Global Studies Seminar with Prof Tim Andrews (Aalto University)

Topic: Surviving the review process: Behind the scenes of submitting a qualitative paper on Myanmar

Abstract

This talk aims to provide an informal and candid behind-the-scenes look at how we navigated the Journal of International Business Studies review process for a qualitative research paper set in a neglected business environment to investigate a rarely discussed phenomenon. Not only did we employ exploratory, inductive procedures throughout, but our empirical context was the largely uncharted emerging economy of Myanmar, and our focus was the typically covert, inadmissible ‘anti-science’ of superstition in managerial and organizational decision-making. Not surprisingly, our findings – and the model they engendered – were also somewhat idiosyncratic, uncovering the role of novel phenomena such as contested institutional legitimacy, formal-informal ‘legitimacy thresholds and institutional masking. In this seminar I will share some of the challenges we faced from both ‘constructively tough’ and hostile reviewer demands/attitudes towards our topic and methods and explain how these were addressed and overcome with both editors and reviewers as we steered the paper towards eventual publication. My hope is that, in showing how this was done, I can encourage other researchers to explore interesting and unusual research questions using qualitative procedures in journals typically considered ‘quants’ in their orientation – particularly with topics which lie ‘off the beaten track.’

About Professor Tim Andrews

Tim Andrews is Research Professor at Chiang Mai University Business School and a former Senior Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, London School of Economics. His current scholarly interests focus on how indigenous socio-cultural constructs shape MNC subunit management in emerging/transitional East Asian economies. Tim has published a number of books, book chapters and research articles – the latter in outlets such as Journal of International Business Studies, Asia Pacific Journal of Management and Management International Review. His research draws upon more than two decades of commercial and consulting experience in emerging Southeast Asia – notably in the automotive, energy, facilities management, and hospitality sectors. Recent books include Organizational Corruption in the Asia Pacific (2023) and Building Brands in Asia: From the Inside-Out (2017).