One of the world’s largest gatherings of scholars devoted to international business will converge upon Simon Fraser University and host city Vancouver next summer, it was announced recently in Istanbul.

At the 2013 Annual Meeting for the Academy of International Business (AIB) in Turkey, SFU’s Beedie School of Business was named as host institution for the 2014 edition of the summit, which features a combination of academic plenaries, panels, and papers devoted to global management and international business topics.

The conference, which attracts over 1,000 attendees annually from universities around the world, is being co-chaired by Beedie professors Eric Gedajlovic and Chang Hoon Oh. Venues for the event include SFU’s downtown campus, the Vancouver Convention Centre, and the Westin Bayshore Hotel.

“We are excited to be hosting the AIB 2014 Annual Conference next summer,” said Daniel Shapiro, Dean of the Beedie School of Business. “International business is a key research focus for our faculty. Given Vancouver’s global investment linkages and its distinct fusing of cultures from around the world, I have no doubt the city will serve as the perfect backdrop for international business scholars to collaborate, network and engage.”

Shapiro notes that Vancouver’s emergence as one of North America’s most internationalized cities makes it an especially relevant destination for conference attendees.

“Vancouver has emerged as a dynamic hub for international trade, technological innovation and sustainable resource development, areas of focus that are — not coincidentally — central to our mission at Beedie.”

The conference is organized around the theme “Local Contexts in Global Business”. The interplay and tension between the themes of globalization and localization is a driving force in dialogue within academia, industry and society.

SFU’s Beedie School has a longstanding tradition of excellence in international business scholarship. The school was ranked among the top two business schools in Canada, and in the top 40 business schools worldwide in a report detailing the top world business schools measured by scholarly impact in international business (the Academic Ranking of World Business Schools survey).

The Academy of International Business is the leading association of scholars and specialists in the field of international business. Established in 1959, AIB currently has over 3500 members in 87 different countries around the world. Members include scholars from the leading global academic institutions as well consultants, researchers, government and NGO representatives.