We are delighted to confirm the following keynotes will take place during BAM2020 Conference In The Cloud:

Thursday 3rd September: 15.00 – 15.45

Professor Henry Mintzberg, Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University, Canada

‘Management in the age of the pandemic: Rebalancing our organization, our societies and ourselves’

So-called liberal democracies, especially the U.S. and U.K., have been out of balance for some time, in favor of private sector forces. The coronavirus crisis has brought this to a head: the countries that balance public, private, and plural forces, in collaboration, are doing far better. Their governments protect, their businesses provide, and their communities engage. Now and going forward, we shall have to rebalance ourselves, our organizations, our societies, and our globe.
Friday 4th September: 14.45 – 15.30

Professor Laura Empson, Professor of the Management of Professional Service Firms, Cass Business School, UK

Collegiality in the Time of Corona

The current crisis has laid bare the vulnerabilities and inadequacies of our academic institutions.  Yet, at an individual level, the crisis has also revealed our unexpected depth of commitment to colleagues and students in the notoriously individualistic and self-absorbed profession of academia.  While our profession is under threat, our professionalism has never been more apparent.  As we start to take stock of the havoc wrought by Corona, are we experiencing the death throes of a sector already weakened by years of under-funding and grandiose expectations?  Or are academics experiencing a reawakening and reaffirmation of what it really means to be a professional?

To explore these questions I draw upon my research into leadership, governance, and identity in the professions and professional partnerships.  I examine the multiple manifestations of collegiality: collegiality as equality of authority, collegiality as mutual support, and collegiality as social control.  I examine how the leaders of professional partnerships must manage these three manifestations of collegiality which coexist in dynamic tension within their organizations, and which are continuously evolving, weakening, and strengthening in response to changing economic circumstances and societal norms.  I argue that university leaders and their fellow academics should look to professional partnerships for lessons in how professionals and professional organizations can adapt and survive the current crisis.