ABOUT IBC

Everything you need to know

The International Business Conference (IBC) has three main goals, namely:

1. To provide an international platform for the presentation, discussion, and debate of different academic and professional approaches and research on recent developments in an ever-turbulent business and political arena.
2. To provide the opportunity for academics, practitioners, and post-graduate students to have their work validated and benchmarked within the benevolent academic and professional community.
3. To create a pleasant and enjoyable environment to serve the first two goals where delegates can also relax, get to know their fellow academia informally, and truly build their networks.

CONFERENCE ACCREDITATION

All the previous IBC conferences, including the 2021 conference held virtually, have met the criteria for subsidy set by the South African Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). At present, the 2022 conference held at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West is undergoing a rigorous process to qualify for a subsidy. (We positively await the outcome; however, take note that this usually is a two-year process at DHET.)

IBC Conference History

The IBC Conference was initiated by the Business School Partners Network (BSPN), which consisted of the smaller accredited business schools in South Africa after the national accreditation of 2004. These included the Business Schools of the University of Potchefstroom (North-West University), Port Elizabeth Technikon (Nelson Mandela University), Mancosa, Technikon Pretoria (Tshwane University of Technology) and the University of the Free State. The BSPN was formed directly after the first South African Business Schools Association (SABSA) meeting in 2004. At this meeting a proposal was made by Prof Kobus Jonker, Director at Port Elizabeth Technikon MBA unit, for all business schools to cooperate and share knowledge between them to strengthen development, especially the smaller business schools (Jonker, 2024).

The proposal was supported by the smaller schools but not by the bigger schools in the SABSA. This rejection of the proposal by the broader SABSA led to the formation of an additional structure, the Business School Partners’ Network (BSPN). This was formed by the smaller schools to enhance cooperation and learning between the partner schools who wanted to be part of it. One of the first initiatives identified by BSPN was a national business school conference that would serve as a platform to enhance and present business school research in South Africa and internationally, resulting in establishing the IBC Conference (Jonker, 2024). The SABSA represents business schools within government, business fraternities and the education sector.

The first IBC conference took place in Mauritius in 2007 and was organised by a small committee consisting of members nominated by the BSPN partners, with Prof Kobus Jonker as the first chair. A total of 42 papers were presented at the first conference. Prof Jonker also served as chair for the first three conferences (2007-2009) and Prof Tommy du Plessis of North West University Business School for Conferences 4-8 (2010 to 2013). At the 6^th IBC conference in 2012, the Chair wrote, ‘We will need to come together soon to discuss future endeavours for the BSPN to grow and prosper’. He further noted, ‘there will be a tightening of academic quality and technical competency of papers to enhance our academic prowess all the time’.

Initially, the aim of IBC was to provide an international platform for the presentation, discussion and debate of diverse academic and professional approaches and research on recent developments in an ever-so-turbulent business environment. The second goal was to provide academics, practitioners and doctoral students the opportunity to have their work validated and benchmarked within the benevolent academic and professional community.

Specific managerial interventions were initiated 15 years ago to encourage delegates to upgrade their research. At the same time, research guidance was also launched to assist younger researchers. Resultantly, there was a remarkable improvement in the quality of the competitive papers presented at conferences. It is also notable that the average age demographic changed significantly in 2023 because several young researchers joined the IBC as a conference of choice to present their research. These interventions will continue in the years to come.

At the 2014 IBC Conference, it was decided to reconstitute the IBC conference such that it will be owned by the delegates and governed by an elected conference board. It was also decided that the market focus of the conference will change to not only accommodate all business schools but also delegates from Management related departments at higher education institutions (HEIs) because the conference was receiving more and more papers from these sectors. A new constitution was developed, which allowed for the election of board members representing all conference members with a re-election every three years. Professors Bischoff and Jonker were appointed as interim co-chairs for the years 2015 and 2016. The first conference board was then elected in 2016 by the delegates duly representing business management departments and business schools from most universities in South Africa.

It is also noteworthy that the management structure of the IBC has evolved. There is a governing board of nine members, a five-member executive committee, a scientific committee of two senior academics and an effective organising committee who keep the IBC conference well organised and focused. A new IBC Board executive committee was elected at the 2016 conference at Langebaan. The executive committee at the time consisted of Prof Stephan van der Merwe (Conference Chair), Dr Cobus Oosthuizen (Organising Director), Dr Johan van Zyl (Financial Director) and Prof Mornay Roberts-Lombard (Marketing Director). They served for a period of three years.

The current 2024 Executive Committee is as follows:

• Prof Stéphan van der Merwe (Chairperson & Organising Director)
• Prof Geoff Goldman (Deputy Chairperson & Scientific Director)
• Prof Mornay Roberts-Lombard (Marketing Director)
• Dr Cobus Oosthuizen (Finance Director)
• Prof Christo Bisschoff (Editor and Quality Control)

In 2018, the IBC board identified three main goals. The first goal was to provide an international platform for the presentation, discussion and debate of different academic and professional approaches and research on current developments in a dynamic business and socio-political arena. The second goal was to provide the opportunity for academics, practitioners and post-graduate students to have their work validated and benchmarked within the benevolent academic and professional community. The third goal was to create a pleasant and enjoyable environment to serve the first two goals, where delegates can also relax, get to know their fellow academics informally and build their networks.

The IBC prides itself on a rigorous scientific review process. Following a desk review process, accepted papers are forwarded for double-blind peer review by local and international academics. Positive reviewers’ reports from both reviewers are required for a paper to be accepted. Papers that have not been published before/elsewhere are considered for presentation and publication in the IBC proceedings. The presentations and proceedings have reached such a standard that all delegates can be proud of their own contributions in each discipline.

Reviewers can also nominate papers for the Best Paper Award. This process includes a panel of independent reviewers and is managed by the Scientific Committee of the IBC Board. The nomination process includes independent reviewing at three different levels by external reviewers. The IBC conference proceedings have been approved for subsidy by the Higher Education Quality Council of South Africa annually. Table 1 indicates the IBC conference locations, the total number of papers received, the number of universities or research institutions that submitted papers, the number of full papers, including the acceptance rate and the number of Work-in-Progress (WIP) papers.

Table 1: IBC locations, papers, acceptance and IBC Chair

*** Data unavailable

In Table 1, the institutions are mainly universities, however there are also presenters from other institutions, such as The Reserve Bank, Government and Private companies (Bisschoff, 2024). The figures in the Total papers’ column indicate that over 2126 delegates have attended or submitted papers at IBC conferences the past 17 years. Over 1405 full papers have been presented at IBC conferences and 388 WIP papers. The figures further indicate the following for example: 64 (27; 8) means 64 papers were received in total from 27 universities and institutions, of which 8 of the 27 were international institutions. The IBC conference chairs are also indicated in Table 1.

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IBC History, extracted from the paper presented at the IBC 2024 conference:

Calitz, Andre P. & Cullen, M. (2024). Delegates’ Perceptions of the International Business Conference (IBC), Stellenbosch, 23-25 Sept, 2024.

IBC COMMITTEES

Executive Committee

Prof Stéphan van der Merwe (Chairperson & Organising Director)

Prof Geoff Goldman (Deputy Chairperson & Scientific Director)

Prof Mornay Roberts-Lombard (Marketing Director)

Dr Cobus Oosthuizen (Finance Director)

IBC Board

Dr Armand Bam (USB)

Prof Geoff Goldman (UJ)

Prof Vannie Naidoo (UKZN)

Prof Cobus Oosthuizen (Boston City Campus)

Prof Linda Ronnie (UCT)

Prof Stéphan van der Merwe (NWU)

Prof Kal Wellner (Nurnberg, Germany)

Prof Christo Bisschoff (NWU)

Prof Michelle Mey (NMU)

Prof Brownhilder Neneh (UFS)

Prof Mornay Roberts-Lombard (UWC)

Prof Karien Strydom (WSU)

Prof Jurie van Vuuren (UP)