Information Communication Technology: People, Culture, and Globalization

Understanding how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and culture affect decisions made by consumers, employees and managers is timely and of crucial importance for at least three reasons. First, ICT is a driving force behind almost any form of business globalization. ICT helps overcoming hurdles of globalization and international trade such as high transportation cost or inefficient information exchange with culturally diverse customers. Second, firms continue to expand into foreign countries. Fashion retailers (e.g., Desigual, H&M, Zara), fast-food chains and coffee shops (e.g., Maison Paul, McDonald’s, Starbucks), banks and financial service providers (e.g., Axa, HSBC) to name a few strive to open new stores and offices around the world with the aim to gain market share. Digital giants such as Google, Amazon or the leapfrogging Alibaba fuel this based on their advanced use of ICT and the ability to understand customer data. Third, not only do firms go abroad, but so do people. For example, roughly 20% of Canada’s population is foreign born, with new immigrants coming mainly from Asia and the Middle East. Similarly, roughly 20% of the French population is either foreign born or direct descendant of immigrants, most of whom have North-African origins. This raises broad questions about the management of ICT in view of cultural diversity and the role of ICT to connect people across countries or cultures.

14th Royal Bank International Research Conference

Due to the pandemic, the 14th Royal Bank International Research Conference could not take place at Kedge Business School, France (Marseille campus, France). The conference was co-sponsored by John Molson School of Business (Canada), KEDGE Business School (France), as well as the International Journal of Information Management. Given the significant challenges that retailers and service providers are facing in relation to globalization and ICT management, the main objective was to deliver new insights into the management of ICT in view of cultural diversity and the role of ICT to connect people across countries or cultures. We aimed to bring together international researchers in marketing and related disciplines concerned with business globalization and ICT management.

Given that a number of authors wanted to participate and did submit manuscripts, we maintain the Special Issue of the International Journal of Information Management as a conduit for this important research area.

Papers may include – but are not limited to – the following topics with a focus on the role of ICT and globalization.

• The influence of ICT and culture on marketing strategy
• ICT and organizational dynamics of innovations in different cultures
• Insights into acculturation and ethnic identity considering the role of ICT
• Conceptualizations of information culture and its impact on relationships with customers or employees
• Understanding the impact of national culture on people’s use of ICT
• Issues of standardization vs. localization in online marketing and communication
• ICT and customer experiences (quality, satisfaction, inspiration, etc.) in different cultures
• Globalization and ethical aspects of Artificial Intelligence
• Solving global challenges with Big Data and Artificial Intelligence
• ICT and the management of relationships with culturally diverse customers, suppliers and vendors
• Marketing of new-economy platforms (peer-to-peer marketplaces, two-sided markets) in domestic and international markets
• The sociology and culture of new-economy platforms and their impact on innovation

Please send any other inquiry by email to:

Guest Editors:

Boris Bartikowski, Kedge Business School :boris.bartikowski@kedgebs.co

Michel Laroche, Concordia University :michel.laroche@concordia.ca

Hatice Kizgin, University of Bradford: h.kizgin@bradford.ac.uk

Submission Guidelines

All submissions have to be prepared according to the Guide for Authors as published in the Journal’s website at: https://www.elsevier.com/journals/international-journal-of-information-management/0268-4012/guide-for-authors

Authors should select “SI: RBIRC2020”, from the “Choose Article Type” pull- down menu during the submission process. All contributions must not have been previously published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Link for submission of manuscripts : https://www.evise.com/evise/jrnl/IJIM

A submission based on one or more papers that appeared elsewhere must bear major value-added extensions or updates (at least 85% of new material). Authors are requested to attach to the submitted paper their relevant, previously published articles and a summary document explaining the enhancements made in the journal’s version. All submitted papers will undergo a rigorous peer-review process that will consider programmatic relevance, scientific quality, significance, originality, style and clarity. The acceptance process will focus on papers that address original contributions in the form of theoretical, empirical and case research, leading to new perspectives on big data-driven theory building in information systems.

Timeline

IJIM submission opens: 28th October, 2020

IJIM submission deadline: March 1st, 2021

IJIM acceptance decisions: before January 1st, 2022