Top Scholars Visit UM Business School for Research Consortium

The Mid-South Management Research Consortium (MMRC) Convened This Past Weekend

On Feb. 24 and 25, 2017, over 80 management scholars from almost 20 institutions of higher learning gathered for the Mid-South Management Research Consortium (MMRC). The purpose of the MMRC is to strengthen faculty and doctoral students’ research programs, and to develop research collaborations.
Members of the consortium gather each year to review research ideas, explore new research methods, discuss forthcoming projects, and provide mentoring for doctoral students.
This year’s consortium began with an opening reception at Boure hosted by Interim Provost Noel Wilkin and Business School Dean Ken Cyree.
“We are excited to be hosting such a distinguished group of scholars here at Ole Miss,” Cyree said. “It’s good for academics to get together and share research interests and findings, and we are fortunate to be able to provide a venue for this event to take place.
“I am thankful for the hard work consortium coordinators Paul Johnson and Walter Davis put into the event; it was a productive and educational time for the attendees.”
The opening keynote speaker for the event was Dr. Micki Kacmar, endowed chair of the Department of Management at Texas State University, who spoke about the purpose and impact of management research on organizational leaders.
Visitors were treated with a tour of the campus, including the Grove and the Lyceum.
“It was a wonderful opportunity for us to show off the University of Mississippi to our colleagues from around the south,” said Dr. Paul Johnson. “We keep telling them about all the great things we do here in the School of Business, but this is the first time they get to see it with their own eyes.”
One of the most important functions of the consortium was to introduce a new generation of doctoral students to the many business research opportunities available to them.
“We are pleased to bring some of the top business researchers in the nation to the Ole Miss campus,” said Dr. Walter Davis. “This was a great time for doctoral students to explore opportunities to collaborate with some of the best scholars from other universities.”
The closing keynote speaker was Dr. William Gardner, the director of the Institute for Leadership Research at Texas Tech University, who spoke about the importance of networking with other people and the implications of networking for organizations.

By Stella Connell
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