To date, the global landscape for international business has undergone profound and irrevocable shifts. Geopolitical tensions, renewed trade barriers, environmental pressures, technological acceleration, demographic transitions, and changing societal expectations have combined to create a new era - where stability can no longer be assumed and long-standing assumptions about global integration are increasingly contested. The pace, scale, and unpredictability of these changes have introduced new forms of risk and exposed deep structural vulnerabilities in firms, industries, and governance systems that were once considered resilient. Organisations operating across borders must now navigate a world characterised not simply by turbulence, but by a level of fickleness - rapid reversals, abrupt disruptions, and non-linear transformations - that challenges conventional strategic thinking and calls for a fundamental re-examination of the role and responsibilities of international business in society.

International business is now being conducted under geoeconomic fragmentation and intensifying societal scrutiny. Multinational firms are navigating strategic rivalry among major powers, economic nationalism, sanctions and export controls, industrial policy activism, investment screening, supply-chain regionalisation, friend-shoring pressures, digital sovereignty requirements, and the uneven politics of the energy transition and energy supply. These shifts are reshaping how firms organise cross-border activity: where they locate production and knowledge assets, how they govern global value chains, which markets they enter or exit, what kind of partnerships they form, and how they balance efficiency, resilience, compliance, and legitimacy. At the same time, the consequences are not only strategic and economic. They also bear directly on social value - on changing shared values, employment quality, inclusion, access, environmental outcomes, community resilience, and the distribution of risks and benefits across countries, regions, and stakeholder groups. The EIBA 2026 conference theme foregrounds this broader agenda and invites contributions that examine how international business actors respond to the heightened volatility while advancing value creation.

Within this unsettled global environment, questions surrounding social value creation, and ethical responsibility are no longer peripheral considerations but core strategic imperatives. International firms, whether multinational corporations (MNCs) or globally oriented SMEs, are increasingly expected to demonstrate social and environmental stewardship, uphold social justice, engage responsibly with local communities, and contribute meaningfully to solving the grand challenges of our time. The interplay between commercial objectives and societal demands has never been more complex, with stakeholders - from governments and NGOs, to customers, employees, and investors - placing ever greater scrutiny on how organisations create, manage, and distribute value. This evolving landscape invites a deeper inquiry into how firms can balance performance with purpose, efficiency with equity, and global competitiveness with long-term societal well-being.

Against this backdrop, the EIBA 2026 Annual Conference seeks to foster a rigorous and forward-looking dialogue on the theme Sustainable International Business and Social Value in a Fickle World. We invite scholars across disciplines to critically explore how uncertainty, fragility, and transformation shape the behaviour of international firms, the design of global strategies, and the development of inclusive and sustainable business practices. We encourage contributions that rethink established theories, propose innovative conceptual frameworks, or offer empirical insights into how organisations can build resilience, nurture social value, and navigate the ethical complexities of operating in global environments where volatility is the norm rather than the exception. Through this conference, we aim to assemble a diverse and engaged international community committed to advancing knowledge and informing policy and practice at a time when the future of globalisation is both contested and full of possibility.

We welcome contributions that engage critically and rigorously with the rapidly changing realities of international business and with the implications these hold for socially responsible outcomes. Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Sustainability, ESG, and responsible international business
• Social value creation, inclusion, and stakeholder outcomes in cross-border activity
• Global value chains, resilience, and their reconfiguration under geopolitical pressure
• Internationalization under uncertainty, geopolitical risk, and geoeconomic fragmentation
• Digitalization, AI, data governance, and the transformation of IB
• Institutions, industrial policy, and cross-border governance
• Innovation, entrepreneurship, and collaboration for sustainable development
• Emerging markets, development, and uneven distributional effects of global change

Papers

We invite submissions of original research papers. Competitive papers should present completed research, while interactive papers should offer extended abstracts outlining work in progress.

Panel Proposals

Panel sessions provide a forum for in-depth discussion of emerging or established topics in international business. Proposals should articulate a clear theme and its relevance to

the conference and actively engage the audience. Panels are expected to foster integrative discussion.

Poster Sessions

Poster sessions are designed to support engagement around early-stage or developing research. They provide opportunities for direct interaction, discussion, and feedback, and are particularly well suited to doctoral researchers and emerging ideas.

• All submissions must be original and not previously published.
• Submissions will be handled through the official conference system.
• Detailed formatting and submission instructions are provided under the respective headings.
• All submissions are subject to double-blind review.

EIBA 2026 offers a platform for rigorous academic exchange and collegial engagement within the international business community. We especially welcome submissions that illuminate how the changing geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape is transforming the capacity of firms and other international business actors to create not only economic value, but also broader social value across borders.

We look forward to receiving your submissions and to advancing this conversation together.