ECMLG Mini Tracks

The Mini Tracks for ECMLG

• Entrepreneurship & Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality
• Management and Sustainability in the Aeronautic Sector
• Artificial Intelligence Applied to Management, Leadership and Governance
• Leadership and Management Beyond Boarders
• Women in Leadership: The Liminal Fluctuating Spaces They Occupy
• The Role of Corporate Governance in a Sustainable Business Environment

Entrepreneurship & Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality

Mini Track Chair:  Dr. Álvaro Lopes Dias, ISCTE Business School, Portugal

In today's dynamic and ever-changing tourism landscape, innovation and entrepreneurship play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the industry.  Tourism entrepreneurs are not only driving new tourism products, services, and experiences but also fostering a culture of innovation that is essential for the sustained growth and competitiveness of destinations. This mini track will explore the latest trends and developments in tourism entrepreneurship and innovation, providing valuable insights for researchers, policymakers, and industry practitioners. Together, we will delve into the transformative power of innovation, examining how entrepreneurs are leveraging technology, digitalization, and sustainable practices to redefine the tourism experience and create new opportunities for destinations and their communities. We will also discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with tourism entrepreneurship, highlighting the need for supportive policies, infrastructure, and access to funding to nurture a thriving ecosystem of innovation in the tourism sector.

This mini track will explore the latest trends in entrepreneurship and innovation in tourism and hospitality and will provide insights into how businesses can stay ahead of the curve.

We are inviting submissions of abstracts for presentations on the following topics:

• Role of Entrepreneurs in Driving Innovation in Tourism.
• The Impact of Technology on Tourism Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
• The Impact of Tourism Entrepreneurship and Innovation on Local Communities and Destinations.
• Changing consumer preferences.
• Advances in technology.
  • Growing demand for responsible tourism.
  • Government support.
  • Impacts of tourism entrepreneurship and innovation: Economic benefits; Improved visitor experience; Sustainable development; Cultural preservation; etc.
  • Case Studies of Successful Tourism
  • Entrepreneurs and Innovative Businesses

Management and Sustainability in the Aeronautic Sector

Mini Track Chair: Dr. José Vicente, Lusófona University, Portugal

In today's dynamic and ever-changing aviation sector, management and sustainability play a key role in shaping the future of the industry. Entrepreneurs in the aeronautical sector, faced with increasingly fierce competition due to the liberalization of air transport, are not only promoting new products and travel experiences for their passengers, but also promoting a culture of management and sustainability that is essential for the growth of airlines, in terms of improving the offer of destinations, competitiveness and compliance with Industry objectives defined for Agenda 2023 and IATA 2050; reducing and minimizing the carbon footprint and implementing waste objectives to zero. This mini track will explore the latest trends and developments in management and sustainability in the aviation sector, providing valuable information for researchers, policy makers and industry professionals. Together, we will delve into the transformative power of management and sustainability, examining how decision-makers and managers are harnessing technology, innovation and sustainable practices to redefine improvements in the passenger experience, with greater added value, while meeting objectives defined sustainability criteria. In the 2030 Agenda and in the Industry Agenda, by IATA 2050, focusing on the implementation of sustainable processes, the renewal and management of sustainable and efficient fleets, the development of policies based on reducing the carbon footprint and contributing to zero waste. We will  discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with the sustainability of the aviation sector, highlighting the need for supportive policies, infrastructure and access to finance to nurture thriving innovation, a sustainable and value-creating aviation ecosystem. This mini track will explore the latest trends in sustainability and management in the aviation sector and provide insights into how companies can position themselves at the forefront of the aviation sector.

We are inviting submissions of abstracts for presentations on the following topics:

• Role of Management Challenges in Driving Sustainability in Aeronautical Sector.
• The Impact of Management and Sustainability in the Aeronautic Sector
• The overall strategy management to achieve net zero emissions by 2050
• Airline Fleet Sustainable Management.
• Green Airline Challenges Management.
• Aeronautical Regulation and Governmental Developing Policies based on Sustainability.
• Financing the energy transition.
• Carbon Offsetting – Completing the Journey to Net-Zero.
• Sustainability Consumers Choice in Aviation.
• Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), novel propulsion systems, advanced air mobility, and innovative strategies like carbon offsets and book & claim.
• Case Studies of Successful Management Aviation and Sustainability

Artificial Intelligence Applied to Management, Leadership and Governance

Mini Track Chair: Associate Professor Joao Alexandre Lobo Marques, University of Saint Joseph, Macau, SAR, China

The adoption of Artificial Intelligence as a tool to support managerial decisions and business operations has been increasing substantially in the last few years. The effective use of AI tools and techniques can potentially enable leaders to make informed decisions by analyzing large amounts of data. The generation of insights, recognition of hidden pattern, and predictive analysis provide a valuable tool for managers to allocate resources effectively and focus on the improvement of the organizational performance, customer needs and satisfaction. From a leadership perspective, AI can be used to workforce skill development and workplace satisfaction, using tools to identify gaps and recommend targeted career development programmes with intelligent reporting and follow-ups. Other areas such as strategic management and project management can benefit from techniques such as scenario simulation, risk assessment, and predictive analysis, addressing and anticipating operational issues that will target cost reduction and performance optimization. This track aims to provide a forum focused on the application of Artificial Intelligence in a broad variety of areas such as business analytics tools and applications, including marketing, HR and sales, amongst others. In addition, financial time series analysis, decision-making support systems should also be considered. Finally, the popularization of LLM (Large Language Models) with ChatGPT and other similar tools with a vast number of applications are also encouraged to submit contributions.

We are inviting submissions of abstracts for presentations on the following topics:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Machine Learning
• Business Analytics
• Predictive Analytics
• Computer Aided Decision-Making Systems

Leadership and Management Beyond Boarders

Mini Track Chair:  Dr. Tatiana Gladkikh, University of Aberdeen Business School, UK

This mini-track will address the issues of leadership and management faced by organisations in a wider global context as the World emerges from the global pandemic. The reality of the postmodern world characterised by its fluidity, instability, insecurity and permanent change will be discussed from the leadership and management perspectives identified by contributors and could include such considerations as: conceptualisation and theorisation of the contemporary context in which organisations strive to survive and succeed, global challenges facing organisations in the twenty first century, implications of social and political change on management and leadership in organisations, cultural divergence and convergence in the post-pandemic world, development of a global mindset as a step towards addressing universal issues, the future of organisations, including their management and leadership from the perspective of younger generations, the impacts of the Great Resignation on our conceptualisation of the workplace, employee empowerment and organisational responses and leadership challenges in international organisations and finding new solutions: theory and practice.

We are inviting interdisciplinary research contributions and topics related to:

• Organisational issues, challenges and opportunities in the post-pandemic context
• New trends in organisational culture of contemporary organisations
• Leadership developments in organisations of the XXI century as a consequence of societal change and uncertainty
• Universal issues and the global mindset
• Leadership responses to environmental challenges: lessons from around the world

Women in Leadership: The Liminal Fluctuating Spaces They Occupy

Mini Track Chair: Valerie Priscilla Goby, Zayed University, Dubai

The space in which women can take on leadership and management roles is a dynamic one evolving at various points between the contradictory forces of legislative and institutional support versus traditional views of gender roles. To greater or lesser extents, women leaders continue to be impacted by traditional gender associations which typify leaders as men and women as essentially domestic, nurturing creatures.

Academic literature demonstrates that leadership identities are formed by individual women as they navigate their own specific organizational, social, and cultural contexts. These identities do not necessarily resonate with traditional gender expectations, and they may be recreated from fluctuating gender norms. This mini-track will explore how women in leadership and management roles function and respond to the conflict between surviving gender associations and women's increasing economic agency. It is concerned with examining how societal expectations and individual agency affect the professional development and careers of women leaders.

We are inviting submissions of abstracts for presentations on the following topics:

• The social construction of women leaders
• The impact of culture on women in leadership roles
• Identity work and women leaders
• The gap between legislative encouragements and traditional gender constructions
• Stereotyping of women leaders
• Benevolent and hostile sexism in relation to women leaders

The Role of Corporate Governance in a Sustainable Business Environment

Mini Track Chair: Prof. Camelia Iuliana Lungu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

Corporate governance, which is primarily ensuring a truthful management of a business designed to protect shareholders, has nowadays shifted to the sustainable development of companies and society. Researchers, policymakers, stakeholders and analysts are all concerned about responsible ways of designing the business model in order to mitigate concerns such as companies’ failures, global multidimensional crisis, and sustainability-related issues. Consequently, the emphasis on sustainable policies and practices directly linked to corporate governance has become increasingly significant. Under the light of agency theory, new corporate governance models may be addressed to ensure a balance amongst divergent interests of managers and stakeholders. Adopting the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, governments committed to 17 goals and 169 associated targets in areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet, while companies’ involvement may contribute significantly to the SDGs achievement. Widely supported by researchers, a paradigm shift may be considered through legitimacy theory by private, public, and civil society collaboration in creating SDGs development pathways. Over time, the constant change in business model from traditional towards sustainable has characterised the company’s efforts to gain competitive advantage. Lately, the strategic development of companies relies not only on Corporate social responsibility (CSR) or Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance and reporting, but expands through incorporating technological development in creating a digital business model.

We are inviting interdisciplinary research contributions and topics related to:

• Corporate governance and sustainability performance
• The interplay between corporate governance and sustainability reporting
• The role of corporate governance structures in ethical decision-making in business
• The diversity of sustainability reporting initiatives and their effectiveness in promoting sustainable corporate governance
• The role of digitalisation in enhancing sustainable corporate governance
• Micro and macro mediators in corporate governance - sustainable business environment relationship