ECMLG'13: Reflections from Day 1

The first day of the 9th European Conference on Management Leadership and Governance is over. During the course of the day, some 29 peer-reviewed research papers were presented, in addition to Sloan's keynote at the beginning of the day. Some of the highlights and reflections from day 1 are listed below:

• We have much to learn from each other. For example, I sat with a Professor from Neapolis University (Pafos, Cyprus) over dinner. We had a great, wide-ranging conversation, which included the sharing of some stories about the demands of tertiary education, and especially the challenges of securing a place in undergraduate programmes in highly-regarded universities around the world. I concluded that New Zealand students have it easy, especially when compared to the demands of entry at places like Imperial College in London (mind you, it is one of the top five rated engineering schools in the world).
  
• We have much to learn from each other #2. In a side conversation between sessions, I was told that an Australian-based doctoral candidate had recently completed a multi-year case study of leadership in several organisations, using direct observation as a key data collection method. This is the first time I have heard of any study (anywhere) that has attempted the same sort of design as I am using. Hopefully, when more details are available in the next week or two, I'll be able to assess the correspondence between their study and mine, with a view to securing a meeting to learn more—especially to  discover what learning might be applicable to my own work.
• Many of the papers from Eastern European contributors followed a predictable pattern, of the statistical analysis of a set of quantitative data gathered from publicly available records. Some of the conclusions presented were a little tenuous, which is not surprising given the difficulties reporting generalisations about social phenomena from statistical data. Notwithstanding this, it was great to hear from enthusiastic researchers from a part of the world that I know little about, apart from what I have been exposed to in books and television programmes.
• My own paper seemed to be well-received, despite a small audience. I appreciated the opportunity to summarise my work; to field questions from the floor; and, defend the philosophical and methodological approach that underpins my work. I am looking forward to more conversations on day 2 and beyond.
• The conference dinner was held at Schloss Maria Loretto, on the shores of Wothersee. This beautiful castle that dates back to 1700s. The schloss is a short 8-minute walk from the conference hotel, so many of the delegates took a "walking bus" to get there. The food and service was outstanding. It was raining when we left, so many of us "enjoyed" the stroll back to the hotel in the gentle rain. My day ended damp but happy.