conference

Sinergie-SIMA 2020 Conference

GRAND CHALLENGES:
Companies and Universities working for a better society

University of Pisa, Italy
Polo Didattico Piagge – Via Giacomo Matteotti

7-8 September 2020

Due to the Covid-19 emergence, the conference has been postponed
and has gone virtual.
A specific thematic session on Covid-19 and management
will be added to the conference programme.

Foreword from the Conference Chairs

Dear friends,

The development of the Covid-19 pandemic is causing significative changes to our lives. As organizers of Sinergie SIMA Management Conference we have carefully evaluated all the options, including cancellation of the 2020 conference.

Eventually, we decided to keep our event running in 2020, but with two important differences: we will postpone to 7th-8th of September in the hope that the situation will be less critical after the summer, and we will hold a virtual event which will allow all participants to attend both plenary and parallel sessions online.

We hope that these changes will keep the scientific debate running and ensure that all participants will have the opportunity to discuss their work during the conference and diffuse their ideas. In addition, since Covid-19 is an important global threat and major societal challenge, we are including a thematic session on Covid-19 and management in the hope that the conference will provide a platform for new ideas about how to manage this threat.

We will contact you again in a few weeks with additional details on the new conference format, please examine carefully this call for paper for new registration rates and extended deadlines.

With our very best wishes for your continued health, safety and security,

Sandro Castaldo, SIMA – Marco Frey, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna – Elisa Giuliani, University of Pisa – Marta Ugolini, Sinergie

THE SINERGIE-SIMA CONFERENCE

Sinergie and Sima’s common aim is to develop the contribution of Italian scholars to the international debate on management issues. Since 2016, Sinergie and Sima work together to organize the annual conference, a scientific event based on Sinergie over 30 years’ experience and on Sima academic network.

The Sinergie-Sima conference is therefore a well-established scientific meeting that brings together scholars from the field of management to present and discuss their research in a collaborative and friendly environment.

This year the conference has switched to digital, alternating plenary and parallel sessions that will address the conference topics and will be delivered fully online. Keynote speakers will participate in webinar plenary sessions, contributing with their expertise. This year a virtual paper development workshop is also organized, to provide authors with guidance in the submission to journals. If allowed at the time of the Conference, the attendance of a limited group of delegates in Pisa will be facilitated.

INVITATION TO SUBMIT FULL PAPERS AND EXTENDED ABSTRACT TO THE 2020 CONFERENCE: THEME AND OBJECTIVES

Contemporary societies are at a crossroads: on the one side, governments are under pressure to achieve ambitious economic goals; on the other, economic growth is raising a range of severe social and environmental challenges, which are part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 Agenda.

Never before has capitalism been challenged so intensely.

How can we address these issues without undermining economic growth?

How can firms and universities contribute to more equitable and responsible national and regional development processes through their business strategies and operations?

To this end, how do companies interact with non-market actors, including governments and other public organizations

How can consumers, end users and citizens contribute to the creation and redistribution of value through their actions and decisions?

The 2020 Conference hopes to address these very timely questions through stimulating discussion and to advance the knowledge around two sub-themes:

Company contributions. This theme focuses on the positive and negative impacts that firms generate on society and the environment. It will include analysis of companies’ social responsibilities and responsible investment, along with new forms of social entrepreneurship (e.g. hybrid organizations, B-corps, etc.) through to multi-stakeholder engagement to address key societal challenges. This theme will also include: (I) discussion of the validity of win-win business models (e.g. Bottom of the Pyramid; Creating Shared Value) and the ‘business case’ approach to corporate sustainability; (II) analyses of the dark side of companies’ strategies and innovative efforts, their wrongful or otherwise defined irresponsible business conduct via their connections also with distant suppliers in global value chains; (III) attention to how final consumers are playing increasingly active roles in driving markets, corporate conduct and even governmental policy. This is being achieved, for instance, through individuals’ hybrid forms of market interactions (platforms, sharing communities, etc.) and social exchanges and engagement campaigns (social media, activism, etc.).

University contributions. For several decades, close attention has been paid to the contribution of universities and public research more generally, to local, regional and national economic development and to innovation processes. More recently, based on the focus on the valorization of research results, the wider context has received more attention as part of the “universities’ third mission”.

This effort is extending knowledge generation and knowledge dissemination beyond academic boundaries, and demonstrating how this is having economic and social impact beyond traditional types of knowledge transfer such as patents, licenses, new high-tech startups, etc. Universities are pursuing the shift from linear transfer of knowledge from research to external users, towards co-creation of knowledge. Academic institutions need to engage with societal needs and market demands to contribute to recent debates and address the strong critiques of the future of capitalism and calls for an updating of the existing economic paradigm by integrating the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

This theme will also include discussion of new knowledge transfer tools to enhance the connections between companies, research organizations and other non-market actors, and discuss the role of universities in the global North and South.

The Sinergie-SIMA 2020 Conference will focus on a contemporary grand societal challenge: that is, how companies and universities can create public value, in a time when efforts from all parts of the society are needed. Special attention will be paid to socially relevant strategies and related stakeholder/public engagement models that have been developed and implemented. A new thematic session is being planned on management in the post Covid-19 era.

The conference welcomes both theoretical and empirical qualitative and quantitative contributions. It also encourages the submission of business case studies.

ORGANIZATION OF THE 2020 CONFERENCE – New dates and virtual sessions

The main topic of the conference will be discussed in alternating plenary and parallel sessions to be held on September 7 and 8 2020.
The plenary sessions will centre on contributions from well-known academics and professionals who will participate in the debate as keynote speakers, discussants or interviewees. In the parallel sessions, the full papers, selected in a double-blind peer review, will be presented.
One or more sessions will be dedicated to presentation of extended abstracts to give conference participants the opportunity to present their research and receive comments and suggestions from the session chair and discussants.
Both plenary and parallel sessions will be organized online. Presenters will be asked to pre-prepare a digital presentation of their work. More details on this new format will be provided in the acceptance letter and in the programme.
The official language of the conference is English. Submission of full papers and extended abstracts in Italian will be welcome and a selection will be included in specific sessions

TOPICS

Based on the general theme of the 2020 Conference and the two specific sub-themes, we provide below a tentative list of topics that might be addressed by the full papers and extended abstracts:

Management challenges in the post-Covid-19 era
Company resilience and risk management in the face of global threats
Corporate social responsibility
Social entrepreneurship
Responsible management and finance
Responsible and green innovation
Hybrid organizations and B-corps
Bottom of the Pyramid
Creating Shared Value
Corporate sustainability
Corporate social irresponsibility and wrongdoing
Corporate corruption
Sharing economy
Gift economy
Social media
Working consumers
Consumer activism
CEO activism
Social and environmental upgrading in global value chains
Greenwashing and symbolic behaviour
Consumer communities
Knowledge exchange and collaboration
Knowledge and technology transfer
Knowledge exchange intermediaries
Knowledge-based regional development
Entrepreneurial universities
Academic entrepreneurship
Student entrepreneurship
Universities and knowledge co-creation
Academic contribution to Agenda 2030
High-tech entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurial teaching and learning
Stakeholder and public engagement
University-Industry cooperation
University-industry R&D

In addition to papers and extended abstracts that address the 2020 Conference themes, scholars are invited, also, to submit proposals for research in various management studies related areas; these will be discussed in the following possible thematic sessions:

Strategic management and Corporate governance
Innovation and technology management
Entrepreneurship
International business
Tourism and culture management
Business case studies
Small and family business
Retailing & Service management
Operations & Supply chain
Strategic communication
Marketing
Sustainability

PAPER AND EXTENDED ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS

Originality: Only unpublished papers that have not been submitted for publication or that have not been already published as conference proceedings will be considered for presentation at the Conference and inclusion in the subsequent conference proceedings. At the time of submission, authors must certify the originality of their work.

Full paper submission

Paper submissions for the Sinergie-SIMA Conference should be formatted using the word conference template published online at www.sijm.it. Papers should be a maximum of 10.000 words and should include the following information:

Title
Author(s) qualifications, scientific discipline, email address and mobile phone number – this information is for the exclusive use of Sinergie’s administration
Contributorship statement in the case of co-authored papers
Acknowledgements
References to the research on which the paper is based
Structured abstract (no more than 250 words) containing the following information: objectives of the paper, methodology, findings, practical implications, limitations of the research and originality
Key words
References

To assure quality of editing, especially of tables, graphs and figures, it is common to use a Microsoft Word format, compatible formats are accepted as well.
File in .bmp, .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .gif formats can create problems in editing. If possible, please avoid these formats and provide files containing additional tables and graphs in their original format (e.g., xls).
Footnotes should be used only for comments, to provide more detail or not alternative considerations; they should not contain bibliographic information.
It is recommended to avoid changes in the title of the paper and in the composition of the authors, once submission is completed.

Extended abstract submission

The extended abstracts may be in the form of a report on a completed research project or a description of an ongoing or near completed research project. The conference will provide a valuable opportunity to benefit from debate among peers: thus, extended abstracts describing ongoing research projects must clearly identify their conceptual development, objectives and methodological frameworks. Also, authors must indicate clearly that the research is “work-in-progress”. Extended abstracts should be a maximum of 5.000 words and a minimum of 3.500 words. For editing rules, please follow Full Paper submission directions.Please name the file “EA+name”, to facilitate its tracing as an extended abstract.

Full papers and extended abstracts, together with declarations (templates in www.sijm.it), should be sent as email attachments to Laura Ciarmela, editorial staff member of Sinergie, at laura.ciarmela@sinergieweb.it.

PEER REVIEW PROCESS

For full papers

Papers will undergo a double-blind peer review process in order to evaluate the possibility to include them in the Referred Conference Proceedings, to be selected for publication in Sinergie Italian Management and to be awarded a prize. After the peer review, papers may be accepted outright, or accepted subject to revision based on reviewers’ suggestions, or considered as extended abstract or rejected. Authors of papers that require revision based on reviewers’ suggestions will have time to make the necessary revisions/improvements and to resubmit the amended version of the paper. This will be subjected to editorial review, after which author(s) will receive notification of the final evaluation.

For extended abstracts

The Scientific Committee will evaluate the extended abstracts.
The same procedure will be used to evaluate full papers if the authors explicitly waive publication in the Referred Conference Proceedings.

PAPER DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP (PDW) – Updated

This year, a limited number of authors will be able to benefit of a Paper Development Work- shop (PDW) during the Conference. The PDW is designed to provide authors with guidance and expertise in the development of their manuscript for potential submission to a top-tier international management journal. This PDW is oriented at authors of fully developed papers who seek advice aimed at strengthening and improving their papers. It is also open to papers in the “Revise & Resubmit” stage, whose authors may find useful the interaction with the audience of the PDW to improve their responses to referees. The PDW will be organized as follows: (a) authors of selected papers are expected to give a short presentation of their paper (also possibly focusing on the main referees’ comments and answers to them); (b) each paper will receive comments from a scholar who is expert in their area of investigation. More instructions about the organization of the PDW will be provided to the authors of the accepted papers at a later stage. Because of time limitations, the PDW organizing committee will make a selection of the submitted papers and inform the authors accordingly.

Requirements for submissions to PDW:

The paper is written in English.
The paper focuses on a subject that is connected to the conference theme.
Conceptual, qualitative and quantitative papers will be equally given consideration in the selection process.
Preference will be given to papers whose authors include at least one young scholar (less than 40 years old) available to present at the PDW during the Sinergie-Sima conference.
The authors are invited to indicate in a note on the front-page the paper’s target journal(s), and, in the case of R&R papers, the journal where the paper is under consideration at the time of the submission.

How can I submit a paper to PDW?

Papers should be submitted by sending an email to elisa.giuliani@unipi.it and c.c to laura.ciarmela@sinergieweb.it. Please indicate “PDW Sinergie Sima 2020” in the email. Please also note that each applicant should submit only one paper.

Given the new circumstances, we decided to re-open the call for papers. The new deadline for submitting papers for consideration is 18 May 2020 and authors of accepted papers will be notified on the 22 of June, when they will also be given instructions about how to prepare for the online presentation.

Submitted papers must follow the conference instructions for submission.

Authors of already submitted papers should not resubmit the paper again by the new deadline but should expect notification of acceptance or rejection by 22 June. Papers rejected from the PDW are automatically included in the conference programme and will be allocated to the regular parallel sessions. Please note that they will not be included in the conference proceedings.

What Should I Do if My Paper is Accepted to PDW?

Submitting authors will be notified of the results of the PDW review process by 22 June 2020, and will need to confirm their participation in the PDW by 30 June, 2020.

Please note that authors will need to register for the Sinergie SIMA Management conference in order to participate in the PDW..

PWD ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Elisa Giuliani University of Pisa
Valentina De Marchi University of Padova
Francesco Rullani Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

All submission dates have expired.

Please get ready to record your presentation and to register for the conference.

Registrations are highly welcome by 31 August.

The earlier deadline for non-Europe based participants is to facilitate travel arrangements and visa applications, where necessary. For travel and visa information for Italy, visit: http://www.esteri.it/mae/en/, http://vistoperitalia.esteri.it/home/en or the Italian consulate near you: http://www.esteri.it/mae/en/ministero/laretediplomatica/ambasciate/default.html. Participants interested in extended stays please visit: http://www.enit.it/en/

Publication opportunities

Conference Proceedings

Unless publication is explicitly waived by the author(s) at the time of paper submission, all full papers accepted for presentation at the conference will be published online in the refer- red Electronic Conference Proceedings and copyrighted with ISBN and DOI codes.

The extended abstracts presented in specific conference sessions will be published online in a separate volume of Conference Proceedings and copyrighted with an ISBN. Conference Proceedings will be published in open access form on the Sinergie website (www.sijm.it) after the conference. Before uploading the material, it will be edited to ensure quality; the costs of this editing work will be borne by Sinergie.

All paper authors (in the case of multiple co-authors, at least one author) must present and discuss the paper and/or the extended abstract during the conference online parallel sessions. Failure to present and discuss will result in the paper or extended abstract being excluded from the Electronic Conference Proceedings.

Papers submitted to the PDW will not be included in the conference proceedings (this applies to both accepted and rejected papers).

Publication in Sinergie Italian Journal of Management
A selection of the papers addressing the specific theme of the conference (Grand challenges: companies and universities working for a better society) will be made by the Scientific Committee for inclusion in a 2021 Sinergie Italian Journal of Management special issue.

Sinergie is ranked “C” by ANVUR for VQR 2011-2014 and is ranked “A” by AIDEA among Italian business administration journals (www.accademiaaidea.it).
The papers selected for publication in the special issue will be announced during the concluding live plenary session, broadcasted online; their authors will be acknowledged with an award. Publication in Sinergie Italian Journal of Management is free of charge.

Further publication opportunities

A number of the papers presented at the conference will be eligible for submission to the Journal of Management and Governance (ISSN: 1385-3457 print version – ISSN: 1572-963X electronic version – publisher: Springer) following a fast-track publication review process. The Journal of Management and Governance is ranked “B” by ANVUR for VQR 2011-2014 and is ranked “A” by AIDEA among Italian business administration journals (www.accademiaaidea.it).

Business case studies will be eligible for publication on Pearson web platform.

The conference website will provide information on further publication opportunities in the Journal of Management and Governance and other international journals.

Awards and recognitions

The 3 best among 8/10 selected papers within the specific theme of the Conference will be acknowledged by the Scientific Committee with an award during the closing session of the Conference.
11 commended paper awards (one for each of the SIMA thematic areas: Strategic management and corporate governance; Innovation and technology management; Entrepreneurship; International business; Tourism and culture management;
Sustainability; Small firms and family business; Retailing and service management; Operations and supply chain; Strategic communication, Marketing) will be acknowledged by the Scientific Committee during the closing session of the Conference.
All paper presenters as well as session chairs will receive a certificate acknowledging their contribution to the conference.

CONFERENCE FEES

Subscription to Sinergie Italian Journal of Management (year 2020)
Special fees for SIMA Members


	SIMA MEMBER	SIMA NON-MEMBER
Professor and researcher (VAT included)	€ 80,00	€ 120,00
PhD student, fellows and undergraduate students (VAT included) (VAT included)	€ 40,00	€ 60,00

Bank transfer to the following account: Fondazione Cueim at BNL, Banking
IBAN IT67W0100511700000000004041—BIC/SWIFT CODE BNLIITRR. In addition to personal identifition data, please specify the reason for payment (name, surname + Sub. Sinergie 2020).

Registration fee for Sinergie-SIMA 2020 Conference
Special fees for SIMA Members


	SIMA MEMBER	SIMA NON-MEMBER
Professor and researcher (VAT included)	€ 100,00	€ 150,00
PhD students, fellows and undergraduate students (VAT included)	€ 50,00	€ 75,00

FOR INFORMATION REGARDING CONFERENCE REGISTRATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Annalisa Andriolo (amministrazione@sinergieweb.it)

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
Registration opens: February 2020

REGISTRATION FORM:

Enghish language

Italian language

GENDER BALANCE AND INCLUSION

Sinergie-Sima 2020 Conference will positively seek to promote gender equality, diversity and inclusion, in line with the University of Pisa Guidelines on Gender Equality.
As conference organisers, we will promote diversity and inclusion including in keynote and featured speakers and in the composition of the Organizing and Scientific Committee. We encourage paper and panel proposers to positively consider diversity and inclusion in abstracts and presenters proposed to the conference.

ACCOMODATION

If health conditions and regulations will enable physical participation in Pisa, participants are responsible for arranging their own accommodation. There will be some information on accommodation in Pisa published on the conference website.

CONFERENCE VENUE

If allowed in the time of the conference, the attendance of a limited group of delegates in Pisa will be facilitated. Any potential meeting will be held at:
Università di Pisa – Polo Didattico Piagge, Via Giacomo Matteotti, 56124 Pisa PI, Italy. Any change in venue will be communicated in due course.

Committees

Conference Chairs

Sandro Castaldo, Bocconi University
Marco Frey, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna
Elisa Giuliani, University of Pisa
Marta Ugolini, University of Verona

Former chairs

Claudio Baccarani, University of Verona
Gaetano M. Golinelli, Sapienza University of Roma

Scientific and International Coordination

Angelo Bonfanti, University of Verona
Daniele Dalli, University of Pisa
Arabella Mocciaro Li Destri, University of Palermo
Andrea Piccaluga, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa

Scientific Committee

Federico Brunetti, University of Verona
Luigino Bruni, LUMSA, Roma
Francesca Cabiddu, University of Cagliari
Mario Calderini, Politecnico di Milano
Michele Cano, University of West Scotland, UK
Peggy Chaudry, Villanova University, USA
Maria Colurcio, University of Catanzaro
Valentina De Marchi, University of Padova
Irene Henriques, York University, Canada
Charles Hofacker, Florida State University, Usa
Gennaro Iasevoli, LUMSA, Roma
Emanuele Invernizzi, IULM University, Milano
Beatrice Luceri, University of Parma
Alberto Mattiacci, Sapienza University of Roma
Patricia Moura e Sa, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Maria Rosaria Napolitano, University of Napoli Parthenope
Antigoni Papadimitriou, Western Kentucky University, Usa
Roberto Parente, University of Salerno
Alberto Pastore, Sapienza University of Roma
Tonino Pencarelli, University of Urbino Carlo Bo
Alessandra Perri, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
Francesco Rizzi, University of Perugia
Francesco Rullani, Ca Foscari University of Venice
Elita Schillaci, University of Catania
Philip Shapira, Alliance Manchester Business School, UK; Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
Paola Signori, University of Verona
Annalisa Tunisini, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano
Alfonso Vargas, University of Huelva, Spain
Tiziano Vescovi, Ca Foscari University of Venice
Donata Vianelli, University of Trieste
Antonella Zucchella, University of Pavia

Organizing Committee

Antonella Angelini, University of Pisa
Eleonora Annunziata, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa
Matteo Corciolani, University of Pisa
Alberto Di Minin, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa
Alessandro Gandolfo, University of Pisa
Cristina Marullo, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa
Federica Nieri, University of Pisa
Nora Annesi, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa
Gianluca Biggi, University of Pisa
David D’Acunto, Free University of Bozen
Leopoldo Trieste, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa
Chiara De Bernardi, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa