Regional Impact, Global Reach: Everything You Need to Know About Upcoming AIB Chapter Events

No matter where you live in the world, there is an AIB chapter waiting to welcome you. Whether you’re brand new to AIB or a long-time member, Chapter Conferences are a great way to make connections with like-minded scholars in your area. The smaller scale of these events compared to our association’s Annual Meetings makes professional networking that much easier. Their regionally specific themes also help simplify the process of finding programming relevant to IB scholars who live and work near you.

AIB members are automatically assigned to one of our thirteen chapters based on the region in which they reside, meaning you’ll never have to travel too far to attend one of their events. If you haven’t had an opportunity to get acquainted with your local chapter and its leadership, our AIB Chapters homepage has lots of useful information to help bring you up to speed.

Looking to the future, we have two chapters coordinating events for 2027 that are currently accepting submissions: AIB Latin America and the Caribbean and AIB US West. Get all the details you need to submit your work to these conferences below or check out the full list of chapter activities on AIB’s Event Calendar to see what’s on offer near you.

AIB Latin America and the Caribbean 2027 Chapter Conference

Location: Ana G. Méndez University (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
Full Paper Submission Deadline: 30 September 2026
Point of Contact: Mohamed Amal, [email protected]

Theme: Navigating Geopolitical Uncertainty: Entrepreneurship and Internationalization in Latin America and the Caribbean

Event Overview: The 2027 AIB-LAC Conference invites contributions that examine the internationalization of firms from the LAC region, with particular attention to SMEs, micro-multinationals, and Multilatinas. These firms differ in their resource endowments, organizational capabilities, and strategic orientations, yet their trajectories offer valuable insights into how capabilities are developed, resources reconfigured, and strategies adapted under shifting institutional and geopolitical conditions.

Building on prior discussions, this conference revisits the themes of geopolitics, Multilatinas, and entrepreneurship, with a stronger emphasis on entrepreneurial responses to uncertainty. We encourage contributions that explore how firms in Latin America and the Caribbean navigate ongoing global reconfigurations and adapt their internationalization strategies accordingly. SMEs, micro-multinationals, and large MNEs are likely to respond in distinct ways, opening fertile ground for comparative and multi-level analyses.

An entrepreneurial perspective offers a promising—yet still underexplored—lens within the international business literature on LAC. Firms in the region face overlapping layers of uncertainty at the local, regional, and global levels. Entrepreneurial action may play a critical role in enabling firms to reconfigure and upgrade their resources and capabilities, enhancing their ability to respond to rapidly changing environments (Zahra et al., 2022). The AIB Latin America and the Caribbean 2027 Chapter Conference aims to foster academic debate on these topics and many more affecting international business throughout the region and worldwide.

AIB US West 2027 Chapter Conference

Location: California State University East Bay (Hayward, California, USA)
Full Paper Submission Deadline: 30 September 2026
Point of Contact: Izzet Darendeli, [email protected]

Theme: Rethinking International Business in the Age of Digital Transformation and Geopolitical Disruptions

Event Overview: The AIB US West 2027 Chapter Conference theme, “Rethinking International Business in the Age of Digital Transformation and Geopolitical Disruptions”, encompasses the profound shifts occurring as digital technologies and geopolitical forces reshape the global business landscape. It invites examination of how artificial intelligence, automation, data governance, and platform economies intersect with trade realignments, political instability, and regionalization trends to influence international strategies and operations. Understanding these intertwined dynamics is vital for reimagining how firms innovate, collaborate, and compete across borders in an era defined by both technological acceleration and global uncertainty.

This conference seeks to enhance knowledge development of international business matters. In addition to the main theme, the conference will feature various tracks for competitive sessions and panels, keynote speakers from academia and business, a paper development workshop, pedagogical sessions, and networking opportunities.

The conference is an opportunity to present scholarly work and obtain critical feedback in a professional setting. We encourage the participation of professors of all ranks and doctoral students. Submitted papers can range from works-in-progress to complete articles aimed for journal publication; they can be conceptual, theoretical, and empirical. Case studies can also be submitted to the International Business Teaching track.