NiBS University

NiBS University has hosted a doctoral workshop under the Academy of Management (AOM) Community Accelerator Program, bringing seven internationally recognised scholars together with doctoral candidates, early-career researchers and faculty to show them how to turn their research into published work. Participants were guided through finding an academic community, preparing a submission and avoiding the mistakes that get papers rejected, with a clear message from the start: your research should not end on the library shelf.

Participants came from NiBS and from institutions including Lagos Business School, universities in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana Communication Technology University (GCTU) and GIMPA.

Opening the workshop, the Founder of NiBS University, Professor Kwaku Atuahene-Gima, said the event marked the start of a five-year partnership with AOM, with more such workshops to follow. He linked it to the motto the institution adopted when it was set up in 2014: discover, lead, share.

“A lot of you are doing interesting research,” he told participants. “Every time we read your theses, we say, ‘This is great.’ But after you finish the thesis, it doesn’t go anywhere.” He described the workshop as a springboard for learning to publish, and urged participants to treat it as a network-building exercise rather than a lecture, staying in touch with the facilitators afterwards.

He also thanked the facilitators, all of whom paid their own way, which is why the programme is free for participants. He urged participants to be serious, contribute, and not be afraid of asking the “stupid” questions, “so that people learn, including those who are scared to ask.”

The facilitators

The panel of seven comprised:

• Professor Trent Williams, editor of Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Brigham Young University
• Professor Elizabeth Rose, founding co-editor-in-chief of a leading journal, who travelled from New Zealand
• Professor Diego M. Coraiola, incoming editor-in-chief of Academy of Management Learning & Education and chair of the AOM Management History Division, University of Victoria, Canada
• Professor Gilbert Kofi Adarkwah, associate editor and faculty member at HEC Montréal, Canada
• Professor Anastacia Mamabolo, associate professor, University of Pretoria
• Professor Nathaniel Boso, University of Pretoria (GIBS), formerly of KNUST
• Professor Michelle, University of Amsterdam Business School

What the Community Accelerator Program is

Professor Rose explained that AOM, which has more than 21,000 members across 110 countries and is the leading professional association for management and organisation scholars, has historically been heavily centred on the United States. Its Community Accelerator Program (CAP), which has been running for just over a year, is part of the board’s Vision 2030 drive to become genuinely global, expanding access, strengthening partnerships and amplifying scholarship from regions that have been underrepresented, particularly Africa.

Because attending AOM can be costly for scholars in the Global South, she said, “the idea was to bring the Academy of Management to you.” CAP works through partner institutions to offer training, visibility and connectivity, including developmental workshops and local ambassadors. NiBS is an early partner, under a five-year agreement. The next CAP workshop, in February, will focus on the teaching community.

Finding your community

Participants began with an icebreaker in which they wrote down who they are, what research question they are trying to answer, and what they need, whether data, a collaborator, or accountability, before circulating to share it with at least three people.

Professors Williams and Michelle then explained that although AOM looks like one giant organisation, it is really many small communities. Members join divisions and interest groups, such as Organizational Behavior, Human Resources, Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Organization and Management Theory, and Social Issues in Management. Each has a domain statement on aom.org, and new members get two divisions free. Professor Williams advised participants to read those statements “like a reviewer” and to look for people willing to engage in the same conversation, rather than a perfect fit. He recalled how, early in his own career, he walked an AOM networking event hoping someone would talk to him, and said belonging grew “one small, authentic connection at a time.”

The facilitators encouraged participants to join division listservs, attend professional development workshops (PDWs) and socials, volunteer, chair or discuss sessions, and sign up to review.

The Africa Academy of Management

A representative of the Africa Academy of Management (AFAM) introduced the independent academy, which was founded in 2011, joined AOM as an affiliate in 2016 and marks its tenth year of affiliation in 2026. Its biennial conference was held in Casablanca in January 2026, and the 2028 edition will be in East Africa. She said Ghana could consider bidding for 2030.

AFAM publishes the Africa Journal of Management (Taylor & Francis), whose impact factor is about 2.1, with a target of 5.0, and which typically turns reviews around in about three weeks. Its mission is to advance management theory, research, and practice rooted in the African context, and its values include academic integrity, African identity, a bridge between the continent and the diaspora, and elevating indigenous management philosophies. An AFAM Ghana Chapter was formed after the 2018 conference in Addis Ababa.

A memorandum of understanding has also been signed to make KNUST the West African regional host. Individual membership costs $80 for two years, falling to $60 when about six people from one university join together.

The first mile

The workshop closed the way it began, with work. Participants expanded their ideas into four parts: principal topic, theoretical framing, method or data, and results and contribution.