Lyonel Laulié, Associate Professor in the Department of Business Administration at the School of Economics and Business (FEN) of Universidad de Chile, has been awarded the Distinguished Impact Award by the Academy of Management, the world’s largest association of management researchers. The award was presented at the organization’s annual conference, held from July 31 to August 4 in Philadelphia, United States — an event that typically draws between 10,000 and 12,000 scholars from around the world.
The award recognizes the work Laulié has carried out over the past two years within the Community Accelerator Program, an Academy of Management initiative aimed at strengthening management research capacity in different regions of the world. A couple of years ago, the organization selected Chile and Argentina as a priority development area, having identified them among the countries most underrepresented in its membership. To advance that goal, a commission of Chilean and Argentine academics was formed, and Laulié has been part of it since its creation.
On the recognition, Laulié said: “It’s really good that the Academy of Management is able to recognize us and give weight to what we’re doing. That’s always a source of pride.” He was quick to share the credit with the rest of the team: “This award came to me because I happened to organize our first conference, so it was more of a symbolic thing. What I want to highlight is that a very large group of professors from different universities has been working toward the same goal.”
A conference series connecting a new generation of researchers
One of the commission’s first initiatives was AOM Andes Connect, a conference series for doctoral students in Chile and Argentina designed to strengthen their training, connect them with networks of academics who publish in the field’s leading journals, and build a community among them.
The first edition was held in December 2025 at FEN and brought together more than 70 doctoral students and faculty members. “I also want to acknowledge the generosity of so many other professors from different universities, all of whom got behind this cause,” Laulié said.
The second conference took place in 2026 at IAE Business School in Buenos Aires. “Students leave delighted, saying it’s one of the best academic experiences they’ve had,” he said. The third edition will be held at the School of Industrial Engineering at Universidad Católica, with the aim of refining research ideas ahead of the Academy of Management’s global conference in Vienna in 2027.
The challenges of strengthening research in Latin America
Asked about the program’s main challenges, Laulié pointed to the still-small size of the region’s management research community and the need to strengthen local doctoral programs. “I don’t think any of our doctoral programs, from Mexico to Chile, is at the same level as the programs in the United States,” he said, adding that this is precisely where an opportunity lies for collaboration among Latin America’s leading universities — to develop regional talent and open up better prospects for those seeking to build a research career from Latin America.
New opportunities for FEN and Universidad de Chile
For Laulié, the award also translates into greater visibility for Universidad de Chile within the Academy of Management, along with invitations to take part in other areas of the organization’s work. He noted that in the coming months a collaboration agreement will be formalized between the Academy of Management and FEN, covering memberships and special discounts for doctoral students as well as access to research methodology resources and tools. The agreement also provides for new activities at the School: an information session is planned for April, at which the Academy of Management will present its new academic journals at FEN.
“This formal agreement is also a way of recognizing the work we have been doing as Universidad de Chile, trying to have a more lasting impact in the region,” Laulié concluded.