Vote Now: BAM Vice-Chair for Sustainability Election - January 2025 - December 2026
The recent call for nominations for the BAM Vice Chair for Sustainability elections resulted in two nominations being received. The election for Chair, President and Vice Chair for Academic Affairs of Conference and Capacity Building roles received one nomination and those candidates are duly elected unopposed.
The election for the BAM Sustainability portfolio is important as whoever is elected will serve as members of the Executive for the next two years (Jan 2025 - Dec 2026) and will help to shape the Academy’s future.
The deadline for votes to be returned will be Noon (British Summer Time) on Friday 7th June.
Please note that canvassing is not permitted.
The Candidates:
Name(s): Dr Dongmei Cao
Institution: Nottingham Trent University
Position: Associate Professor
Dear BAM Community,
I am honoured to announce my candidacy for the Vice Chair for Sustainability position within the British Academy of Management (BAM). With over 14 years of dedicated research and active engagement within the BAM community, I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to contribute further to advancing sustainable practices and research leadership within the BAM community and beyond.
My journey into sustainability research began over a decade ago during my PhD studies. Since then, I have been unwavering in my commitment to exploring and promoting sustainability within management research. It is a professional interest and also a personal passion that drives me to make meaningful contributions towards a more sustainable future.
My vision for BAM revolves around fostering a community that embraces sustainability as a core principle within and beyond academics and a fundamental aspect that underpins the very fabric of modern management. As Vice Chair for Sustainability, I aim to elevate BAM's role as a leading advocate for sustainable management practices. This involves promoting sustainability-focused research and integrating sustainable principles into activities from conferences to publications to partnerships.
I envision BAM as a hub of innovation and collaboration where researchers, practitioners, and policymakers come together to address the pressing sustainability challenges of our time. Through initiatives such as dedicated sustainability-focused conferences, workshops, and special interest groups, we can create a platform for meaningful dialogue and knowledge exchange.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the BAM community thus far, collaborating with esteemed colleagues such as Sarah Robinson, David Sarpong, Emma Missen, and Jamie Callahan. These collaborations have enriched my understanding of the EDIR values within our community and reinforced my belief in the power of collective action to drive positive change.
My candidacy is rooted in a wealth of experience and skills I bring to the role. As a member of the BAM Peer Review College (PRC), I have had the privilege of evaluating and shaping the quality of research within our community. My tenure as Chair of the Sustainable and Responsible Business Special Interest Group (SRB SIG) has given me invaluable insights into our membership's diverse perspectives and interests.
Furthermore, my role as an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Management Reviews has honed my ability to identify and nurture high-quality research that pushes the boundaries of management scholarship. These experiences have equipped me with the leadership, strategic thinking, and collaborative skills necessary to serve as Vice Chair for Sustainability effectively.
If elected, I pledge to work tirelessly to promote sustainability as a central tenet of our organisation, driving positive change and creating a legacy that resonates for years.
I humbly request your support and trust in this endeavour. We can shape a brighter, more sustainable future for management research and practice.
Thank you for considering my candidacy.
Name: Professor Emma Macdonald
Institution: Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde
Position: Charles Huang Chair in International Business; Director, Stephen Young Institute for International Business
BAM is vital in supporting and representing UK scholars as we prepare ourselves, our institutions, and our students for a future where the climate crisis is at the forefront of almost everything we do. Humans have amazing creative capacity but even more so when we join up our individual efforts into collaborative endeavours, harnessing and combining each person’s unique talents, knowledge, and skills in multidisciplinary ways.
I’m standing for this role in BAM because I believe that through our abilities to communicate and organise, our expertise in the various sub-disciplines of management, and our role in preparing the next generation of leaders through our teaching, UK business school academics can influence and shape a positive future for our world.
My approach would include the following: 1. continue the work of BAM’s previous VC Sustainability, Prof. Bebbington in working with allied organisations to position BAM as an influencer on sustainability best practice; 2. work closely with BAM Council, Fellows and SIGs on the impact of our sustainability practices; 3. seek to expand our networks to enhance our multidisciplinary collaboration so that we combine our management expertise with local and international organisations representing the humanities, sciences, and engineering, to develop more innovative and impactful ways of working.
In my role at University of Strathclyde as Director of the Stephen Young Institute for International Business, I take an interdisciplinary approach to international and sustainable business, innovation and marketing. I’m also a Visiting Professor in Cranfield’s Sustainable Business Group. In 2021, with colleagues from Cranfield I contributed to demonstrating the Sustainable Futures Game at COP26 Glasgow. This is a scenario game to encourage enhanced systems thinking that we developed out of a European Union Horizon project. Some members played this with us at BAM Manchester 2022 conference and more than a 1000 people around the UK have done so too.
In 2023 I represented Strathclyde University at COP28 Dubai. With an Observer pass to the COP Blue Zone, I watched negotiations as they happened. The process of international policymaking is a less familiar space for someone with a background in business and business schools. I sat in rooms while international negotiators from every nation on Earth strove within tight time slots to reach consensus. It looked astoundingly difficult! My takeaway is that while global diplomacy is essential it’s frustratingly slow and cannot be humanity’s sole answer to the climate crisis. To drive change further and faster we need businesses to bring their resources to the challenge. As we know, businesses are full of ‘can do’ people experienced at turning inspiration into reality, often with global networks of influence through their operations and through their customer bases that may number in the hundreds to millions. BAM, its members, its experts in for-profit and non-profit management, and its collaborators, have the power to make a positive difference to the future facing humanity. I am keen to play my part within BAM to make that potential a reality.
If you are an eligible voter (i.e. with current Full or Retired membership of BAM on the date that the poll opened) you will have received your voting link direct from OpaVote.com.
The closing date for votes to be returned will be Noon (British Summer Time) on Friday 7th June.
Please note canvassing of any sort – whether direct or indirect – is not permitted. The Academy’s Council and Trustees believe that, as individuals standing for election have set out their qualification for the role in their statement published on our website, voters should engage with the quality of that proposal alone.