After decades of marginalization, a new movement is nurturing Indigenous scholars and research in Business Schools.
Banner image art by Elle Simpson.
For many years, Indigenous ways of knowing were not recognized or welcome in business school curricula or research. Today, the landscape is starting to change. There have been global calls to decolonize management research and education. In Canada, for example, the Government’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC 2015) now advocates for Indigenous perspectives in Canadian business life. Still, despite these developments, academics encounter significant barriers to incorporating Indigenous approaches in their research and teaching. Universities have a long colonial history, and their approach to knowledge is built upon Eurocentric concepts of what it means to know something, who has rights to claim knowledge, and how knowledge is shared.
A new kind of conference, the International Academy of Research in Indigenous Management and Organizational Studies (or IARIMOS), is seeking to change this from the ground up, by strengthening Indigenous scholars and their allies.
Launched in 2022, IARIMOS is an annual, three-day event with keynote presentations, panel discussions, and workshops. It brings together prominent Indigenous researchers to mentor and guide emerging scholars. The first two IARIMOS conferences took place at Telfer School of Management in Canada. The 2025 conference will take place at the University of Melbourne, Australia, hosted by Dr. Michelle Evans and the Dilin Duwa Center.
In a world where colonial approaches to management research still dominate, IARIMOS is a safe space that supports Indigenous scholars in business schools. It enables them to weave Indigenous knowledges into management studies and to be recognized and celebrated for their contributions. As the field of Indigenous research gains popularity among non-Indigenous scholars, IARIMOS also aims to inspire young scholars to value and honour Indigenous practices and communities, and to conduct their research in a respectful and ethical manner.
What Makes IARIMOS Special?
There are four ways that IARIMOS’s structure reflects Indigenous knowledge to support Indigenous scholars and allies:
Emphasising Relationships
IARIMOS is designed to enable connection and relationship building among attendees. Attendance numbers are kept small enough to enable everybody to get to know everybody else on a personal level. The meeting begins and ends with attendees seated in a circle, where they are guided by elders in a ceremony. Every participant introduces themselves to the circle as a person, including their heritage, or other aspects of their background, and what they hope to share and gain from the experience. Everyone’s perspective is of equal status in the circle. There is no top table, and no ‘cheap seats’ in the back.
Nurturing New Scholars
Only early-career researchers present their work at IARIMOS. The role of senior scholars is to support, encourage, mentor, and learn from younger scholars, particularly Indigenous scholars. This circumvents the typical practices of conventional management conferences where the younger ones look up to their seniors, and (some) seniors look down on those ‘coming up’. At IARIMOS, the older scholars support the younger Indigenous scholars and their allies, guiding them up and learning from diverse Indigenous traditions.
Junior scholars attend by responding to a call for papers. Senior scholars, however, are invited into the circle based on their academic work and their allyship qualities. The network of mentors includes both Indigenous and ally researchers, most whom also have a history of supporting one another. Their links through IARIMOS have made these bonds stronger.
Supportive Feedback Based on Individual Need
Papers submitted to IARIMOS are not blind-reviewed. They are assessed by a committee made up of Indigenous and non-Indigenous ally scholars from different geographies, ages, and backgrounds. The committee carefully considers the scholars’ development, personal, academic and financial needs, and what the best way to review their paper would be given ‘where they are at.’
For example, if a non-Indigenous scholar new to the field of Indigenous research joins IARIMOS, the assigned mentor and the supportive research circle help guide the selection of appropriate methodologies – here, an important consideration is a benefit to the community. For scholars who are further into their research, mentor feedback could address more nuanced elements of research, such as the cultural relevance of a specific methodology.
A paper presented at IARIMOS by John Huria, a researcher from Aotearoa (New Zealand), looked at how blind reviewing can be a poor fit for Indigenous knowledge development (and other knowledge development, too). The pretence of disconnected anonymity comes at a cost, particularly for young scholars. They often get cold, unempathetic and dispiriting advice, in unhelpful ways, at the wrong time, and delivered in ways that are not necessarily suited to their or the field’s development.
Diverse Communication Formats
Attendees are encouraged to present knowledge in many different ways. At IARIMOS, the medium depends upon the best relationship with the nature of the knowledge and the message it conveys. For example, a particularly insightful presentation at IARIMOS 2024 was offered in the form of a poem, and an introductory address by an elder was responded to in song. Stories, symbolism and metaphors connected to the land were also invoked frequently.
Benefits of IARIMOS
IARIMOS unites Indigenous Peoples from around the globe and their allies. It aims to foster an environment where participants collectively learn about and celebrate the diversity of Indigenous knowledges with care and mutual respect. There are no registration fees, and presenters, especially those who are Indigenous or from the Global South, are provided with a small stipend to assist with travel costs. Spaces and budget are limited, and the committee does its best to accommodate as many presenters as possible. If you’re wondering if you and your research will find your place at IARIMOS, organizers invite you to email them. Their contact details are below.
The conference offers many benefits for Indigenous scholars, allies, and society.
Benefits for Indigenous Scholars
IARIMOS’s main objective is to support Indigenous scholars, especially those just beginning their journey as academics, encouraging them to bring their knowledge into management and organization studies. Most Indigenous scholars have experienced invalidation in the workplace or at conferences when their views don’t align with colonial ways of thinking. For example, Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer often tells the story of her first day at forestry school. Her advisor asked why she wanted to study botany. She shared that she “wanted to learn why asters and goldenrod look so beautiful together,” but she was told that her question was not science. IARIMOS respects, embraces, and supports all Indigenous approaches to knowledge development.
Benefits for allies
IARIMOS also welcomes non-Indigenous allies. Joining the IARIMOS circle can help you become a better ally and a better researcher. Indigenous scholars can help you see how Indigenous ways of knowing can be more deeply and meaningfully embodied in your work. Bring your open heart and humility.
Benefits for society
Indigenous knowledge systems and practices offer the epistemological shift needed to achieve a sustainable world. These knowledges and practices are rooted in a relational understanding of nature, meaning they arise from the understanding that all beings are part of an interconnected web of relationships, where each has a role and responsibility, and the well-being of all parts is linked. People interested in sustainable approaches to management and organization can learn much from Indigenous world views and methods.
More information about IARIMOS
IARIMOS was founded and is led by Professor Ana Maria Peredo, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair at the Telfer School of Management, in collaboration with both Indigenous scholars, and non-Indigenous scholars who are committed allies from around the globe. Its inaugural conferences were hosted at the Telfer School in Ottawa, Canada. Planning is now underway for the third iteration of the conference, to take place in Melbourne, Australia, in 2025, hosted by Dr. Michelle Evans and the Dilin Duwa Center.
In many ways, IARIMOS is more akin to a movement than a conference – or a growing ‘circle of fire’ as Professor Ella Henry, one of the conference organizers in 2024, has named it. The last two years has brought a surge of interest in IARIMOS and the community that supports it, including in major journals in our field and the broader management academic community.
If you are interested in finding out more about IARIMOS and Indigenous approaches to management, please watch this video or visit our website. On our website, you can read about the book being created by the IARIMOS community titled Indigenous Management: Knowledges and Frameworks.
If you have any questions about IARIMOS, or how we can support your work, please don’t hesitate to reach out:
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Ana Maria Peredo: aperedo@uottawa.ca
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Michelle Evans: michelle.evans@unimelb.edu.au
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Stephen Cummings: stephen.cummings@vuw.ac.nz
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Jesse Pirini: jesse.pirini@vuw.ac.nz
Recognizing IARIMOS Elders and Organizers
IARIMOS has been guided and blessed by Elders: Elder Patricia Soulis, Jane Chartrand, Malcolm Soulis, Rongo Wetere, and Marcia Krawll.
Many colleagues directly or indirectly and generously support IARIMOS. Special thanks go out to the conference organizing teams.
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IARIMOS Academic Committee 2023: Ana Maria Peredo, Irene Henriquez, Peter Moroz, Rick Colbourne, Robert Anderson, Leo Paul Dana
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IARIMOS Academic Committee 2024: Ana Maria Peredo, Stephen Cummings, Ella Henry, Peter Moroz, Robert Anderson, Juan Francisco Chavez, Saheli Nath
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Special Tasks for IARIMOS: Sandra Schillo, Murdith McLean, Noora Kassab, Jenna Bryson, Jesse Pirini, Joe Gladstone, Stephanie Daher, Israr Qureshi and Oana Branzei
This work has been possible thanks to the Canada Research Chair Program, Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada, University of Ottawa, Journal of Business Ethics, Organization, Journal of Business and Society, SAGE, AUT University, Smith School of Business, Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, Te Kahu o Te Ao – The Atom Innovation Space, University of Sydney, Hill and Levene Schools of Business, Schulich School of Business and Sprott School of Business, and many other contributors.
All these generations working together have made the last two IARIMOS conferences spectacular! IARIMOS 2025 in Melbourne will continue this tradition.
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