Core Tenets

• Foster credible and useful research on migration in business, management, and economics

The complications of migration “permeate the facets of psychological, organizational, economic, and managerial life that are at the core of our expertise” [1]. Unfortunately, even the scholarly debates over migration are prone to misunderstandings and inaccuracies [2]. Thus, it is imperative to foster credible and applicable research on migration in our disciplines, looking past self-imposed dichotomies that have prevented us from advancing our thinking about this important global phenomenon.

• Actively collaborate with scholars from other social science fields

To a large extent, research on migration to date has been carried out “within narrow disciplinary boundaries, reinforced by the academic and institutional landscape of most universities, which are departmentalized into discipline-based degree and research programs. Each discipline tends to bring its own epistemological orthodoxy, scale of analysis and privileged types of data” [3]. Yet migration is “a subject that cries out for an interdisciplinary approach” [4]. In order to embrace its full complexity and understand its implications for firms, societies, and individuals, we need to break away from the disciplinary enclosures. This implies acknowledging and building upon the enduring fundamentals of migration theory from other social science disciplines that have dominated the field for decades: sociology, anthropology, population geography, political science, economics, and others. 

• Seek to clarify the pedagogical grounds for integrating migration issues into business and management education

As put by a recent Forbes article, “today’s business schools are busy teaching . . . 20th century management principles and, in effect, leading the parade towards yesterday” [5]. The issues related to migration that business of all sizes face are without a doubt a 21st century problem. Unfortunately, the topic of migration has yet to find its way into the business school curricula. The pedagogical utility of migration as a subject topic is evident. It provides a way to reshape students’ ways of thinking about the complex and often paradoxical relationships between corporations, nation states, intergovernmental organizations, civil society, and industry. As such, it is applicable at all levels of study: undergraduate, graduate, executive MBA and doctorate.

•  Promote a compassionate and humane management of migrant workers and employees

As noted in our vision statement, at the core of this initiative is the aim to produce knowledge that would benefit migrants of all backgrounds, professions, and status. We hold that migration research and teaching have the potential to contribute to the real-world improvements with regard to human rights, sustainability, geopolitics, and economic development. Important areas of impact include but are not limited to: reducing workplace discrimination and stabilizing the employment opportunities for migrant employees, addressing the social sustainability challenges low-status migrants face in global value chains; raising awareness of the importance of migrant remittances in fighting inequality; reducing xenophobia while fostering diversity and inclusion; and, in line with the Brundtland Report, meeting the present and future needs of children of migrants and refugees. All these undoubtedly also have implications for the broader societies in both, migrant sending- and receiving- countries.

• Connect thought leaders in science with practitioners, policy makers, and activists

For business practitioners, the presence of migrants—low- and high- status as well as international and domestic —is becoming their day-to-day reality. The private sector has been involved in influencing migration and skills mobility policies [6]. Business of all sizes are invited every year to provide their perspectives on labor market needs and economic effects of migration at the Global Forum on Migration and Development. As business and management scholars, we should also join these conversations and, more importantly, assume an active role in connecting thought leaders in science, policy, and practice. With this in mind, our network will bring together scholars from interdisciplinary backgrounds, practitioners, policy makers, and NPOs representatives. We commit to bridging migration research and practice, hereby co-creating knowledge of direct relevance to business and persistent social challenges of our times.

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