British Academy of Management


The British Academy of Management, founded in 1986, is a learned society dedicated to advancing the academic discipline of management in the United Kingdom. It is a member of the Academy of Social Sciences. The academy runs two academic journals: the British Journal of Management and the International Journal of Management Reviews. Once a year, it publishes an article which is presented at the annual conference. The headquartered of the British Academy of Management is in London, United Kingdom.

History

Foundation

The British Academy of Management was founded in 1986, exactly 50 years after the AoM was formed in Chicago. Cary Cooper was its first President and Andrew Pettigrew was its first Chairman. During the AoM conference in San Diego in 1985 they realize the lack of a multidisciplinary association in the UK and decided to establish BAM.
The biggest challenges for this new organisation were to set up a constitution and to exercise good governance through a strong executive committee. The inaugural conference of BAM was at the University of Warwick in 1987. This was organised by Andrew Pettigrew. With over 200 delegates, the conference had an immediate success.

Early days

From the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, the management of the Academy was still based on an amateur approach, because of the moving from one place to another. The nomadic life of the BAM office and the lack of a centralized system meant that outgoing chairpersons packaged the documents and sent them on to the institution of the new chair. Sometimes, this delivery arrived without all the key papers. BAM headquarters had to be moved from one city to another for a bit more than a decade, until they found a stable home in 2002 in London. Thus, the records eventually delivered to HQ were not very comprehensive.

Conferences

In the 1990s, BAM struggled to find conference venues, and to attract persons due to the fact that the attendance was low. As the time passed there was a growth in both domestic and international attendance, especially from Europe. At this time, it was observed that the conferences were more about social interaction than about the discussion of serious research. Combining both consistently high academic quality and the fun factor became a priority by the late 1990s.
The first BAM Workshop took place on 5 January 1989 entitled ‘Organisation and Strategic Decision Making’ at Bradford Management Centre, University of Bradford. It had 69 participants who came from England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Brazil, US, China and France. It was organised by Richard Butler, Richard Pike and John Sharp.

First BAM Journal

BAM’s founders wanted to start publishing a journal. Cary Cooper managed one of the AoM divisions that had its own journal and he suggested that BAM should do the same. Cooper coordinated a small group from Council who interviewed a number of publishing companies for a five-year contract, John Wiley won the first contract. The British Journal of Management was launched in early 1990 and had 4 issues a year running into 64 pages. The General Editor was David Otley and the Associate Editors were John Burgoyne, John McGee, Roy Payne, Nigel Piercy and Roy Rothwell. BJM purpose was to receive articles from a full range of business and management disciplines and to have a multi and inter disciplinary orientation.

The formation of Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

One of the significant changes to BAM's structure happened in 1999 with the formation of Special Interest Groups. The aim of the SIGs was to encourage greater member participation and to provide a more diverse range of activities for members. The first SIGs were Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Management Consultancy but Learning and Knowledge, Interorganisational Relations, Performance Management, Philosophy of Management, Research Methodology, Creativity and Creative Industries and E-Business soon joined them. The SIG structure proved a thriving way to organise BAM's conferences, offering richer benefits for the membership. SIGs also provided new opportunities for less experienced academics to play active roles in the Academy.

International Journal of Management Reviews (IJMR)

The success of the British Journal of Management was joined by BAM's acquisition of the International Journal of Management Reviews. Cary Cooper and Alan Pearson had been the first editors.

Governance

British Academy of Management has an Executive Committee and a Council.

BAM Executive

An Executive Committee, is elected to develop the strategy, work with Council and ensure an effective implementation of the chosen strategy. Since 2014 the leadership team was remodeled. This consist of a President, a Chair, four elected Vice-Chairs and an appointed Vice Chair of Resources/Treasurer.
The Council, which comprises approximately 30 people elected for a minimum of 3 years by the general membership, represents the interests of membership and contributes to the activities of the learned society through working with the vice-chairs. The role of Council is to elaborate strategy and policy, and to implement strategy in conjunction with the Executive and Academy office.

Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

Special Interest Groups are networks of researchers that are focused in a specific area of management research. They organize events throughout the year and provide the members with an academic forum for the discussion on relevant topics.
SIGs are run by BAM members, with support from the BAM office. They organise workshop and events on topics relevant to their research area, and take the lead in managing the academic programme at the annual BAM Conference.
Here are some SIGs networks:
The British Academy of Management Conference is for business and management scholars.
YearLocationTheme
2016Newcastle UniversityThriving in Turbulent Times
2015University of PortsmouthThe Value of Pluralism in Advancing Management Research, Education and Practice
2014Ulster University, BelfastThe Role of the Business School in Supporting Economic and Social Development
2013University of LiverpoolManaging to Make a Difference
2012University of CardiffManagement Research Revisited: Prospects for Theory and Practice
2011Aston University, BirminghamBuilding and Sustaining High Performance Organisations in a Challenging Environment
2010University of SheffieldManagement Research in a Changing Climate

British Journal of Management (BJM)

The British Journal of Management is the official journal of the British Academy of Management. It is published four times a year, welcoming papers that make inter-disciplinary or multi-disciplinary contributions, as well as research from within the traditional disciplines and managerial functions. The publication is indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index, being one of the most important business and management journals.
BJM has a 2014 impact factor of 1.584, ranked 48 out of 115 in the Business category and 70 out of 185 in the Management category.
The editors of The British Journal of Management are Geoffrey Wood and Pawan Budhwar.

International Journal of Management Reviews (IJMR)

The International Journal of Management Reviews is the official journal of the British Academy of Management. It is published four times a year, is an essential reference tool for business academics and students. The journal includes all main subjects of management sub-discipline - from accounting and entrepreneurship to strategy and technology management. Each issue is composed of five or six review articles which examine all the relevant literature published on a specific aspect of the sub-discipline.
IJMR has a 2014 impact factor of 3.857, ranked 6 out of 115 in the Business category and 11 out of 185 in the Management category.
The editors of International Journal of Management Reviews are Ossie Jones and Caroline Gatrell.

Associated Organisations