January 19th, 2015: Dr. Nnamdi Madichie has opened this year’s Academy of International Business (AIB) MENA region Conference with the presentation of a paper on the challenges of conducting and publishing marketing research in emerging economies.
It was one of two papers presented by Dr. Madichie, a Graduate School professor at Canadian University Dubai (CUD), at the fifth annual AIB MENA conference, which brought together leading scholars and practitioners in the field of international business under the banner ‘Bridging the Divide’.
AIB MENA is the regional chapter of the global Academy of International Business network. Established in 1959, AIB now has over 3,000 members in 86 countries, and since its inception in 2010, the regional branch has held five conferences in three countries. This year’s conference was hosted in the UAE by the University of Wollongong in Dubai.
Dr. Madichie’s opening paper, entitled ‘Researching beyond Latin America: a reflection on Fastoso & Whitelock’, was presented under the conference sub-theme, ‘Research in International Business: A Global Perspective’. In his paper, Dr. Madichie examined Fastoso and Whitelock’s theory surrounding the marginalization of Latin American authors aspiring to publish in top marketing and business journals.
Dr. Madichie concluded that, “The challenges involved in publishing marketing research based on data gathered in Latin America in top marketing journals is neither new, nor unique to the sub-continent, but equally applies to other emerging economies”, and he proposed that the way forward was to develop a critical mass of research.
In his second paper, based on research conducted with academic colleagues from the University of Winnipeg and United States International University in Kenya, Dr. Madichie spoke about the provision of Master of Business Administration programs in India.
The presentation, entitled ‘Are Indian MBA schools global and market oriented?’ assessed the place of Indian B-Schools, and especially the MBA, within the context of the global economy, exploring how MBA graduates may be better equipped, and positioned, to take up managerial opportunities offered by the influx of Multinational Corporations into the emerging market.
Dr. Madichie concluded that the demand-side seems to outweigh the supply-side in a range of areas – from the lack of qualified instructors, to the poor teaching practices and quality assurance mechanisms – recommending that, “B-Schools in India need to forge strategic partnerships, international networking arrangements and ultimately international accreditation,” in order the meet market needs.
As a founding member of the AIB MENA initiative, Dr. Madichie was also acknowledged by the organizations’ President, Dr. Melodena Balakrishnan, at this year’s conference, for his contribution to the initiative.
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