Over 150 participants from 36 countries around the world (Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe) attended the conference and conference related events to discuss the topic of Localization vs. Globalization of Management Development in Dynamic Societies.
On Wednesday, 23 September, the participants attended the company visits in Almaty, Kazakhstan. One group of participants went to visit Health City (medical network integrating innovative diagnostic clinic and Almaty personal medicine centers) & Public Fund «House of Mothers» (an NGO providing temporary shelter to single mothers who intended to abandon the children) while the other visited the Food Master (leader in dairy production in Kazakhstan) and Civil Society Development Association "ARGO" (nationwide network of CSOs and community service providers).
On the same day, individual Dean-to-Dean meetings took place, where the participants shared their experience, insights and advice with each other; and also the Information session on IQA - International Quality Accreditation, with the new IQA Accreditation director, Dr. Alenka Braček Lalić and a member of IQA Accreditation Committee, Dr. Irina Sennikova where the participants could hear more of the distinctive features, benefits and processes of the accreditation.
The Deans and Directors Meeting on Thursday, 24 September discussed Education and Research for the Realities of Dynamic Societies. Organized in a roundtable format and chaired by Irina Sennikova, Vice-President of CEEMAN and Rector of RISEBA – Riga International Business School of Economics and Business Administration, Latvia, it featured a keynote address of Hellmut Schütte, Dean Emeritus at CEIBS-China Europe International Business School on the topic of the needs of business in dynamic societies and business schools’ responses. Participants also had the chance to listen to two panels- on educational programs and processes; and on research and case writing in relation to the business needs. Prof. Jim Ellert, Academic Director of IMTA – International Management Teachers Academy, Emeritus Professor and Former Associate Dean of Faculty, IMD, Switzerland moderated the panel on how institutional management practices balance local realities and global best practices with panel participants from China, Mexico and Kazakhstan.
The 23rd CEEMAN Annual Conference opening on the evening of 24 September included the contributions on the topics of Kazakhstan business education – yesterday, today, tomorrow (by Takir Balykbayev, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Kazakhstan), on Global Challenges and Local Solutions in Public Management (by Yernar Zharkeshov, Director of the Research Institute, Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana, Kazakhstan) and Kazakhstan business – yesterday, today, tomorrow (by Jukka Maksimainen, Managing Partner, McKinsey Kazakhstan).
Friday continuation of the conference was opened and masterfully continued by the conference chairperson, Chin Tiong Tan, CEEMAN Board member, member of the board of trustees, Almaty Management University and Senior Advisor to President, Singapore Management University. The conference keynote was delivered byJean-Pierre Lehmann, Emeritus Professor of International Political Economy, IMD and Founder, The Evian Group, Switzerland talked about the Globalization in the 21st Century: A Chaotic Transition to Uncertainty. Business panel on the topic of business challenges of global vs. local balance and how it reflects on leadership and management development was joined by businessmen from different regions that brought and shared their perspective on the topic. In contrast, the participants of the parallel educators’ panels discussed how management education matches up to the business challenges and needs.
On Friday afternoon, the participants split in three groups to attend one of the three parallel workshops on business issues in dynamic societies vs actual and needed educational responses; Blue Ocean Strategy and Leadership Workshop was run by Pavlo Sheremeta, Director, School of Public Management, Ukrainian Catholic University, Ukraine, and dealt with the topic of extension of the Blue Ocean Strategy into leadership and developing a leadership canvas that can help unlock the ocean of unrealized talent and energy in universities and schools; Business in Society: Reinventing the Field of Sustainability in Business and Education workshop run by Nadya Zhexembayeva, a business owner, author, and educator, Kazakhstan/Slovenia/USA, was a highly interactive workshop on the topic of trends and challenges in the area of sustainability and sustainability pedagogy; Liora Katzenstein, Founder and President, ISEMI – Entrepreneurship College from Israel ran the third workshop on Entrepreneurship exploring the topic of entrepreneurship in higher education institutions.
The conference was concluded with the CEEMAN Award Ceremony, where certificates were delivered to new CEEMAN members, schools that have acquired the IQA Accreditation, and to the winners of the 21st CEEMAN Case Writing Competition, organized in cooperation with Emerald Group Publishing and 2015 CEEMAN Champion Awards recipients.
In the conference coffee breaks, the participants had a chance to interact with international publishers and exhibitors, including Peregrine Academic Services, Emerald Group Publishing, Oxford University Press, AACSB International and others.
During the conference also the CEEMAN Annual Meeting took place, where participants heard an update on CEEMAN activities in the past academic year and plans for the future.
The 23rd CEEMAN Annual Conference concluded with a Gala Dinner at Bakhchisaray Palace where the participants were met with spectacular performances and entertaining program of our hosts, Almaty Management University.
On Saturday Almaty Management University organized a sightseeing program around the main sights of Almaty and organized a tour of the Almaty Management University with very interesting presentations on the activities and facilities of the school.
Speakers’ presentations are available at www.ceeman.org/conference, while the conference proceedings will be published by the end of the year.