Call for Applications

Please note!

Contrary to the PDWs, the SAP Community Day will take place all day on Wednesday, July 3, 2019, namely: 09:00–13:00: PART I; 14:00–17:30: PART II.

Based on the feedback received in previous years, this SAP Community Day will again consist of interactive sessions and workshops that will maximize engagement and dialogue among scholars interested in the process and practice of strategy-making. As digitalization rapidly gains importance for organizations of any kind, scholars across the SAP community need to reflect how this phenomenon relates to their own research practice. Entitled “Rethinking Strategy Research for the Digital Age”, this SAP Community Day is designed as a space for this important conversation to take place. It consists of two parts with distinct goals:
 

• PART I [09:00–13:00] aims to make the SAP community more familiar with conducting research and being a scholar in the digital age. To this end, we will have two sessions. We kick off the day with a brief introductory presentation and a subsequent panel discussion amongst experienced scholars of digitalization. The panel will help us to explore different ways to study strategy in the digital age. After that, three panelists will introduce the notion of “open science” and together with the participants discuss how digitalization affects the role of the (strategy) researcher in society.

• PART II [14:00–17:30] features two rounds of paper development roundtable sessions. Attendees are able to present their research and gather feedback from leading SAP scholars. This format has been piloted at previous SAP Community Days and was always very well received. The afternoon session closes with a short outlook on current and forthcoming special issues related to SAP and a summary of the day.

PART I: “Rethinking Strategy Research in the Digital Age”

Opening & Overview by the convenors [09:00–09:15].

The morning comprises two sessions with several brief presentations, panel discussion, and time for Q&A with the audience.

1. The first session – “Digitalization: Challenges and Research Methods” – addresses challenges for researching phenomena of digitalization.

2. The second session – “Open Science” – addresses the emerging open science research paradigm and the changing role of scholarship in the digital age.

To include those members of the SAP community who are not able to attend these sessions, we will stream them live via Facebook. This way of engaging a broader audience was first introduced at the 2018 Community Day and was very well received.

1. Session “Digitalization: Challenges and Research Methods”: Aim and Content [09:15–10:45]

In this session, we engage with different phenomena of digitalization. Digitalization is profoundly changing the relations between society and organizations. At the same time, digitalization presents challenges and opportunities for our own research methods and practices. In this session, we bring together researchers from across the EGOS community who have conducted pioneering work on the nexus of digitalization and organization. They will speak about their phenomena of interest and the methodological challenges they faced and addressed in their work. In the subsequent discussion with the audience, we will explore ways in which these phenomena and methods can be related to SAP research.

Facilitators/experts:

• François-Xavier de Vaujany, Université Paris-Dauphine, France: “Hackers and Makers”

• Stella Pachidi, University of Cambridge, UK: “Analytics and Algorithms”

• Iain Munro, Newcastle University, UK: “Dark Side of the Digital”

• Mikkel Flyverbom, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark: “Datafication and Anticipatory Governance”

10:45–11:15: Coffee break

2. Session “Open Science”: Aim and Content [11:15–12:45]

The European Commission has recently recommended open science as a desirable and future-oriented research paradigm, as part of a transformation of how research is performed and knowledge is shared. Open Science can lead to better research outcomes and at the same time mitigate some of the problems of modern science, such as loss of legitimacy in light of “fake science” and a “post-truth” political culture. The open science paradigm brings together a number of research practices that significantly change the way researchers engage with each other and with people in the “outside world”. In this session, we learn about the different ways in which researchers try to open up their work and critically assess which of these forms of openness might be applicable and helpful for SAP research.

With this session, the SAP community confirms its role as a key source of innovation within EGOS and directly relates to the conference’s overall theme on the relation between organization studies and the role of science as a beacon of enlightenment.
We have invited the following experts:

• Eugenia Rodrigues, University of Edinburgh, Dept. of Science Technology and Innovation Studies, UK: “Citizen Science as Open Science”

• Theo Andrew, University of Edinburgh, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, UK: “Developing an Institutional Open Science Strategy”

• Maximilian Heimstädt, Witten/Herdecke University, Germany: “Potentials and Pitfalls of Open Science for SAP Research”

12:45–13:00: Conclusion of Part I by the convenors

13:00–14:00: Lunch

PART II: “’Paper Development Roundtables”

Opening & Outlook by the convenors [14:00–14:05].

 
The afternoon comprises two paper development roundtable sessions followed by a presentation of SAP-related special issues.

Facilitators/experts:

• Julia Balogun, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

• Leonhard Dobusch, University of Innsbruck, Austria

• Paula Jarzabkowski, Cass Business School, United Kingdom

• Ann Langley, HEC Montréal, Canada

• David Seidl, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Roundtable Paper Sessions: Aim and Content

The paper development roundtable sessions aim to provide participants with feedback to improve their empirical or conceptual work and ideas and bring them closer to publication. For this purpose, we set up roundtables which will be chaired by leading SAP experts. The participants briefly present their papers and then elaborate their current issues, i.e., what is preventing them from completing the piece of work. This presentation should include a short overview of how they want or have applied the theoretical perspectives to their case and the potential theoretical contribution. The chair of a roundtable then offers feedback and invites discussions among roundtable participants.

The afternoon closes with presentations from editors on upcoming Special Issues relevant for the SAP community. Where applicable, the following editors will highlight links to the overall theme of the Community Day:

• Violetta Splitter & Leonhard Dobusch: Special Issue on “Open Organizing in an Open Society?” in Organization Studies
• Ann Langley: Special Issue on “Temporal Work: The Strategic Organization of Time” in Strategic Organization
• Linda Rouleau: Special Issue on “(Re)Conceptualizing Middle Managers’ Roles in Modern Organizations” in Journal of Management Studies

14:05–15:15: Roundtable 1
15:15–15:45: Coffee break
15:45–17:00: Roundtable 2
17:00–17:30: Upcoming Special Issues relevant for the SAP community
17:30:            Conclusion & Good-bye

The SAP Community will close with a reception. This will further benefit networking as well as nurture SAP’s community spirit.

Application

Please submit – via the EGOS website – by April 21, 2019 a single pdf file document that contains the following information:

(1) Full details of name, contact (i.e., postal address, phone, and email, affiliation) and area of research
(2) Which part(s) – Part I and/or Part II – of the SAP Community Day do you want to attend?

For PART II, please submit an abstract of max. 500 words (exc. references).