On June 27, 2026, the 9th Frontier Forum of Management Studies sponsored by the Editorial Department of China Industrial Economics and Beijing Normal University Business School (BNUBS) was held in Beijing. Centered on the theme "Artificial Intelligence and Management Transformation", the forum consisted of one main venue and six parallel sub-forums. Distinguished experts and scholars from dozens of universities and research institutes nationwide gathered at Beijing Normal University to conduct in-depth discussions on cutting-edge topics including generative AI and corporate innovation, human-machine collaborative decision-making, intelligent financial transformation, and digitalization-driven organizational restructuring.

Professor Qi Yudong, Dean of BNUBS, and Wang Yanmei, Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Director of the Editorial Department of China Industrial Economics, delivered opening addresses respectively. Professor Qi extended a warm welcome to all participants and expressed sincere gratitude to the Editorial Department of China Industrial Economics for its trust and partnership. He noted that 2026 marks the launch year of the 15th Five-Year Plan. Aligned with the national strategic deployment of advancing high-level self-reliance in science and technology and fostering new quality productive forces, this forum profoundly addresses the critical issue of corporate management transformation amid the AI era. He also reviewed BNUBS’s remarkable academic achievements accumulated over more than four decades of development.

In her speech, Wang Yanmei remarked that the Frontier Forum of Management Studies under China Industrial Economics has evolved into a landmark national academic brand. This year’s forum aims to build a high-end exchange platform, encourage Chinese management academia to ground research in indigenous practical experience, accelerate the development of an independent Chinese knowledge system for management studies, and better serve major national strategic priorities.

The first half of keynote speeches was moderated by Professor Hu Conghui, Associate Dean of BNUBS.

Researcher Qu Yongyi, Former Party Secretary of the Institute of Industrial Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, delivered a speech titled The Critical Role of Large Enterprises in the Development of the Artificial Intelligence Industry. He pointed out that large enterprises serve as the most powerful engine of technological progress. Characterized by high upfront investment, long return cycles and stringent collaborative requirements, the AI industry renders large enterprises irreplaceable in technological breakthroughs, scenario opening and industrial ecosystem construction. After systematically analyzing the competitive landscape of the Chinese and U.S. AI industries, he proposed coordinated top-level design, cultivation of pivotal industrial tracks, and integrated industrial linkage to help large enterprises embed their development momentum into national AI strategies, propelling China’s AI industry from technical feasibility to tangible value realization.

Professor Li Weian, Director of the China Institute of Corporate Governance at Nankai University, presented a report entitled Modernization of Corporate Governance: Governance of Artificial Intelligence. He systematically elaborated the evolutionary logic from digital governance to AI governance. As AI agents evolve from auxiliary tools to autonomous decision-making entities, corporate governance faces comprehensive restructuring in power allocation, decision formation, accountability definition and value alignment. Drawing on emerging organizational forms such as single-member companies and the cutting-edge case of Argentina’s proposed legislation allowing fully automated corporate operation, he analyzed profound shifts in principal-agent relationships in the AI age. He argued that the core of AI corporate governance lies in balancing ethical responsibility and commercial interests, and suggested establishing an AI ethics governance committee at the board level to build a full-cycle governance framework covering pre-event prevention, in-process supervision and post-event accountability.

Professor Wang Xuhui, President of Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, shared insights under the theme Operation and Governance of Data Exchanges. Focusing on the national strategy of building an integrated national data market, he conducted systematic research on more than 20 domestic data exchanges and identified prominent bottlenecks including ambiguous functional positioning, immature platform infrastructure, flawed operational models and incomplete governance mechanisms. He stated that the paradigm shift from isolated data trading to integrated data circulation signals the transition of the data factor market from a simple matching platform to a full-industry ecological system. Moving forward, data exchanges should advance transformation and upgrading through multi-functional integration, multi-level complementarity and cross-node connectivity to unlock the full value of data factors.

The second half of keynote speeches was hosted by Professor Zhou Jianghua, Associate Dean of BNUBS.

Professor Shen Kunrong, Director of the Institute of Economic Growth at Nanjing University, delivered a presentation titled Scenarios and Innovation in the Intelligent Era. He illustrated scenario-driven technological innovation as an emerging paradigm. Scenarios are no longer merely the terminal stage of technology application, but vital carriers linking scientific and industrial innovation as well as translating research outputs into large-scale commercial use. He stressed that scenario-oriented innovation serves as a core channel to upgrade technologies from functional feasibility to practical usability within real operational environments, effectively tapping latent market demand, accelerating technological iteration and unlocking the value of data factors, thereby providing a practical pathway to develop new quality productive forces. He advocated a three-pronged integrated approach combining top-level design with local realities, technological supply with market demand, and government guidance with market leadership to foster a sustainable pipeline of high-value industrial scenarios.

Professor Jiao Hao, Chair of the Department of Digital Economy and Management at BNUBS, presented research entitled Monopoly of Big Tech Platforms and the Stability of Global Supply Chain Relations, based on cutting-edge empirical analysis of cross-border supply chain data of Chinese enterprises. He noted that big tech platform monopoly has emerged as a new risk factor undermining global supply chain stability. In the short run, overseas firms strengthen supply chain cooperation with Chinese counterparts to mitigate monopoly risks; yet in the long term, deepening reliance on core platform resources drastically elevates the risk of ruptured partnerships between Chinese and foreign enterprises. He recommended that Chinese enterprises treat platform monopoly as a long-term structural risk, establish agile dynamic monitoring and response mechanisms, and ramp up investment in emerging technology R&D to strengthen core competitiveness within global supply chain division of labor.

Six parallel sub-forums were held in the afternoon, covering six thematic clusters: AI Application, Corporate Decision-Making and Financial Governance; Digital Platforms, Scenario-Driven Innovation and Data Value Release; Ecological Governance, Supply Chain Resilience and Industrial Integration; Innovation Policy, Organizational Strategy, AI Competition and Labor Restructuring; Digital Platforms, Data Factors and AI-Driven Innovation Performance; Supply Chain Networks, Industrial Chain Coordination and Green Sustainable Governance. Presenters showcased their latest research findings, and each paper received in-depth peer comments from two scholars, with thorough exchanges on research questions, literature foundations, methodological design and robustness tests.

Centered on "Artificial Intelligence and Management Transformation", the forum explored theoretical evolutions and practical paths of corporate management amid technological innovation. Participants engaged in profound dialogues on frontier issues including AI governance, data factor market construction, scenario-driven innovation, big tech platform monopoly and global supply chains. Discussions featured systematic theoretical elaborations as well as rigorous empirical evidence, fully demonstrating the academic awareness and social responsibility of China’s management research community in responding to contemporary challenges. The successful convening of the forum not only contributes substantially to constructing an independent Chinese knowledge system for management studies, but also delivers valuable intellectual inspiration for better fulfilling major national strategic demands during the 15th Five-Year Plan and advancing high-quality development through managerial innovation.

Contributed by School  Office

Edited by Wang Wei, Fan Zhaohan

Reviewed by Hu Conghui