2024-2025 DIVISION PROGRAM CHAIR’S LETTER
Rajat Panwar
Oregon State University USA
Dear SIM Colleagues
It is an incredible honor and privilege to serve as your Program Chair this year — a role I approach with both humility and excitement.
SIM scholarship has never been more essential. The challenges making headlines today — rising geopolitical tensions, blurred boundaries between governments and corporations, misinformation, polarization, biodiversity loss, climate change, and widening social inequalities—are precisely the issues we have long been studying. We are a community of scholars who have long recognized that these are not abstract problems; they deeply shape the fabric of our organizations, communities, and ecosystems. As these challenges grow more acute, with humanity standing at the precipice of an existential crisis, the intellectual leadership and ethical compass that SIM scholars are known for has become not just relevant but imperative—for academia in general, and for management academia in particular.
Your work is not only addressing these pressing challenges but is also fostering a new generation of equally committed scholars. Whether you focus on ethical decision-making, moral development, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder engagement, sustainable development, environmental management, social entrepreneurship, corporate governance, or corporate political strategy, your steadfast commitment to rigorous and relevant scholarship is inspiring others to join the field. This regenerative effect is evident in the increasing number of doctoral students entering SIM scholarship, especially in parts of the world where it has historically been less prominent. Their energy, passion, lived experiences, and talent are making our community more vibrant, robust, and globally impactful.
My task this year is much simpler than yours. While you shoulder the responsibility of advancing impactful research, I am here simply to channel it through the conference management system — with your support. Please help me help you by being a true SIM reviewer: willing, constructive, and timely.
Thank you for your dedication to SIM scholarship and for affording me the opportunity to serve you. Along with the SIM Executive Team, I look forward to celebrating your work and the collective achievements of our Division in Copenhagen.
Rajat Panwar
SIM Division Program Chair
Professor of Responsible and Sustainable Business
Oregon State University USA