MANAGEMENT HISTORY (MH)

The Management History Division is seeking proposals for the Professional Development Workshop (PWD) sessions for the 2023 Academy of Management meeting in Boston.  We encourage collaboration with colleagues both within and outside the  Management History (MH) Division in developing proposals for the Professional Development Workshop (PDW) sessions. PDWs will take place on Friday, 4 August 2023, and Saturday, 5 August 2023.  

The MH Division is seeking proposals for the PDW sessions for the 2023 Academy of Management (AOM) meeting aligned with the theme, "Putting the Worker Front and Center.” Given our current political, social, and economic environment, this is a fitting and timely theme. Our world is currently divided along religious, racial, ideological, and economic lines.  Declining globalization, intensive workplace cyber-monitoring, and continuing resignation are just some of the current dramatic trends raising unprecedented levels of uncertainty in labor markets and employment relations. History can provide valuable lessons from the past on how previous generations have dealt with similar problems. 

The above paradigm shift highlights the current limitations of management literature to provide meaningful insights and responses to the contemporary workplace challenges faced by managers and policy-makers. Management education and research can and should play a key role in addressing these issues. Our PDW provides a unique opportunity to address these issues from a historical standpoint. For example, how managers and scholars handled exogenous shocks in past crises – e.g., the shift from farms to offices across the twentieth century, the first big tech breakup in the ‘80s, and the global financial crisis in 2008 – can provide critical lessons that will benefit practicing managers, educators, students, and scholars. Accordingly, our PDW and conference offer a unique opportunity to share and discuss information and perspectives about these seemingly intractable issues. 

PDW sessions are an opportunity to drop old tools and create and test new ones in a non-crisis atmosphere. The concern should be to create value for participants in ways (e.g., workshops, town hall meetings, debates, tutorials, panels, tours, roundtable discussions, case studies, debates, invited speakers, tutorials, and workout sessions) that may not be available via other means. We look for developmental and provocative PDWs able to trigger a collaborative learning process. 

The MH Division also encourages submission from those without a historical background or training who are interested in the ways in which management theory and practice – and of the various sub-disciplines within it. 

In submitting your PDW proposal, please review the submission guidelines to ensure that your submission complies with the guidelines in all details. The submission deadline is Tuesday, 10 January 2023 at 17:00 ET (GMT-5/UTC-5) through the Academy’s Submission Center. Feel free to contact the MH PDW Chair, Matteo Cristofaro, if you have any questions or would like to discuss your prospective PDW proposal. All proposals require a statement indicating that all PDW participants have consented to participate in the PDW. The AOM’s “Rule of Three” for the PDW program is that “no one may submit or be associated with more than 3 PDW submissions. Proposals that violate these rules may be rejected. Because space and time allotted for PDW sessions are limited, we cannot guarantee acceptance of all proposals.  

We look forward to seeing you in-person.