From April 15th to 16th, sponsored by East China Normal University, Zhejiang University of Business and Economics, Capital University of Economics and Trade, Chinese Marketing Association of Universities, and international journal Internet Research, The 7th Thought Leaders'Conference of Marketing Science and Innovation (MSI 2023) & Internet Research Special Issue Academic Conference was successfully held in the beautiful Putuo Campus of East China Normal University (Shanghai) and co-organized by Asia Europe Business School and Shanghai International School of Chief Technology Officer (CTO School). This conference focused on the annual theme of artificial intelligence, digital transformation and business innovation. Professor Zhou Aoying, Vice President of East China Normal University, delivered the opening keynote speech. More than a thousand teachers, students and academic teams from both domestic and abroad attended the conference on-site or online, and 343 paper authors reported the latest research results.
With the acceleration of global digital and intelligent transformation, the business competition environment has undergone rapid changes. Promoting the integration of new technologies and business to drive business innovation has become the key to the survival and development of enterprises. Traditional business has rapidly transformed into technology business. This is an education and disciplinary innovation initiated and being promoted by East China Normal University. The 7th MSI (2023) Conference, with the theme of artificial intelligence, digital transformation and business innovation, aims to carry out relevant theoretical discussions and practical sharing based on the background of the digital intelligence era and in combination with the latest developments at home and abroad. Promoting the theoretical and practical research on digital technology and business innovation with AI as the core in the high-tech era, and sharing the practical achievements and theoretical innovation achievements of digital transformation from China with the world. As the core organizer, East China Normal University actively promotes the interdisciplinary construction of “Sci&Tech-Driven Business Discipline”, and takes the lead in proposing and advocating the establishment of science & technology business in China, which has received approval and support from academic community experts and scholars.
On the morning of April 15th, the opening ceremony of the forum was held. He Jiaxun, the co-chairman of the conference, Executive Dean of the Shanghai International School of Chief Technology Officer, and Chinese Dean of the Asia Europe Business School, presided over the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech titled “Towards Next Generation-Management Education and Management Research”, which received widespread resonance from the attendees.
Liu Zuoyi, Deputy Director of the Management Science Department of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, pointed out in his speech that experts in the field of science and innovation from both domestic and foreign countries gathered at this meeting to explore marketing science in the context of digitalization and intelligence. This is of great significance for promoting marketing and innovation science in China and even the world as a whole, and also helps the Management Science Department of the National Natural Science Foundation of China to formulate priority payment areas and determine future key funding directions. The Management Science Department of the National Science Foundation attaches great importance to the transformation of research paradigms and its impact on management science funding work.
Fu Guoqun, President of the Chinese Marketing Association of Universities and Professor of Guanghua School of Management （Peking University), pointed out in his speech that this conference meets the inherent needs of the Chinese Marketing Academic Community. He called on scholars to pay attention to the needs of enterprises in the new era, step out of their study rooms and offices, discover real research needs and market hotspots through research, and promote discipline growth and knowledge condensation.
Chen Xinkang, President of the Shanghai Marketing Association, expressed sincere congratulations on the convening of this conference on behalf of local academic organizations. He looks forward to the marketing transformation and innovation brought by artificial intelligence to help achieve marketing goals that meet customer needs. He praised the organizers of the conference for their vision and courage to lead academic trends. He hoped that this conference could leave a strong mark in the development process of marketing science in China.
Opening Speech by Wang Yonggui, President of Zhejiang Gongshang University
In his speech, Wang Yonggui, the chairman of the conference and the president of Zhejiang Business University, briefly reviewed the background, platform purpose, and development direction of the MSI(2023) Conference. He pointed out that this meeting proposed to focus on three key words, namely artificial intelligence, digital transformation and business innovation. These three grand themes are sufficient to accommodate communication and sharing among numerous cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary management colleagues in business management, information systems, marketing science, human resource management, accounting, and operations management.
In the opening keynote speech From big data to digitalization: a decade of high-quality development, Zhou Aoying, vice president of East China Normal University, reviewed the decade of development from big data to the Internet to artificial intelligence, blockchain to Digital transformation, and pointed out that data has the power attribute, enabling Digital transformation in all walks of life. He proposed that Digital transformation is the basis of high-quality development. Digital transformation requires mass entrepreneurship. The essence of transformation is innovation, and we should emancipate our minds and take the initiative.
At the opening ceremony, Mr. Zhou Aoying and Mr. Wang Yonggui jointly unveiled the Artificial Intelligence and Scientific Innovation Research Center, which is a new inter-disciplinary platform established by Shanghai International School of Chief Technology Officer (ECNU).
Renowned domestic and foreign experts and scholars deliver keynote speeches at the conference
During the keynote speech section of the conference, scholars and industry experts from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), including Professor Jia Jianmin, Dean of the Miaozhen Academy of Marketing Science, Tan Beiping, Co-Chairman of MSI 2023 Conference, and Professor Christy M. K. Cheung from Hong Kong Baptist University, were invited to give speeches and share their ideas. In the face-to-face section of the journal editor in chief, editors from Nankai Business Review, and Foreign Economies and Management respectively introduced and shared the ideas.
On the morning of April 16th, the "5th MSI Program Development Forum: Developing Top Ranked Business Program and the 1st Forum of CMAU Service Marketing of Professional Committee" was held. The forum was presided over by Co-Chairman He Jiaxin, Professor Jing Fengjie from the School of Business at East China University of Science and Technology, Dean Yu Rongjian from the School of Business Administration (MBA) at Zhejiang Gongshang University, and Professor Chang Yaping from the School of Management at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Around the construction of first-class majors in business management, five professors and experts from Chang Yaping shared opinions. Regarding the construction of service marketing courses, four professors and experts, including Huang Suping, Vice Dean of Business Administration at Capital University of Economics and Trade, respectively shared their themes.
At the roundtable forum on first-class professional construction, multiple professors and experts engaged in free discussions and exchanges on two discussion topics: National first-class professional construction in the digital era and "Digital Era Service Marketing" course construction. 11 experts and scholars, including Yang Shuai, Vice Dean of the School of Management at Donghua University, shared their views and opinions at the roundtable forum.
Excellent Thesis Parallel Forum
The MSI (2023) conference received strong support from experts, scholars, and graduate students in various fields of business administration and management science both domestically and internationally. A total of more than 400 excellent manuscripts were received, and after the pre-review, external review, and final review by dozens of experts, 343 papers were finally selected for display and exchange in 61 parallel forums that followed; At the same time, the conference selected 11 excellent papers for special display, and invited relevant experts and scholars to comment on the excellent papers selected by the conference.
Closing Ceremony of the Conference
At the closing ceremony of the conference, He Jiaxun announced that the evaluation committee had finally selected 32 excellent papers, of which 21 papers won the nomination award for excellent papers, 6 papers won the excellent paper award, and 4 papers won the second prize for excellent papers. Liu Wumei and Yang Qiaoying from Lanzhou University won the first prize for excellent papers in the conference for their work "Dealing with Goals and Consumer Creativity: The Inhibitory Effect of Treatment Goals on Consumer Creativity". Wang Yonggui, Yu Rongjian, and others presented awards to the award-winning paper authors.
Subsequently, He Jiaxun announced that this conference advocated the establishment of three national alliances in teaching, research, and social services. The first is the National Science and Technology Business Education Alliance initiated by the East China Normal University, Science and Technology Business Association. The Alliance adheres to the value of innovation changes the world and takes facing the next generation of management education, promoting the construction of science and technology business disciplines, cultivating and shaping the thinking, ability and pattern of technology and innovation management leaders as its mission. The other two alliances are the National Digital Management Talent Training Alliance and the National Business Management Curriculum Ideological and Political Alliance initiated by Zhejiang Gongshang University.
As the representative of the organizers of the next MSI conference, Yu Rongjian took over the flag representing the right to host the next conference from He Jiaxin. Yu Rongjian solemnly announces that the 8th MSI (2024) conference will be held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The three main themes of the next MSI conference will be digital management, consumption promotion, and China chain innovation.
In his closing speech, Mr. Wang Yonggui congratulated the successful convening of the 7th MSI 2023 Conference and expressed heartfelt gratitude to the East China Normal University and Dean He Jiaxun's team, as well as the experts, scholars, teachers and students who shared their insights and commented on the papers during the conference. He hoped that through the platform, the atmosphere of teaching and research and the academic environment could be further improved. He finally expressed heartfelt thanks to those volunteers from the organizer-Asia Europe Business School and CTO School（ECNU)
Group photo of the conference team and volunteers