Track 08:  Corporate Governance, Corporate Sustainability, & Responsible Capital (CSCG)

___________________________________________________________________________

Call for Submissions

Track 08 of IMRC 2026 is the research paper track for the India Responsible Capital Conference (IRCC 2026), co-located with the India Management Research Conference. We invite scholarly submissions in the areas of corporate governance, corporate sustainability, responsible capital, climate risk, business ethics, and sustainable value creation.

Anchored in the IMRC 2026 theme, “Reimagining Organizations: Transformation and Value-Creation in the Age of AI,” this track examines how organizations, boards, investors, regulators, and stakeholders can govern transformation responsibly in an era shaped by artificial intelligence, climate change, sustainability transitions, and changing expectations of corporate purpose. As AI and digital infrastructures transform organizational decision-making, disclosure, risk assessment, stakeholder engagement, and capital allocation, questions of governance, accountability, sustainability, and responsible finance become central to the future of management research.

IRCC 2026 brings together scholars, practitioners, policymakers, investors, and civil society actors for a multi-disciplinary dialogue on the evolving relationship between corporate conduct, capital allocation, sustainability transitions, and long-term value creation. We especially encourage research situated in India and other emerging market contexts, while also welcoming comparative, global, and theoretically oriented contributions.

The term “responsible capital” is used broadly in this track to encompass research on how investors, lenders, boards, entrepreneurs, regulators, and financial institutions allocate, govern, and steward capital in ways that account for financial performance, long-term resilience, social legitimacy, environmental sustainability, and intergenerational value creation.

We welcome full papers, working papers, and extended abstracts that demonstrate originality, methodological rigour, and relevance to theory, practice, and/or policy.

Suggested Thematic Sub-tracks

1. AI, Data, and the Governance of Responsible Organizations

This sub-track invites research on how AI, digital infrastructures, and data-driven systems are reshaping governance, sustainability management, disclosure, accountability, and organizational decision-making.

– Responsible AI governance in corporations and financial institutions
– Board oversight of AI, data, cybersecurity, and algorithmic risk
– AI-enabled sustainability monitoring, ESG analytics, and assurance
– Bias, fairness, explainability, privacy, and accountability in corporate AI systems
– Digital transformation of boards, compliance, and internal control systems
– Data governance in sustainability reporting and responsible finance
– AI-enabled stakeholder engagement and social impact measurement
– Risks of automation, greenwashing, social-washing, and algorithmic opacity

2. Corporate Sustainability Strategy, Disclosure, and Accountability

This sub-track focuses on how firms integrate sustainability into strategy, operations, business models, reporting, and performance management.

– Sustainability strategy and competitive advantage
– Sustainability metrics, ESG performance, and impact measurement
– BRSR, CSRD, ISSB, integrated reporting, and assurance frameworks
– Double materiality and stakeholder materiality assessment
– Circular economy and regenerative business models
– Sustainable innovation and responsible product-market strategies
– Anti-greenwashing practices and sustainability communication
– Sustainable and resilient supply chains

3. Responsible Capital, Green Finance, and Sustainable Investment

This sub-track explores how capital is allocated, governed, and stewarded in ways that advance long-term financial, environmental, and social value.

– Responsible investing, ESG integration, and stewardship
– Green bonds, sustainability-linked instruments, and transition finance
– Climate finance, adaptation finance, and blended finance
– Private equity, venture capital, and climate-tech investment
– Carbon markets: compliance markets, voluntary markets, integrity, and regulation
– Biodiversity finance and nature-based solutions
– Sustainable finance taxonomies and disclosure regimes
– Greenwashing and impact-washing in financial markets

4. Climate Risk, Transition, Adaptation, and Systemic Resilience

This sub-track invites work on how firms, investors, regulators, and communities understand and respond to climate-related risks and transition pathways.

– Climate-related financial risk assessment and disclosure
– Physical risk, transition risk, and liability risk
– Climate scenario analysis and stress testing
– Net-zero transition plans and implementation challenges
– Corporate adaptation and business continuity strategies
– Climate policy, regulation, and firm responses
– Just transition, employment, livelihoods, and distributional consequences
– Systemic resilience and interconnected climate risks

5. Boards, Ownership, Ethics, and Corporate Purpose

This sub-track focuses on governance structures, ownership forms, ethical responsibilities, and the evolving purpose of corporations.

– Board composition, independence, diversity, and effectiveness
– ESG oversight and sustainability-linked executive incentives
– Governance of family firms, business groups, startups, and private capital
– Corporate purpose, stakeholder capitalism, and fiduciary responsibility
– Business ethics and ethical decision-making in emerging technologies
– Political corporate social responsibility and non-market strategy
– Regulatory compliance, enforcement, and governance quality
– Corporate misconduct, fraud, accountability, and trust repair

6. Stakeholders, Just Transition, and Sustainable Value Creation

This sub-track examines how organizations create, distribute, and protect value across stakeholders, especially in contexts of technological, environmental, and social transition.

– Stakeholder engagement and participatory governance
– Social license to operate in transition industries
– Community impacts of sustainability transitions
– Labour, skills, and human implications of AI and green transitions
– Indigenous knowledge, local communities, and co-creation
– Multi-stakeholder partnerships for SDG implementation
– Supply chain transparency, human rights, and stakeholder trust
– Purpose-led organizations and long-term value creation

Submission Requirements

– Extended abstract of up to 1,000 words.
– Authors may optionally submit a full paper or working paper where available.
– Submissions should demonstrate originality, methodological rigour, and relevance to management theory, practice, and/or policy.
– Conceptual contributions, empirical studies, interdisciplinary work, and policy-oriented analyses are welcome.

Awards

Oral Presentation:

1. Best Paper Award – INR 15,000/-
2. Runner-up Award – INR 10,000/-

Poster Presentation:

Best Poster Award – INR 5000/-

Submission Link:  https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=imrc2026