APBM 2020 International Conference on Applied Psychology and Business Management was 6th International Conference organised by IATELS and the first one, devoted to the problems of psychology and business.
The conference had been planned since 2019 to be held in Malta in June, 2020. Unfortunately because of the COVID lockdown, the APBM conference as many other international academic events was decided to be cancelled.
Yet, due to the numerous inquiries about the conference, wide interest among academicians and businesses from different countries to participate in the conference, it was decided to hold APBM 2020 on 30 – 31 of October in Izmir (Turkey).
It was a great pleasure to see that the initiative to organise an academic event in the field of psychology and business evoked so much interest in different academic and business circles. The special topic of the conference “Global Lockdown: Personality, Society, Business, Economies” attracted presenters and listeners from various countries and institutions.
The organising committee of the conference received a big number of applications from the presenters and visiting groups, who expressed their interest to participate in the conference in-person and online. They were coming from Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Ghana, Poland, Germany, Pakistan, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Turkey, USA, Mexico, Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Greece, and many others.
Travelling to Turkey turned to be quite a complicated trip for very many applicants who had to pass through strict procedures of the visa formalities and COVID tests. Considering travel complications and yet our colleagues’ eagerness to attend the conference in-person, it was decided to hold the conference in the blended mode, providing the opportunities to visit Turkey to all those who were determined to come and giving the opportunities to join the conference online for all those who could not overcome the distance due to the travel restrictions.
Despite all difficulties the conference took place and was launched timely on 30 of October in Izmir, in Swiss Grand Hotel (Turkey).
Till the afternoon time the conference discussions were due according to the program, with the presentations from Dr. Flormando Baldovino on Organisational Performance of Microfinance Industry (Philippines), Positive Leadership and Organisational Change from Dr. Muhammed Taufiq Amir (Indonesia), Assist. Prof., Dr. Piotr Raźniak and Assist. Prof., Dr. Anna Winiarczyk-Raźniak from Poland speaking about the role of cities in creation of life sciences sector companies, Assist. Prof. Dr. Rinat Zhanbayev (Kazakhstan) on the development and implementation of the foresight- oriented methods of training PhD students and many others.
Combining in-person and online presentations, questioning the presenters the conference plan was being realised with its full success.
In the afternoon, the participants joined Round Table Discussions devoted to the Global Lockdown Affects on International Economies led by Prof. Dr. Iryna Sekret.
The special online session of APBM 2020 had place on 13 of November, 2020 with the presentations from Prof. Dr Andreas Papatheodorou (Greece), Prof. Reuben Musgrave (USA), Dr. Noureddine Laouni (Morocco), Dr. Javier Zavala-Rayas (Mexico) and many other academicians.
Despite all troubles caused by the travel restrictions and pandemic precautions APBM 2020 was successfully organised, receiving very many appreciations from the presenters and the participants of the conference.
We expect more significant outcomes of APBM Conference in future, embodied in paper publications, new international collaborative projects, future programs and events to provide support and guidelines on psychological wellbeing and business management to international community.