Janet Y. Murray, the E. Desmond Lee Professor for Developing Women Leaders and Entrepreneurs in International Business and professor of marketing, received a silver medal from the Journal of International Business Studies. The award honors her contributions to the journal in its first 50 years of circulation. (Photo by August Jennewein)

Janet Y. Murray recently had the difficult task of parting with a small fraction of her literary collection. From the floor-to-ceiling shelves located in her University of Missouri–St. Louis office, she pulled and then shipped more than 300 books and journals to researchers in Ghana.

For an avid reader who begins and ends her day with reading materials in hand, Murray understandably had a tough time releasing a portion of the collection, even as a donation. But for one of the world’s top international business researchers, her printed pieces took on additional meanings as sources of inspiration and keys to her success.

“Successfully engaging with this fundamental reading and learning component, complemented by a high level of motivation, intellectual curiosity, critical thinking and the ability to work independently is a crucial link to conducting high-quality research,” she said.

Thanks, in part, to time invested in reading and reviewing scholarly works, the E. Desmond Lee Professor for Developing Women Leaders and Entrepreneurs in International Business and professor of marketing has been a frequent award winner. She has received 10 best paper and research awards, two of which were for sole-authored papers, and was ranked 26th among 2,495 international business scholars worldwide in a 2008 study.

Most recently, she’s been recognized for her lifetime research contributions – this time with a silver medal from the Journal of International Business Studies. The award acknowledges work published in the top-ranked international business journal during its first 50 years of circulation.

“The award came as a pleasant surprise, as it is a great honor to receive such a prestigious recognition,” Murray said. “I am humbled by being recognized among the best international business researchers in the world, some of whom I have looked up to and read their papers when I was a doctoral student.”

JIBS, which is published by the Academy of International Business and welcomes research from all business disciplines, receives more than 700 submissions each year from top researchers around the globe. Only 5 percent of papers are accepted annually. Murray has achieved the rare feat of publishing multiple papers in the journal – six to date.

On March 21, JIBS released its list of honorees, which included platinum, gold and silver medalists. Silver medal recipients must have at least five substantial contributions to JIBS.

Murray and the other honorees will formally receive their medals in June at the AIB 2019 Annual Meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In addition to her written work, Murray has contributed to JIBS and AIB in a variety of ways. She served as a JIBS Editorial Review Board member for eight years, guest editor, track chair for the AIB Annual Meeting, presenter, panelist and panel chair. She also served as president of the Women in the Academy of International Business.

Murray’s research interests include global sourcing and international marketing strategies, learning and knowledge transfer, and competitive strategy in transitional economies.

In addition to her six papers published in JIBS, Murray’s research has also appeared in the top journals in the world for marketing, management and strategic management.

She currently serves as an editorial review board member of six journals and has reviewed hundreds of papers over the years. Her research has benefited from the time-consuming process of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of papers and providing developmental guidance to help authors improve their studies.

“Even though I have been out of school for many years, I’m still learning,” she said. “Being able to review really good work and having to find problems in the work has given me a different perspective of what research is about. As a reviewer, it is very difficult to criticize top researchers’ work. Learning how to be critical of the research conducted by others has helped me to be critical of my own work.”