Member Article

Manchester hosts global think tank on international business

Leading thinkers in international business joined multinational companies at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) Business School this month for the 42nd Academy of International Business Conference.

Keynote speakers included Dr Michael Gestrin, Senior Economist of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development); Dr Ulrich Hoppe, Director General of the German British Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and Penny Fowler, Head of Private Sector at Oxfam.

More than 200 international business scholars, policy makers and global business executives from over 20 countries attended to discuss key challenges of the international economy and share best practice approaches and research insights.

Conference Chair, Professor Heinz Tuselmann, Director of the Centre for International Business and Innovation, and Professor of International Business at MMU, said: “The international business community has recently faced difficult challenges, not seen since the Great Depression. This prolonged and lacklustre return to growth and profitability and its impact on society was the subject of lively conference debate and a stimulating exchange of knowledge and ideas from our speakers and delegates”.

He continued: “As the birthplace of the industrial revolution and free trade, Manchester was the ideal conference venue. It is a prime example of a major international city that has transformed itself from an industrial city to a thriving and diverse, multi-cultural, modern, knowledge-based city that’s among the top ten European locations for academia, science and business”.

MMU was selected to host the prestigious conference in recognition of the standing of its international business research. The conference was supported by Visit Manchester and included a gala dinner at Manchester Town Hall.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Manchester Metropolitan University Centre for Enterprise .