Ecosystems and organizational fields do not exist in isolation – they are mutually co-constituted through inter-field exchanges, cross-fertilization, and power spillovers. Yet while organizational scholarship has generated extensive insight into dynamics within fields, we still lack a deep theoretical understanding of how fields are structured in relation to one another, how boundaries between them operate, and how they change over time.
This PDW brings together leading scholars to examine different types of field boundaries and the dynamics that unfold at these interfaces – from interstitial infrastructures connecting academic and industry fields, to professional boundaries in organizational change, to moral and symbolic boundaries in contested domains. We warmly invite you to join us at this year's AOM Annual Meeting to explore the methodological challenges of cross-field studies and develop tools for understanding how contemporary change unfolds across field boundaries.
The workshop will be chaired by Stine Grodal and will open with panelist presentations by Sean Buchanan, Joelle Evans, Renate Meyer, Amit Nigam, Jane Bjørn Vedel, and Klaus Weber, followed by Q&A with the audience.
It will then continue with roundtable discussions (three 20-minute rotations), each headed by a panelist or organizer.
Themes covered by the panelists and organizers in roundtables:
• Constellation of issue field settlement (Buchanan)
• Powerful professionals and field-level moral boundaries (Evans)
• Methods for studying cross-field dynamics (Grodal)
• Intra- and inter-field processes (Meyer)
• Interstitial infrastructures: spaces linking organizational research and practice (Nigam)
• Cross-field transformation by external macro-actors (Vedel)
• Cultural Boundaries in Global Value Chains (Weber)
Date: Sunday, August 2
Time: 2:45 p.m.–5:45 p.m.
Location: Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown, Seminar B, First Floor
Session details: https://events.aom.org/events/aom-2026/session/TfITIRSCl9RGz9rNRvM9Y
Questions: jbv.ioa@cbs.dk; s.grodal@northeastern.edu
We look forward to seeing you in Philadelphia!
Stine Grodal & Jane Bjørn Vedel
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Jane Bjørn Vedel
Associate Professor
Department of Organization
Copenhagen Business School
2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark
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