GBLS is excited to announce its first 2017 conference in Tokyo, Japan.

The conference is organized to discuss how Asian economies gain and sustain their competitiveness and economic leadership in this globalized world. Admittedly, globalization opened up enormous opportunities for economic and business growth in Asia. Being led by Japan’s entrepreneurial global expansion and economic growth, Asian economies such as Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and China followed and positioned themselves as integral global players. Southeast Asian countries and India have also shown remarkable growth in recent years. The International Monetary Fund (IMF, 2016) projects that global growth will be led primarily by Asia and that its growth will account for two-thirds of overall global growth. While the future prospects in the Asian economies are rosy, they are facing external challenges and risks such as the negative effects of sluggish growth of advanced economies, global financial and political risk, and so forth. Thus, the question, ‘How can Asian economies sustain their competitiveness and business leadership?’ should be answered in order for them to enjoy a future of sustained growth and prosperity.

The conference theme this year is “Global Orientation and Competititveness of Japan.” Academic and business studies that fall under this theme are more than welcome, but submissions are not confined to this specific theme. We welcome submissions from all business areas including global business history, strategy, marketing, human resource management, organizational theory, tourism, communication, and supply chain management within the broadly defined topic, ‘Globalization and Business in Asia.’

Conceptual, empirical, and interdisciplinary topics are welcome. Submissions from graduate students are particularly encouraged as well.