Apologies for secondary posting. The original posting last week was buried beneath pages of computer-generated gobble-de-gook!
Page West
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Call for abstracts
Global Drucker Forum 2012: "Capitalism 2.0: New Horizons for Managers"
Conference Location: Vienna, Austria
15-16 November 2012
The 4th Global Drucker Forum conference explores the evolving interface between management in organizations and society.
We live in a turbulent world marked by dynamic global change and the uncertainty associated with unprecedented economic and social challenges. Amidst the global financial crisis, the very practice of management has been placed under a microscope. The clear division between business and government has been disrupted, intense discussions have been sparked about the shareholder-maximization approach to management, and critics attack the lack of human grounding in much of the worlds corporate activity.
Historically, scholars point to organizational innovations such as vertical integration, organizational control, and internal processes as having helped management navigate turbulent environments. But recent events reveal that control in organizations has moved away from managers, managers have become less respected, and even the legitimacy of managers and the power they have in society has been questioned.
However, it is not yet clear what the next capitalism will look like. Although publicly traded corporations attract most of the interest from the media, research and the wider public, there is an array of alternatively-organized enterprises that are coming into being. Differences in ownership structure, funding sources, governance, culture and management practices set these organizations apart. Among them are public-private partnerships, nonprofits and social enterprises, family-owned businesses, SMEs, employee-owned firms, cooperatives and low-profit limited liability companies (L3Cs), and "benefit corporations." Just like large multinational corporations, these organizations are active in competitive national and international markets.
At the same time, while the importance of these un-corporations seems to be growing, the workforce itself is also undergoing a major transformation. Moving from a model composed mainly of directed employees that depend on hierarchy and bureaucracy, new organizational forms increasingly rely on self-directed cells, independent workers, network relationships, partnerships and joint ventures, and virtual organization.
The Global Drucker Forum 2012 will be a platform to discuss the twin challenges confronting the next management horizon: the transformation toward a new environment in which market-driven efficiency and the concern for a functioning society are better aligned, and the nature of management practice that successfully addresses this alignment. The research presented at this conference will explore these critical questions and set a foundation for the future of management practice.
Possible themes and research questions might include: - What alternative institutional models different from the traditional corporate model are taking root or gaining momentum, what are their salient differences, and what does this mean for the practice and study of management?
- What are the implications of the emergence of these new models for the teaching and practice of management disciplines strategy, organizational behavior, marketing, operations, etc.?
- Is the practice of management in need of innovation? What can be gleaned from a better and deeper understanding of these alternative models?
- Can traditional models and management practice still survive and even thrive through the application of new or forgotten principles?
- Which institutional models are more effective in combining the creation of economic and social value?
- Are different models more impervious to the effects of financial crisis?
- What is an appropriate institutional or organizational response to the criticism leveled at management as a result of the global financial crisis?
- What impact will the changing structure of the workforce have on institutions and management? And how, in turn, will the changing nature of these institutions affect employees?
- What effect do dispersed work teams have on the practice of management and on management's responsiveness to the combination of economic and social concerns?
Call for Abstracts
Both theoretical and empirical abstracts are invited. We seek creative and imaginative contributions that resonate with the future of management practice and scholarship and have a high level of practical relevance. We invite submissions that evaluate and build on extant research and observed practice, as well as contributions that seek to advance existing research and practice. We encourage contributors to reflect on the theoretical frameworks for management practice, scholarship, and education that will guide management practice for the future.
An abstract of up to 1,000 words should be submitted by 1st May 2012 by email to Dr. Page West (Wake Forest University, USA) at: westgp@wfu.edu.
Acceptance of abstracts for the conference will be notified by 1st June 2012. Full papers to be submitted for conference circulation and a short biography and photograph will be due by 30th September 2012.
Authors of papers presented at the conference will be invited to submit their papers for possible publication in a special issue of Management Research Review (Emerald Group Publishing). The publication date of the special issue will be 2013.
Page West, Ph.D.
Professor, Strategy & Entrepreneurship
BB&T Fellow in Capitalism and Free Enterprise
Schools of Business
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7285
westgp@wfu.edu
336.758.4260