Why I offered resources from early on in my career

First of nine posts based on my webinar for Georgia State University's CIBER - Interview by Tamer Cavusgil

Anne-Wil Harzing - Mon 18 Mar 2024 17:16 (updated Sat 29 Jun 2024 07:44)

From early on in my professional life, I have always been quite pragmatic and proactive. If I felt something wasn’t working properly, I would try my best to fix it. Not by going on the barricades or by fighting political battles. I am quite shy and a very strong introvert. So that’s really not my style.

Instead, I prefer working behind the scenes. This means making changes within my own institution, but also providing resources and encouragement to other academics. This helps them to proactively change their own circumstances. It also means that collectively we can gradually improve academic systems and culture.

Connecting academics in networks

Moreover, I have always had a strong drive to connect people. When I was doing my PhD in the early/mid 1990s, I set up a Young Academics Network which included PhD students and ECRs. This was before the internet took off. Even email was still a bit of a novelty! I coordinated the collation and distribution of our bios and professional goals, and we kept in touch with each other by email.

Then in the late 1990s when I was working at the University of Bradford in the UK, I was co-founder of LAWN (Local Academic Women’s Network). We organised yearly UG workshops, quarterly research seminars, as well as skills development and informal networking sessions.

IMD - MIC logo

Then, after moving to the University of Melbourne (Australia) in the early 2000s, I created the Membership Involvement Committee for the IM Division of the Academy of Management. I recruited 50 country representatives and eight regional representatives, designed a website with pictures and bios, and developed job descriptions. Our initiatives included a symposium on International Research and a yearly “Welcome to the Division” and “Take an Executive to Dinner” session.

Since the early 2000 I also led two major international research projects with 15-25 collaborators from as many countries each, dealing with the impact of language on survey response. So, yes, I have always enjoyed facilitating supportive, collaborative, and sustainable research cultures and supporting ECRs. Looking back, this has been quite a consistent driver throughout my academic career in the past 33 years.

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Anne-Wil Harzing is Emerita Professor of International Management at Middlesex University, London. She is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business, a select group of distinguished AIB members who are recognized for their outstanding contributions to the scholarly development of the field of international business. In addition to her academic duties, she also maintains the Journal Quality List and is the driving force behind the popular Publish or Perish software program.

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Why I offered resources from early on in my career

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