By Wafa Hammedi (University of Namur) and Linda Alkire (Texas State University)
We are very pleased to share with the SERVSIG community our reflections on the inaugural International Symposium on Innovative Management and Governance of Organizations. The theme of this year’s conference was “Innovation in Service, Organization and Society in Emerging Countries – ISOS in Emerging Countries”. The event was empowered by SERVSIG.
Overview
On 12-13 December 2018, LASMO-ENCG Settat, Hassan 1st University hosted the first edition of ISOS- in Emerging countries. The Conference Co-Chairs were:
- Badia OULHADJ, Hassan 1st University, Morocco (Local Host)
- Wafa HAMMEDI, NADI, Namur University, Belgium
- Linda Alkire, Texas State University, USA
The conference was held at the Sheraton Hotel – Casablanca. In total, we received 262 submissions, accepted 112 papers and welcomed guests from 15 countries. More than 50 PhD students participated in the Doctoral Consortium.
Objective
The objective of the conference was to create awareness about service research and support researchers from emerging countries, specifically Middle East and Africa (MEA).
The conference was centered around three main goals, which we refer to as 3Cs: Change, Collaboration, and Community. It is our hope that by fostering these 3 Cs, we can make a substantial impact in the lives and quality of services in these promising emerging markets.
Program
The conference started on December 12th with a welcome note from the three co-chairs as well as the Dean of one of the leading Business Schools in Morocco: ENCG Settat – Dr. Abdessadeq Sadqi and the President of HASSAN 1er University, Dr. Ahmed Nejmeddine.
Our guests of honors included The Minister of Higher Education – Mr. Said Amzazi, Representative of the Minister of Public Affairs – Mr. Mohamed Benabdelkader, the Mayor of the Casablanca – Mr. Mustapha Bakkoury, and Vice Rector of the University of Namur – Professor Annick Castiaux (Belgium) among others.
The conference featured two plenary sessions covering critical service topics:
- Innovative solutions in ecosystems and organizations
- Digitalization and innovation in Service
Our international Guest Speakers included: Professor Ray Fisk (USA), Professor Jay Kandampully (USA), Professor Annick Castiaux (Belgium), Professor Henri Savall (France), Professor Veronique Zardet (France), Professor Allard Van Riel (Belgium) and Professor Richard Soparnot (France).
The conference featured 13 parallel sessions covering topics such as: Transformative Service Research, Digital Economy, Innovation and well-being, Innovation in the Public Sector, Service Innovation, and Social Innovation.
The conference ended with a Doctoral Consortium facilitated by Linda Alkire, Wafa Hammedi, Allard Van Riel, and Jay Kandampully and attended by over 50 PhD students and early career researchers. The aim of the Doctoral Consortium was to provide guidance and support regarding the PhD journey, research topics in MEA, and publishing in international high-ranked journals.
Reflections:
This international conference was designed to be a unique platform for exchange and reflections on the future of service in the MEA region, which has been overlooked by service research. It is our belief that the future of service in the emerging countries is bright. For instance, recent reports from the World Economic Forum, leading consultancies (e.g., PWC, Mckinsey, KPMG) and business publications (e.g., Harvard Business Review Press, November 2018) predict that Africa will be the World’s Next Big Growth Market, or the “land of the future”. Some megatrends such as the demographic explosion, growth of the middle class, rapid urbanization, fast technological revolution and its high adoption rates are expected to be the key drivers of development in MEA. More precisely digital technologies and demand for service represent the biggest opportunities for growth over the next 20 years in this region. For further ideas and inspiration, please see video by Ray Fisk.
Accordingly, we believe that the MEA region offers a fertile ground for service researchers.
The extreme differences in the living standards, values, cultural, political, and socioeconomic systems make borrowing theories and constructs, mainly developed in the industrialized countries (HICs), a misleading approach. This region could offer several unique opportunities for theory development in our field. Therefore, we believe that extending our research and collaborations in this region in which the majority of humankind resides (at least 50% of the world population) will lead to the development of service theory and the adoption of solutions that are unique to these markets.
Throughout our experience in organizing this symposium, we witnessed a great potential of ideas, resources but above all desire and determination to progress. Through this event, we tried to shed light on major contemporary service issues particular to the MEA region but also highlight technological, organizational, institutional, and societal innovations coming from these emerging economies. We believe it is a rich ground for research and collaboration. We hope this first edition helped enable innovative propositions and explorations of alternative business models and stimulate experience sharing between academics and professionals from different countries.
Next Steps:
As conference co-chairs, we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to our local host and co-chair. Dr. Badia Oulhadj and her team exhibited true Moroccan hospitality and a high level of commitment. Our appreciation also goes to our guests of honors and speakers who believed and supported our mission. We would also like thank the University of Namur, Circé- Namur Digital Institute for sponsoring the early career award for researchers from emerging countries. This year’s winner is Redouane Guilmi (ENCG-Settat- Morocco), we wish him all the best with his research!
Finally, we pride ourselves for being 3 women academics, from 3 different continents, organizing this event and we encourage SERVSIG members to get in touch and collaborate to make a difference in this highly promising area and region.
We were very humbled to receive a recognition from Hassan 1st University, Morocco for supporting research in emerging countries.
Finally…
We issue a call for hosting the 2nd Biennial ISOS in Emerging Countries conference. If interested in hosting, please send your inquiries to Wafa Hammedi wafa.hammedi@unamur.be and Linda Alkire linda.alkire@txtstate.edu
More impressions:
