NSU Live: The Department of Marketing and International Business (MIB) under the School of Business and Economics (SBE), North South University (NSU) had a day-long Regional Conference- RCMIB 2021 on 20th August 2021, in collaboration with BML Munjal University, India and Jagdish Sheth School of Management, India, which was sponsored by Social Islami Bank Limited. The theme of the conference was ‘Rethinking the contemporary complexities in the world of Marketing and International Business. This was the first international conference organized by the Department of MIB that took place virtually due to the pandemic situation. The conference was attended by faculty members of NSU, the partner institutions, and globally renowned academics in the field of Marketing and International business from various institutions, representing several countries like Bangladesh, India, the UK, Pakistan, Morocco, China, Finland. The conference had more than 500 participants from various parts of the world. 

The opening session was chaired by the Head of Marketing and International Business department Dr. Mohammad Tayeenul Hoque where the Chairman of NSU Board of Trustees, Mr. Azim Uddin Ahmed, Vice-Chancellor of NSU, Prof. Atiqul Islam, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of NSU, Prof. Dr. M. Ismail Hossain and the Dean of the School of Business and Economics at NSU, Prof. Dr. Abdul Hannan Chowdhury took part in the deliberations. Among the distinguished speakers, there was Dr. Atish Chattopadhyay, Director at Jagdish Sheth School of Management, Bangalore, India, and plenary speaker Dr. Vishal Talwar, Director at the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, India. They discussed the effects of the pandemic and the way academics in the field of marketing and international business can actively contribute towards mitigating the emerging complexities in the world of business, through their research and teaching.

During this conference, twenty-five research papers and working papers were presented by authors from diverse backgrounds and nationalities under five tracks: Contemporary Topics in Business, Consumer Behavior, Contemporary Issues on Tourism, International Business and Marketing in Emerging Countries, and Digital and Services Marketing. The tracks were chaired by an eminent panelist of track chairs from various leading universities from the UK, Finland, Morocco, China, and Pakistan.

Two separate parallel workshops were also organized by the faculty members of the Department of MIB and the partner institutions on Data Analytics for Banking Practitioners. The closing session was graced by the speech of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of NSU, Prof. Dr. M. Ismail Hossain as the special guest, and Mr. Benajir Ahmed, a member of the Board of Trustees, NSU as the chief guest.

The keynote speakers of the closing session were Prof. Dr. Jeremy Clegg, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and International Business Management, at the Leeds University Business School, Dr. Mohammad Faisal Ahammad, Associate Professor of International Business at Leeds University Business School and Dr. Surender Munjal, Associate Professor of International Business and Director of James E. Lynch India and South-Asia Business Centre at Leeds University Business School.

 
During the closing session, papers were awarded. The paper titled, “Contract governance in supply chain resilience: An empirical study of Chinese manufacturing companies in the context of COVID-19” by Yu Han and Anna Yumiao Tian, got the Outstanding Paper award. Four papers got best paper awards: “Impact of international and procedural fairness on microfinance customers’ relationship commitment: PLS-SEM Analysis” by Shaikh Rafiqul Islam; “Does the Covid 19 protocol enhance customer satisfaction in the hotel industry? 

Evidence from India”, by Mafruza Sultana, Asit k Barma and Ruma Agnes; “Social Innovation in Skills Development: A Case Study on BRAC Institute of Skills Development (BRAC-ISD) in Bangladesh” by Mohammad Rabiul Kabir; KM Hassan and Mohammad Ahsan Kabir Rubel and “Modelling Service Value, Customer Satisfaction and Patronage Behavior for Quick Service Restaurants in India” by Rik Paul and Rubal Rathi.

Dhaka, 22 August (campuslive24.com)//Bsc