many innovations come from outside the areas in which they are to be put in practice? Could it be that passionate minds require isolation from practice to envision new innovations? At the same time, why is it that investors often replace the ventures' founders by experienced professionals? Could it be that the traits of passionate entrepreneurs are a hindrance to putting their visions into practice? The interaction of passion and practice raises many interesting questions and debates which we look forward to exploring with you.
The 2015 Atlantic Schools of Business conference invites academic papers, symposia and professional development workshops (PDWs) that consider and expand upon the theme of “Entrepreneurship: Passion and Practice”.
ASB invites papers from a variety of functional areas as outlined in the call for papers, targeting research at various stages of development. ASB is dedicated to fostering a supportive environment, whether it is by helping scholars polish developed manuscripts or helping to improve ideas in progress.
Encouraged for submission are papers that examine broadly the notion of entrepreneurship, passion for it, and triumphs as well as setbacks experienced in practice. Multiple levels of submission are encouraged, including full papers to be considered for presentation and conference proceedings, papers and concepts in process suitable for presentation, and symposia that combine various streams of thought to engage and inform debate. Additionally, we will be actively encouraging student submissions as a gateway into researcher presentations.
Mark your calendars for September; we look forward to your participation in our ASB community at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.
Tony Yue & William Murray
ASB Co-Presidents
La 45e Conférence de l’Atlantic Schools of Business (ASB) aura lieu à l’Université du Nouveau-Brunswick à Fredericton du 25 au 27 septembre 2015.
Cette année, la conférence portera sur le thème suivant : Entreprenariat : passion et pratique.
La recherche des opportunités exige de l’ambition et une certaine confrontation avec la réalité. Sans passion et sans un ensemble d'autres caractéristiques habituellement associées aux entrepreneurs (ténacité, vision, facilité de la prise de risques), il devient difficile de faire face à un avenir incertain et plein d’embûches. Il n’est donc pas surprenant que derrière la plupart des nouvelles entreprises et initiatives se trouvent des entrepreneurs motivés et passionnés. Pourtant, quiconque souhaite lancer une nouvelle entreprise doit savoir contrôler sa passion et mettre en pratique les hypothèses sur lesquelles repose la si prometteuse opportunité (qu’il s’agisse du client et de ses besoins ou de la solution ou du modèle d'affaires envisagé). Plutôt que de conceptualiser des plans détaillés et de créer une organisation en vase clos, un mode d’action s’impose : faire participer le monde réel (par opposition à virtuel) au processus de manière à créer un tremplin permettant de valider ou d’invalider la vision entrepreneuriale.
Comment concilier cette passion avec le besoin de tirer des leçons de la pratique? La réalité peut-elle freiner l'innovation? Pourquoi tant d’innovations viennent-elles de domaines autres que ceux où elles sont mises en pratique? Se pourrait-il que les esprits passionnés aient besoin de s’éloigner de la pratique pour concevoir des innovations? Mais alors, pourquoi les investisseurs remplacent-ils souvent les fondateurs d’une entreprise par des professionnels expérimentés? Les caractéristiques des entrepreneurs passionnés seraient-elles un obstacle à la mise en œuvre des visions? L'interaction de la passion et de la pratique soulève bon nombre de questions et de débats intéressants que nous espérons explorer avec vous.
La Conférence 2015 de l’ASB lance un appel de propositions d'articles universitaires, de symposiums et d’ateliers de perfectionnement professionnel qui abordent et élargissent le thème « Entreprenariat : passion et pratique ».
L’ASB est à la recherche de communications issues de différents domaines d’activité, comme le précise l’invitation, et cible différentes étapes du processus de recherche. Elle cherche avant tout à créer un milieu propice pour les chercheurs et universitaires désireux de perfectionner leurs textes ou de faire progresser leurs idées.
Les propositions de communications qui se penchent globalement sur la notion d’entreprenariat, la passion que cet état d’esprit suscite et les triomphes et les revers que la réalité ne manque pas de susciter, sont particulièrement encouragées. Les textes peuvent être de différents niveaux. Il peut s’agir de travaux complets destinés à des présentations et des conférences; de documents et de concepts en cours d’élaboration, mais pouvant être présentés; de symposiums qui font ressortir différents courants de pensée en vue d’engager et d’enrichir le débat et la discussion. De plus, dans l’optique de leur donner une porte d’accès aux présentations de chercheurs, nous encouragerons activement les étudiants à présenter un travail.
Tony Yue & William Murray
ASB Co-Presidents
Important Dates
Registration
August 31
Deadline for receipt of paper, symposium and PDW submissions
September 7
Notification of acceptance status
August 31
Last day to register at lower rate
September 14
Notification of award winners
September 14
Deadline for receipt of amended papers
September 25
Start of 45th ASB Conference
September 27
Close of Conference
Symposium – includes Symposium, Saturday luncheon and dinner | Not Available | Not Available |
Registration – includes Friday evening reception; Saturday breakfast, coffee breaks, luncheon and dinner; and Sunday breakfast | Not Available | Not Available |
Students/Retired Faculty | Not Available | Not Available |
Companion – includes Friday evening reception and Saturday dinner | Not Available | Not Available |
Accommodations
Contact
Basu Sharma, Conference Chair
Email: bsharma@unb.ca
Keynote Speakers
Mr. Ng Pock Too
Former Political Secretary to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, former President of Hamilton Sundstrand Asia Pacific.
Born and raised in Singapore, Mr. Ng was awarded the Colombo Plan Scholarship to complete an undergraduate degree at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. He graduated in 1968 with a B. Sc Division One Degree in Mechanical Engineering and was awarded the Lieutenant Governor General Silver Medal. He returned to Singapore to work with the Singapore Economic Development Board as a projects officer in charge of industrial development planning and attracting foreign investments into Singapore. He became the Deputy Director of the Economic Development Board in 1979. In 1976, he was sent by EDB to attend Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development in the US.
Mr. Ng enjoyed a very successful career making significant contributions to business and society. When he retired from Hamilton Sundstrand in 2007 he established his own consulting company called New Board Technology Pte Ltd (previously known as New Board Aerospace & Technology). He also serves as independent director on the Boards of Kikkoman Singapore and Del Monte Asia (both subsidiaries of Kikkoman Corporation of Japan) and as a key member of the Advisory Board of Huisman Equipment BV (a leading oil and gas engineering company) based in Holland.
In 1993 UNB awarded Mr. Ng with an Honorary Doctor of Law in recognition of his contribution to Singapore’s successful economic development. In 1996, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Award and again 2005, the Distinguished Service Award for his leadership at NTUC Income. Both of these are national awards, bestowed for outstanding contribution to Singapore’s national development.
In June 2008, Mr. Ng was appointed the Adjunct Professor by the National University of Singapore - Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. The School has been involved in providing leadership training for senior government officials from China (Governors, Mayors and Party Secretaries from various Provinces and Cities) who come to Singapore to undergo sponsored training in economic planning and national leadership programs.
Keynote Topic: The Role of B-School Teachers in Preparing Students to be Future Ready
All of us, who have finished B-Schools at some point in time, have always wondered whether what they teach us in B-Schools are still relevant in the context of today’s fast changing corporate world. This is especially true for me. What I had learned in HBS some 40 years ago in 1976 while useful, did not really go far enough to help prepare me for the corporate world I have to face today. My comments today will touch on the important role of the B-School teachers and how they can equip our students to be future ready and future relevant. I will deliver my talk in 4 parts:
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The essential basic tools of modern day management
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The case study method that brings real life situations in to the class for collective learning through class interactions
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The need to appreciate the sensitivity of managing across different cultures as the corporate world manages on an international basis
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Useful management tools that successful companies such as United Technologies and GE have used to achieve competitive excellence. These are still not yet taught in the B-Schools and remain an active management development program internal only to these companies.
It is my wish to help UNB help inject these inputs into the B-School and to help our students to be more future ready and future relevant.
Track Chairs
Doctoral & Early Career Consortium
Program
Date: Friday, September 25th, 2015
Time: 2.00pm – 4.30pm
Room: Wu Conference Centre, Room 208
2.00pm–3.00pm: “Research interests and Career mentoring”, Dr. Jeffrey J. McNally (University of New Brunswick) & Ph.D. Candidate Mariana I. Paludi (Saint Mary´s University).
3.00pm–3.30pm: Nutrition Break
3.30pm–4.30pm: “Finding your 'research niche' in management”, Dr. Jeffrey J. McNally, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Business Administration, University of New Brunswick.
Jeffrey J. McNally
Jeff’s research interests revolve around examining the types, investments in, and the outcomes of the relationships that people have with their work and/or learning organizations as exchange partners. He is currently one of the project leads in a global study examining the outcomes of entrepreneurship education at the university level. The study is fully funded by an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), on which Jeff is the Co-Investigator. For more information go to: http://www.unb.ca/fredericton/business/professors/mcnally.html.
Mariana I. Paludi
Mariana Ines Paludi is a PhD candidate at the Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University, Canada and a junior lecturer in Gender and Organization Studies at Universidad de San Andrés and Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento (Argentina). Her areas of research include critical management perspective, gender, culture, Latin America, and postcolonialism. She has published in journals such as Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and recently she co-authored a chapter for The Oxford Handbook of Gender in Organizations. For more information go to: https://smu-ca.academia.edu/MarianaPaludi.
For more information on the Doctoral Consortium contact: Mariana I. Paludi at mariana.paludi@smu.ca.