OREANDA-NEWS. On 16 and 17 April, practitioners and theoreticians of six countries meet at the conference of the UT Faculty of Economics and Business Administration entitled “Management theory and practice: synergy in organisations”, which focusses on variety in management and management in various contexts.

The aim of the conference is to give an overview of the latest research topics in organisational management and their application in practice as well as facilitate synergy between practitioners and researchers.

UT Professor of Management Maaja Vadi believes that wider opportunities create variety around and within organisations. “The managers are facing the question how to manage and harness variety so that the objectives of the organisation are achieved and all stakeholders feel necessary and dignified,” said Vadi, adding that this is the question the conference tries answer via different management topics.

At the two-day event, participants will hear presentations by leading theoreticians of economics as well as practitioners. Speakers from the University of Tartu include Professor of Management Maaja Vadi, Research Fellow in Management Krista Jaakson, Professor of Human Resource Management Kulno T?rk, etc.

One of three keynote speakers of the conference is Terence Jackson, Professor of Cross?Cultural Management of Middlesex University Business School, London. His main interests are the cross-cultural management of development projects and management of NGOs in Africa, China in Africa and the implications at organisational and community levels, and indigenous management and the informal economy in Africa. At the conference, Jackson will give a presentation on cross-cultural management studies in a changing world.

The second keynote speaker is Tauno Olavi Kekle, Rector of Vaasa University of Applied Sciences and Professor of Industrial Management. His main research interests are new product development and innovation, the impact of culture on management, quality management in business settings and in education and learning. He has also dealt with research methodology in technology management. At the conference, Kek?le will give a presentation on innovation management and S-curve.

The third keynote speaker is Eerika Vaikme-Koit, Member of Management Board and Head of Retail Banking and Technology Area in SEB Estonia. She will speak about the need for diversity in teams and in management in general. She has worked in a variety of positions in both business and support functions in SEB since 1996. In 2008 she took up the post of Head of Staff Functions, overseeing personnel, legal, marketing and communication areas.

The international conference will take place at the UT Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Narva mnt 4. See the programme on https://sisu.ut.ee/mgtconf/programm.