Message from the BAM Chair, Professor Katy Mason
Dear Members and Supporters of the British Academy of Management,
As the Christmas and New Year break approaches for many of us, it is good to reflect on the year that is passing – a year none of us anticipated and which has brought challenges and sad tragedies but also benefits and opportunities, as we all moved to cope with the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.
At the British Academy of Management, we did all we could to keep our people safe. The office team has been working remotely since March, with a short interruption during Conference, which was moved online along with all our events, programmes and meetings. We are very grateful to our many volunteers and our staff for their enthusiasm and dedication in the face of their own pressures to make this not only happen, but do so very successfully. Our online events have attracted a lot of new members and have also enabled many to engage more easily in the wide range of activities that BAM offers. We do hope that the promise of a return to some form of normality, held out to us by the new vaccines, will be realised during 2021 and so we will also be able to rediscover some of the benefits of face to face events that we have all been missing. Nonetheless we will not forget the benefits that the online world has also brought.
Even so, the BAM Executive and Council has agreed that the safety of our community remains paramount and consider that large, indoor, face to face events will remain uncomfortable for some while longer. As a result our Conference in 2021 will be online once more, albeit in an enhanced format. We are delighted to announce that Lancaster University Management School has agreed to host the virtual event, with a conference theme that looks resolutely ahead: “Recovering from Covid: Responsible Management and Reshaping the Economy.” We have listened hard to what our community has to say and are working to ensure that accepted authors who wish to present their papers live will have the opportunity to do so at some time. Look out for more details over the coming weeks and months!
Some of you will have spotted that our website looks a bit different. It’s still very new and the BAM team is working hard to iron out teething troubles before we launch it fully, but the new site enables us to showcase our community to the world as well as communicate with you all more effectively.
Membership of BAM brings so many benefits: free or discounted access to events and programmes for career and intellectual development at all levels, including our renowned international Conference; access to international networks of scholars in 22 fields of interest as well as our regionally focused Continental Network; access to grants; and, of course, free personal subscriptions to our established, highly-ranked peer-reviewed journals, British Journal of Management and International Journal of Management Reviews. Special additional benefits include heavily discounted access to the Journal of Management Studies and free membership of our sister body in Italy – Societa Italiana di Management (SIMA). On top of this membership of the British Academy of Management brings opportunities for volunteering and becoming an active part of a community that has always sought to be welcoming, inclusive and pluralistic. Finally, the support from our members enables vital advocacy on behalf of our community, through strategic research and through informed comment, alone and in partnership with our sister organisations both in the UK and around the globe. Spread the word! Let’s build our community.
With best wishes to you all and your families for a safe and happy Festive Season and New Year.
Please also be aware that the BAM office will be closed from 23rd December and will re-open on Monday 4th January 2021.
Katy
Professor Katy Mason FBAM FAcSS
Chair, British Academy of Management