Schedule

　 　　　

December 1, 2013	Proposal submission period begins
February 28, 2014	Session and paper proposal submission period ends
May 1 - July 31, 2014	Registration for the 50th Congress of the BHSJ begins
September 11-13, 2014	The 50th Congress of the Business History Society of Japan

Competition and Cooperation

　One of the central goals of business history is to try to understand how the business systems of today have taken shape.Research in our field has thus devoted significant attention to the First Industrial Revolution, a factory-based development that began in the United Kingdom in the late 18th century, and the business systems of the Second Industrial Revolution, a big business-based transformation that originated in the United States and the late 19th century.

　However, the late 20th century has witnessed the development of a new era-the "Third Industrial Revolution"-characterized by business systems that apply knowledge and information in global business operations.

　Founded in 1964, the Business History Society of Japan will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2014. To commemorate this milestone, the organization will hold a special Congress to discuss many facets of the three industrial revolutions-why they came about, how they developed, and what distinguishes them from one another-and the new ventures that business history scholars need to undertake in order to grasp the significance of new business systems. The general session on the main theme, titled “New Horizons in Business History,” will bring together renowned researchers from Japan, Europe, the United States, and Asia to give keynote lectures on challenges facing the discipline and ideal approaches for future progress.

　Given that the upcoming Congress is the 50th in the organization’s history and that globalization continues to play an increasingly powerful role in the realm of research, the BHSJ has decided to schedule English sessions on each of the three days. With a scope that encompasses the socioeconomic environment of the entire world, these English sessions will look at why and how "competition and cooperation" within companies, between companies, between companies and government, between companies and other social organizations, and between countries have changed. The BHSJ invites submissions of not only individual, independent papers but also session-specific reports, as well.

　The BHSJ also welcomes any papers that, while not focused specifically on the theme of "competition and cooperation," deal in some capacity with the pursuit of new horizons in business history research.

　For paper proposals, please submit a title, an abstract of no more than 400 words along with a one-page CV to a-terada@bgu.ac.jp by February 28, 2014.

　Proposal will be selected by a scientific committee, composed of Abe Etsuo(Meiji University), Kawabe Nobuo(Bukyo Gakuin University), Kenneth Lipartito(Florida International University), Miyajima Hideaki(Waseda University, Congress Chair), Harm G Schröter(University of Bergen), Minoru Shimamoto(Hitotsubashi University), Ray Stokes(University of Glasgow).

　Session proposals should include a brief abstract of the session along with a one-page
abstract and one-page CV for each participant. Full papers will be available on the Congress website approximately two weeks before the Congress. Full papers should not exceed 3,500-4,000 words (15-17 pages).

　Each session will run for 120 minutes and cover three or four papers. Each speaker will be given 15-20 minutes for his or her presentation. Discussants will be given 15-20 minutes for comments, leaving minutes for general discussion. As the venue is equipped with computers, presenters need only bring their presentations on a USB memory stick.

Venue: Sincerity Building (Main Building), Hongo Campus, Bunkyo Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan　http://www.u-bunkyo.ac.jp/en/welcome/access.html