Hello everyone,
I hope you can join us for the following caucus in which we will discover and discuss the implications of climate change for management theory.
Regards,
Nardia
Climate Change Caucus: Does climate change affect management theory? Why or why not?
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Academy</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Management</st1:placename></st1:place> Meeting 2008
August 11, 2008, 8:30-10:20am
Santa Barbara Room, Hilton <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Anaheim</st1:city></st1:place>
A caucus will be held on Monday, August 11th to discuss how management theories explain organizational responses to natural and anthropogenic climate change and how climate change might or might not affect management theories.
We have several scenarios related to climate change and ask the question: "What does your conceptual tradition have to say about them?" For example:
· What if critical natural resources were to disappear or decline to the point of not supporting business? For example, gradual oceanic warming is threatening the viability of Earth's coral reefs, which are at risk of dying within the next few decades if atmospheric green-house gas concentrations continue to rise. This includes <st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region>'s <st1:place w:st="on">Great Barrier Reef</st1:place>, the world's largest coral reef system of approximately 2,900 reefs. Approximately 850,000 people live along the 2,300km length of the Great Barrier Reef, and in 2005-2006 it attracted 1,831,609 visits, employed 51,000 people and contributed AUD$6.9 billion to Australia's economy (to which tourism contributed over 80%). What do our theories have to say to institutions, industries and organizations that depend on natural resources that may disappear?
· What about organisations having to deal with climatic changes that redistribute resources without regard for international, regulatory, trade, contractual and physical boundaries? For example, increasing temperatures are projected to shift the viable grape growing/wine producing regions away from traditional areas such as <st1:country-region w:st="on">France</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Spain</st1:country-region>, <st1:state w:st="on">California</st1:state> and <st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region> to places like southern <st1:state w:st="on">British Columbia</st1:state> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Alberta</st1:state></st1:place> over the next 20 years. Up to 11% of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region></st1:place>'s grape-growing land is predicted to become too hot for grapes by 2030, while BC summers and winters have warmed by an average of 5 degrees over the past 60 years (increasing the growing season by 11 crucial days). What do our theories have to say to industries and organizations that see the viable location of their operations shifting across national borders?
· What if climate change creates conditions threatening social and economic stability? For example, drought in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region></st1:place> has lead to the collapse of the Australian rice industry, curtailing imports and leading to a doubling of rice prices during the first three months of 2008. Decreasing rice supplies have lead to hoarding in Hong Kong and the Philippines, and set off violent protests in countries including Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, the Philippines, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Yemen. What do our theories have to say to organizations, institutions and industries about changes threatening the basic social and economic foundations that make their operations possible?
We are asking participants to champion different theoretical perspectives (e.g., RBV, institutional theory, resource dependence, and others that people are willing to represent) in discussing the above scenarios. By discovering what different perspectives have to say about climate change in relation to organizations, industries and institutions, we are likely to uncover conceptual blind spots where our theories don't speak to this growing global challenge.
Several people have committed to participating, including Petra Christmann, Andrew Griffiths, Nardia Haigh, Andrew Hoffman, Volker Hoffmann, Ans Kolk, Markus Milne, Mark Starik, and Raymond Zammuto.
Bring along your favorite theoretical perspective and join us in what promises to be an interesting conversation. For further information (or to reserve a spot) please contact Nardia Haigh [n.haigh@business.uq.edu.au] or Ray Zammuto [rzammuto@unimelb.edu.au]
Nardia Haigh
UQ <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Business</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">School</st1:placetype></st1:place>
The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Queensland</st1:placename></st1:place>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Colin</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Clark</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Building</st1:placetype></st1:place>
St Lucia QLD 4072
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region>
www.business.uq.edu.au