Sustainable International Business
Global Poster Competition 2025
2025 Submission Deadlines:
Cycle 1: 11 March 2025 (23:59 local time)
Cycle 2: 7 July 2025 (23:59 local time)
Submissions received after 11 March will be automatically considered for Cycle 2.
Information webinar 11 Feb 2025 14:00-16:00 UTC+0 - recording coming soon.
📥 Download the competition flyer.
📚 Explore resources: examples, guides, and more below 👇
Questions? Email us
📚 Explore resources: examples, guides, and more below 👇
Questions? Email us
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Aim. The Sustainable International Business Poster Competition (“The Competition” thereafter) aims to address the world’s critical sustainability challenges by pooling resources of engaged International Business scholarship in research and teaching to help organisations engaged with international business activities to add (net positive) value to society.
- Empower Students. The Competition provides a means to empower and energise students around the world to help business organisations (multinational enterprises, importers, exporters, and born globals) to become sustainable by creating organisation-specific proposals for transformation in the format of research-and-solution oriented posters.
- Empower Educators. The Competition, by building a community of practice, supports engaged scholars to explore ways to integrate responsible (international) business principles, such as Sustainable Value Creation, Inclusive Growth, Human Development, and addressing wicked systemic problems, into existing curricula.
- Empower Businesses. The Competition will engage business stakeholders through a partnership with academia, where members of the partnership can contribute to and draw on the (big data) insights from the posters and a pool of co-created resources for sustainable business
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Awards ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Awards shall be given in each of the following eight categories:
Global ‘Decade of Action’ Sustainable Development Award
Best Sustainable Strategy Award
Best Sustainable Business Model Award
Best Sustainability Analytics Award
Best Sustainability Partnership Award
Best Visualisation for Sustainability Award
Best Sustainable Technology Award
Best Sustainability Research Award*
*The Best Sustainability Research Award is exclusively for doctoral students. For all other awards, each category will have one winner from the undergraduate, postgraduate, and MBA levels.
Global ‘Decade of Action’ Sustainable Development Award
Best Sustainable Strategy Award
Best Sustainable Business Model Award
Best Sustainability Analytics Award
Best Sustainability Partnership Award
Best Visualisation for Sustainability Award
Best Sustainable Technology Award
Best Sustainability Research Award*
*The Best Sustainability Research Award is exclusively for doctoral students. For all other awards, each category will have one winner from the undergraduate, postgraduate, and MBA levels.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the Award, a submitted poster (“the Submission” thereafter) shall meet ALL the following requirements:
*Undergraduate students are those enrolled in a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) at the time of poster submission. Postgraduate, sometimes referred to as “graduate” students , are those enrolled in a taught master’s degree (or equivalent) at the time of submission. MBA students, although also postgraduates, are classified as a separate cohort due to their professional backgrounds and unique qualities, which set them apart in the competition.
- The Submission is original work, in accordance with the Competition's AI use policy).
- The poster is created and authored by a minimum of one student and a maximum of six students.
- If there are multiple authors, all must be at the same study level (i.e., a group of only undergraduate, postgraduate, or MBA students).
- Each student author is associated with only one Submission to the competition.
- The Submission is in English.
- The Submission is made by the announced deadline.
*Undergraduate students are those enrolled in a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) at the time of poster submission. Postgraduate, sometimes referred to as “graduate” students , are those enrolled in a taught master’s degree (or equivalent) at the time of submission. MBA students, although also postgraduates, are classified as a separate cohort due to their professional backgrounds and unique qualities, which set them apart in the competition.
Poster components
A Sustainable International Business Poster is the presentation of an investigative project that answers this research question:
“What transformation should an international business organisation adopt in order to take effective action on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?”
The poster should begin by identifying the sustainable development challenge related to the selected business activity but must focus its analysis on an active international business (IB) organization. This could be a multinational enterprise, an exporter, an importer, a 'born global,' or a component of the global value chain of a for-profit organization. The poster should include a well-formulated recommendation to help the business transition toward higher levels of sustainability.
The poster must incorporate all four components from Section A and at least one component from Section B, as outlined below.
Note: The bullet points in Sections A and B serve as guiding principles expected to be reflected in the poster.
The poster must incorporate all four components from Section A and at least one component from Section B, as outlined below.
Note: The bullet points in Sections A and B serve as guiding principles expected to be reflected in the poster.
Section A
1. Problem
- What is the SDG Problem or combination of interrelated SDG problems the IB organisation should address?
- Who is responsible for the SDG Problem (not) being solved?
- What is the current approach of the IB organisation towards the SDG Problem?
- To what extent can the problem be (re-)framed as a business opportunity?
- Is there a business case for addressing the SDG Problem?
- What Sustainability Analytics (data, analytical approach, and results) can be leveraged to support the arguments of the Poster?
- What data should the IB organisation collect and use to make informed decisions?
- What are the sources (literature, theories, empirical findings, reports, and databases) that the analyses in the Poster have relied on?
- What Visualisation can be used to communicate the key message of the Poster in an original and effective way?
- Is the advice for an IB organisation visualised in a persuasive manner?
Section B
5. Agency and governance
- What organisational logic defines the starting position of the organisation, i.e., is the organisation a public, private, or hybrid one?
- To what extent does this starting position influence the capabilities of the organisation to address the SDG Problem: what are the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation towards taking action towards the SDG Problem?
- Where in the (international) value chain can the organisation be positioned and to what extent does this influence the ‘room to manoeuvre’ for the organisation towards addressing the root causes of the SDG Problem?
- What Sustainable Strategy should the IB organisation adopt to effectively address the SDG Problem?
- How does the organisation deal with the gap between sustainable intentions and their realisation?
- Is the present value proposition supportive for this ambition and what should change?
- What actionable targets or leverage points for the year 2030 should the IB organisation prioritise to effectively address the SDG Problem?
- What are the key performance questions that the IB organisation needs to consider to enable change in a sustainable direction
- If any: what key performance/practice indicators can the organisation target in order to induce the biggest change?
- What Sustainable Technology (a specific technology, a technology portfolio, or a set of technological solutions) should the IB organisation rely on to implement its Sustainable Strategy?
- What are the opportunities and risks associated with adopting the Sustainable Technology?
- How should the innovation involving sustainable technology be organised: open and/or closed; inside the organisation, outside the organisation; with internal and external stakeholders?
- What combination of Sustainability Partnerships should the IB organisation develop?
- What partnership portfolio management decisions can the organisation take in order to increase the leverage of its partnerships and create a high ‘fit for purpose’
- What are the best ways to build these partnerships and maintain them?
- What is the Sustainable Business Model the IB organisation should embrace and what are the global (cross-country) and local (e.g., country, subnational-region, city, town, village) contexts in which this model can be implemented?
- How should the functional areas of management (e.g., marketing, supply chain, HRM, finance, innovation, communication) be aligned to enable a successful transformation?
- What evaluation should be conducted by the IB organisation to ensure the actionability of its Sustainable Business Model?
Learning and Teaching Resources:
To assist students in developing each component, a Component By Component Guide provides resources for educators and independent learners. A philosophy document provides additional guidance by elaborating four distinct pathways through which the poster research can be carried out. A Poster Template and many examples of posters on individual components are available here.
To assist students in developing each component, a Component By Component Guide provides resources for educators and independent learners. A philosophy document provides additional guidance by elaborating four distinct pathways through which the poster research can be carried out. A Poster Template and many examples of posters on individual components are available here.
Check out the 2024 award announcement to see the nominated posters here.
The 2025 Competition Organising Team
The organizing team consists of members from the Competition Organising Committee*, AIB component coordinators, and country representatives. More details will be available soon.
*The Competition Organising Committee comprises members of the AIB UKI Community of Practice Taskforce, Dr. Amelia U. Santos-Paulino from UN Trade and Development, the founder and the coordinator of the Mainstreaming Impact in International Business (MIIB) Initiative.
The organizing team consists of members from the Competition Organising Committee*, AIB component coordinators, and country representatives. More details will be available soon.
*The Competition Organising Committee comprises members of the AIB UKI Community of Practice Taskforce, Dr. Amelia U. Santos-Paulino from UN Trade and Development, the founder and the coordinator of the Mainstreaming Impact in International Business (MIIB) Initiative.
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We thank the following participating sponsors of this Competition . More sponsors will be added with widening participation.
The Competition is endorsed by
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2025 Competition Judges:
The Awards Committee
Amelia U. Santos-Paulino, PhDChief of Investment Research, Investment & Enterprises at UN Trade and Development
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Joanne HoworthDirector, ActuateYou Ltd
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Cyntia Vilasboas Calixto CasniciExecutive Board Member of AIB LAC, Michael Beverly Innovation Fellow, Lecturer in International Business at the University of Leeds
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Mohammad Faisal AhammadProfessor and Head of International Business Department at Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds
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Daojuan WangAssociate Professor of International Business and Investment at Aalborg University
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The Nomination Committee
Every judge in this committee is an innovator and a pioneer in sustainability teaching and research. Their effective approach has helped to nurture new generation of change-makers in international business.
Every judge in this committee is an innovator and a pioneer in sustainability teaching and research. Their effective approach has helped to nurture new generation of change-makers in international business.
Stefan ZegelmeyerProfessor in Comparative and International Business at the University of Manchester
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David SchulzmannVice-Chair of AIB Digitalization SIG, Lecturer in International Business, University of Leeds (UK)
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Spyridon (Spiros) BatasExecutive Board Member of AIB UKI, Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Queen Mary University of London
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Theresa Onaji-BensonExecutive Board Member of AIB Africa, Associate Professor of Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility at University of Bradford
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Max DikeLecturer in Business Management at the De Montfort University
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Xiaohua YangProfessor of International Business and founding director of Center for business Studies and Innovation in Asia-Pacific at the University of San Francisco
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Isabel Pereira RodriguesAssistant Professor of Business Economics at the Mahidol University International College
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Makafui Kwame Kumodzie-DusseyAssistant Professor in International Business at the University of Sussex, industry consultant for the International Chamber of Commerce
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Yameng ZhangAssistant Professor at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, miulti-award winner in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
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Mary LeungPrincipal Lecturer at Leeds Business School at Leeds Beckett University
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Melanie HassettLecturer in International Business at University of Sheffield
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Adekunle OkeSenior lecturer in Operations and Supply Chain Management at Leeds Beckett University
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Viviana PilatoAssistant Professor at HEC Montréal (Canada)
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Amrita ManoharLecturer in International Business at the University of Leeds
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Yasaman SarabiSenior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University |
Tracy ScurryProfessor of Work and Employment at Newcastle University Business School |
Janja Annabel TardiosSenior Lecturer in Strategy and International Business at Brunel University of London
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Jorge CarneiroAssociate Professor of Strategy and International Business at FGV São Paulo School of Business Administration
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Louise CurranProfessor of International Business in TBS Education
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Axèle GiroudProfessor of International Business and Head of the International Business Research Group at the Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester
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Alina PopescuProfessor of International Business in the Department of International Business and Economics at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies
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Jianwen ZhengAssociate Professor specializing in Strategy and Innovation, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
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Marica GregoAssistant professor at the University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management
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Anita Ranjan Singh Associate Professor and the Chairperson of the HRM and General Management area at Ramaiah Institute of Management (RIM)
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Rudolf SinkovicsProfessor of Strategy and International Business at Durham University
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Igor LaineAssociate professor at LUT University Business School
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Ferran Torres Nadal
Assistant Professor
Department of Business-Society Management Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) Erasmus University Rotterdam |
Jie HongLecturer in International Business, Sheffield University Management School
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Surender MunjalProfessor of International Business, Aston Business School
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Marina PapanastassiouProfessor of International Business at the Department of International Business and at the Centre for International Business University of Leeds (CIBUL)
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Meng SongLecturer in International Business (IB) at Leeds University Business School
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Denanjalee GunaratnePostdoctoral researcher at LUT University in Finland
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Samia HoqueSenior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University
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Meet the Judges
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Amelia U. Santos-Paulino, PhDChief of Investment Research, Investment & Enterprises at UN Trade and DevelopmentDr. Amelia U. Santos-Paulino currently serves as the Chief of the Investment Research Section at UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Investment and Enterprise Division and the Editor of the Transnational Corporations Journal. Before her current roles, she held various positions, including Research Fellow and Project Director at the United Nations University’s World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) in Helsinki, and Research Fellow (tenure track) at the University of Sussex’s Institute of Development Studies. She was a Senior Research Economist at the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic and served as Senior Adviser for the negotiations of the US-DR-CAFTA Free Trade Agreement. Dr. Santos-Paulino has held visiting posts at institutions such as the University of California Davis, Geneva’s Graduate Institute, Fudan University, and the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo. Her research has been published in journals including the Economic Journal, Cambridge Journal of Economics, and World Development, and has edited books published by Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. She holds a Ph.D. and MA degrees in Economics from the University of Kent in the UK.
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Rob van TulderAIB Fellow, Professor of International Business-Society Management at Erasmus UniversityRob van Tulder, PhD is emeritus full Professor of International Business-Society Management at RSM Erasmus University Rotterdam. He is co-founder of the department of Business-Society Management, one of the leading departments in the world organizing research and education on the way business can create value for society. He advises international organizations, governments, multinational enterprises and international NGOs on issues of sustainability and strategy. He has been visiting professor at a large number of universities in both the global North and South. Consultant to a variety of international organizations (like UNCTAD, the IMF, and the European Commission), numerous multinational enterprises (like Philips, Unilever, DSM, Rabobank, Safaricom, Jolibee, Heineken, Robeco), non-governmental organisations (like WWF, Oxfam, Friends of the Earth) and ministries around the world. His academic work has appeared in journals like California Management Review, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Business Policy, Research Policy, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of World Business, World Development, Transnational Corporations, European Management Journal. For which he received many accolades, such as the membership of the Academia Europea, the Gunnar Myrdal award for heterodox economics, the Lifetime Achievement Award of CSSI. His latest books include: Principles of Sustainable Business. Frameworks for Corporate Action on the SDGs (2023, with Eveline van Mil); Getting all the motives right (2018); Skill Sheets: an integrated approach to research, study and management, (2018).
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Joanne HoworthDirector, ActuateYou LtdWith over 20 years’ experience in higher education, I’ve championed leadership development, innovation, and culture change across academic and entrepreneurial ecosystems. From building inclusive communities of practice to mentoring senior leaders and launching groundbreaking programmes at the University of Leeds, my career has always centred on helping people realise their potential and lead with purpose.
Now, as Founder of ActuateYou Ltd, I bring that same passion and experience to a wider stage—supporting individuals and organisations to lead authentically, navigate complexity, and create lasting, human-centred impact. Whether working with academics or executives, I help leaders build clarity, confidence, and connection—because when leaders grow, communities thrive. |
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Gary KnightProfessor and the Helen Jackson Chair at Willamette UniversityGary Knight is Professor and the Helen Jackson Chair at Willamette University. He has been an invited speaker at institutions worldwide. Gary has co-authored several books. He has authored or co-authored some 60 refereed articles in academic journals, including the Journal of World Business, Journal of International Business Studies, and International Business Review. He won the Decade Award at the Journal of International Business Studies for his article on born global firms. He is consistently ranked among the top-cited scholars in international management, international marketing, and international entrepreneurship. A Fellow of the Academy of International Business (AIB), he is currently serving as President of the AIB. Prior to academia, he was an executive in international business for several years. He obtained his PhD at Michigan State University, in marketing and international business.
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See full profile of each judge here.