Vote Now: BAM Vice-Chair Special Interest Groups (SIG) Election - January 2024 - December 2025

The recent call for nominations for the BAM Vice Chair elections resulted in two nominations being received for Special Interest Groups. All other Vice Chair roles received one nomination and those candidates are duly elected unopposed.

The election for the BAM SIGs portfolio is important as whoever is elected will serve as members of the Executive for the next two years (Jan 2024 - Dec 2025) and will help to shape the Academy’s future.

The deadline for votes to be returned will be Noon (British Summer Time) on Friday 5th May.

Please note that canvassing is not permitted.

The Candidates:

Name(s): Dr Russ Glennon and Prof Zoe Morrison

Institution: Manchester Metropolitan University and Robert Gordon University

Position:

Dr Russ Glennon: Reader in Public Management & Strategy, Manchester Metropolitan University
Prof Zoe Morrison: Professor, Robert Gordon University

Dr Russ Glennon has served his first term as co-Vice Chair for SIGs. He has also previously served as a co-opted BAM Council member and as Chair for the Public Management & Governance SIG for six years.

Over the last two years, as VC Russ has helped the SIGs to develop more standardised processes for reporting, events, governance and elections and recover from the impact of Covid-19. The time is now right to embark on a new agenda of empowering SIGs to contribute to the UK and international academies.

Over the next two years, we have a five-point plan to help develop and deliver BAM’s new strategy and support the SIG agenda. Our focus will be on providing effective support to SIGs to develop their capacity and capabilities. We will do this by:

Facilitating SIGs having a real voice at the centre of BAM. We believe that the SIGs are the ‘beating heart’ of BAM and provide the basis on which the council and exec operate. For BAM to succeed, we must be able to influence the way that business and management operates within HE and beyond to national and international policy. SIGs play an essential role in that goal.
Supporting more collaboration between SIGs and between academies. We would especially like to strengthen the links between SIGs and the emerging international networks (e.g., SIMA, ACEDE, IAM, ANZAM etc.) and empower SIGs to work directly with their counterparts. SIGs offer an enormous range of high-quality events and we would like to see this developed event further.
Stimulating more diverse organizational forms through developing SIGs, tracks and networks as appropriate. We want to see SIGs and other forms developing more widely and making the most of opportunities to connect our disciplines to enhance practice, research and education in business and management.
Contributing to growing BAM’s membership, both nationally and internationally. SIGs have a vital role to play in both recruitment and retention of BAM members and their committees can play a vital role in helping to support individual growth through opportunities to lead, contribute to, and support our disciplines.
Ensuring that SIGs are able to manage and govern themselves effectively, with support, training, and co-ordination provided by the SIG committee, seeking to slim down bureaucracy whilst maintaining the quality of what BAM delivers.

Our goal is to focus on empowering the SIGs to make real changes to the nature of our academy. We operate in an increasingly stressful and pressurised environment in HE. Yet, BAM operates almost entirely through volunteers. Our responsibility to SIGs is to support their governance and operations in ways that optimise the contribution of the SIG members and to generate opportunities for willing SIG members to influence HE, BAM, other learned societies, national policy and international networks in line with achieving BAM’s overall objectives and goals.

Name: Dr Rebecca Liu

Institution: Lancaster University Management School

Position: Senior Lecturer

Greetings BAM Members,

My name is Rebecca Liu from the Lancaster University Management School.

I am excited to seek election to the Vice Chair of Special Interest Groups (SIGs).

For those who do not know me, I hold an MBA from the US and a PhD from the UK. Prior to joining academia, I garnered over fifteen years of commercial experience in managerial positions across multiple international markets. I served/serve as co-opted BAM Council Member (2014-2016), Council Member (2023 – 2026) and Member of the Peer Review College (2022-2025). I instigated Professional Development Workshop at the BAM Annual Conference (2021). I am especially grateful and humble to be awarded the BAM Outstanding Services Award (2016), the Best Developmental Research Paper (2016), and the Educational Practice Award (2022) – Highly Commended.

COMMITMENT

Being a VC of SIGs means listening to the members, understanding the needs of members, leading and supporting SIG and track chairs, most importantly, dedicating the time required to make things happen. Facilitating innovative and sustainable platform for forefront SIGs programmes is my priority.

These endeavours will be supported my diverse background (Asia, US, and the UK), which nurtures my EDI commitment to embrace national and international ventures in SIGs activities. My rich industrial experiences have cultivated my appreciation for transformative outcomes from listening, understanding, and influencing others in the role of Vice Chair of SIGs. My role as an active Member of Collbor8 Communities (N8 Research Partnership, delivering benefits to the economy and communities in the North of England and beyond) and my nominated National Teaching Award 2023 – The Advance Higher Education, further supply my dedication and commitment in facilitating, coordinating and leading others to the role of Vice Chair of SIGs.

GOALS

Along with the current strategic development of SIGs, I am determined to lead, support, and develop a new chapter for the SIGs in a sustainable and innovative manner through two major dimensions – cross-fertilization and globalization.

Cross-fertilization

SIGs spans 20+ themes in the field of management, constructing well-organized structure with its renowned members. Such assets offer valuable cross-fertilization platform through cooperative activities within BAM Communities (EDIR, Research and Publications, Capacity Building and/or MKE) in a cooperative form. See Figure 1.

Major goals:

To facilitate joint cooperation within BAM communities to explore cross-fertilization opportunities.
To influence SIGs Chairs, as future leaders, to develop innovative programmes to benefit members.
To support cross-fertilization and innovative programmes for a sustainable future of BAM.

SIGs Go-Global

This dimension entails three stages: forming, influencing, and leading the global eco-system in the field of management, involving academia, industry, policy and society. Each stage consists of its own objectives and areas in partnerships. See Figure 2.

Stage One: Forming

Strengthening the existing partnerships
Establishing new partnerships (when appropriate)

Stage Two: Influencing

Sharing: from BAM SIGs to the World – Existing strategic focus
Learning: from the World to BAM SIGs – Continuous development
Contributing: BAM 2028 – 2031 SIGs Strategic Plan

Stage Three: Leading

Facilitating cross-fertilization platform in the global eco-system
Leading the cutting-edge development, contributing to the global eco-system

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 5th May.

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.