2nd Annual
Global Sales Science Institute Conference

Scholarship & Practice in Sales & Sales Management:
Reconciling the Two Worlds

June 25-27
Athens University of Economics and Business
Athens, Greece

Conference Background

Following up on the success of the first GSSI conference at the HAAGA-HELIA University in Helsinki, Finland, the Department of Marketing & Communication of the Athens University of Economics & Business (Athens, Greece) and the Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales of the William Patterson University (New Jersey, USA) jointly organize the 2nd Annual GSSI Conference, in collaboration with the Greek Marketing Academy and the Greek Sales Institute.

FEATURED SPEAKERS
Howard Stevens	Sally Stevens	Gerhard Gschwandtner

The 2nd GSSI conference will be held in Athens, Greece from June 25 to June 27, 2008, at the "Titania Hotel". Due to its nature, the GSSI conference emphasizes dialogue among academics and practitioners through provocative keynote addresses, lively interactive theme sessions, and paper presentations. The conference offers further opportunities for international partnerships during coffee breaks, lunches and evening social events. Two keynote speakers of the conference will be Howard and Sally Stevens (Chally Group) and Gerhard Gschwandtner (Selling Power Magazine).

Conference Theme

Concerns over the relevance of academic research have been accumulated with alarming regularity. Unfortunately, academic rigour and managerial relevance appear to be diametrically antithetical to each other. Paradoxically, however, this phenomenon constitutes an oxymoron, given that both parties are working toward understanding and enhancing the effectiveness/efficiency of sales organizations. While leading scholars have long emphasized the need for a common agenda, as yet no such collective effort has been undertaken on a global level.

The theme of the 2008 GSSI Conference is to encourage an interactive dialogue between scholars and sales practitioners, re-examine the progress of our field, and strengthen the ties between the two worlds. In particular, the questions to be raised at the 2008 conference are:

• Does sales research sufficiently influence sales management practices?
• Does sales education and curriculum offered by universities across the world align with businesses real needs?
• How can we reconcile rigor sought by academics with relevance increasingly being sought by sales executives?
• Does sales scholarship need to be more “global” to reflect businesses’ current needs for global sales management?

For more information, see the GSSI Conference's Web page.