**Apologies for cross-posting**
Dear Colleagues,
We are delighted to invite you to the following Professional Development Workshop that will take place during the Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Our expert panelists will discuss theoretical voids in existing work on brokerage and share their insights to advance research in this domain.
"Brokers and Brokerage in a Dynamic Context: Integrating the Roles of Agency and Time in Understanding Brokering Dynamics"
Saturday, Aug 6 2016 from 8:00AM to 9:30AM, in room Platinum Ballroom 9 at the Anaheim Marriott
Organizer: William G. Mitchell, U. of Toronto
Organizer: Kwangjune Ahn, U. of Toronto
Moderator: Tim Rowley, U. of Toronto
Panelist: Ronald S. Burt, The U. of Chicago
Panelist: Timothy G. Pollock, Pennsylvania State U.
Panelist: Russell J. Funk, U. of Minnesota
PDW overview:
In recent years, network researchers have sought to develop theories that explain how actors engage in behaviors that facilitate networks. One particular actor is a focus of theoretical attention: broker, an actor who bridges between otherwise disconnected actors. Extant research focusing on transaction intermediaries in the mediated markets has shown that brokers have an impact on the functioning and outcomes of market networks, and yet, various questions remain about the processes of the emergence, evolution, and change in the market construction and stratification by brokers and market actors. This interactive PDW will bring together diverse scholars studying network brokers to develop our collective understanding of the processes related to the role of brokers and reaction of their interactive parties in constructing networks. It will include the discussions about breaking new ground on the idea of brokerage, thinking both in terms of the dynamics of the brokerage process and the tension or complementarity between interests in the brokered relations, and identifying a set of key theoretical directions for future research.