MANAGEMENT, SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION (MSR)

2023 Conference Theme: Putting the Worker Front and Center
Submission Center Opens: Tuesday, 6 December 2022 
Submission Deadline: Tuesday, 10  January 2023 at 17:00 ET (GMT-5/UTC-5)
Scholarly Sessions: Monday, 7 August- Tuesday, 8 August 2023 

The Management, Spirituality, and Religion (MSR) Interest Group welcomes scholarly submissions to the AOM 2023 meeting. The 2023 Annual AOM theme is of high appeal to the MSR Interest Group domain and therefore accommodates a wide range of scholarly inquiry. However, submissions that fall within the MSR Domain but do not directly address the AOM theme are also welcome. Given the cross-disciplinary and challenge-led nature of the theme, we also welcome submissions that span different domains and scholarly fields.

Management, Spirituality, and Religion (MSR) explores how spirituality and religion can influence organizational dynamics and affect management outcomes. In that regard, MSR is devoted to defining the relevance and impact of spirituality and religion in management, organizations and society. Major areas of study include theory building and empirical research around the issues of faith, spirituality and religion as they influence principles and practices in management. Important contributions have been made in MSR research to better understand the meaning of work, the impact of spirituality and spiritual leadership in the workplace, the purpose of business, the effects of religious pluralism in the workplace, and the distinctive elements of individual religious and spiritual beliefs that cultivate inner awareness and promote wisdom for the common good. 

For the 2023 conference, the MSR scholarly program is particularly interested in relating the AOM theme of Putting the Worker Front and Center to the role of spirituality and religion in the practice of mutuality and collaborative performance for the common good. More specifically, we hope you will be excited to explore how pathways to Putting the Worker Front and Center can be pursued by showing how respect, acceptance, understanding, and cooperation can challenge structures of oppression and demoralization in work environments around the world. We are also excited to receive papers that connect spirituality and religion to personal management, regardless of one’s position and prominence in organizations. In exploring these ideas we hope to receive papers that embed scholarly activism, alternative ways of being (e.g., separate and selfish versus compassionate and connected), alternative ways of knowing (e.g., emotional, sensing, intuition, wisdom), as well as emancipatory and transformational research methods based (for example) on indigenous ways of knowing or non-Western logics. 

With all the challenges we are currently facing in the world, varying from generational shifts in the workforce and increased income equalities, to massive resignations and disgruntled workforce members, it is more prudent than ever to focus on “collective voice, employee discipline and dispute resolution, the social implications of employment-at-will and incentive pay, and the daily challenges of many “essential workers” to feed their families”. In a world where the majority of workers still perform in production and manufacturing industries, it’s time to obtain more “insight into the nature of marginalized work, or how organizations and institutions might better interface with this massive workforce.” Indeed: we should “rebalance our attention, and pivot towards those at the very core of productive enterprise, namely the workers”. 

Excerpt from AOM’s 2023 Theme Introduction by Vice President and Program Chair: Peter Bamberger, Tel Aviv University. 

Examples of specific questions, from the perspective of prioritizing workers’ wellbeing, within the MSR Domain might include:  

• How do spirituality and/or religion enable employees’ wellbeing?  
• How do spirituality and/or religion inhibit employees’ wellbeing?  
• How could spirituality and/or religion encourage or discourage greater collaboration and fulfillment for workers? 
• What role should spirituality and/or religion play in educating future members of the workforce, regardless of their positions? 
• How do our methods of researching spirituality and/or religion within organizations ensure or preclude equality and progress for workers?  

Putting the Worker Front and Center

We welcome three types of submissions: scholarly papers, presenter symposia, and/or panel symposium submissions for the 2023 MSR Scholarly Program:  

• Paper submissions
• Full paper submissions should not exceed 40 pages  
• In addition to full paper submissions, in 2021 MSR are also experimenting with a call for developmental papers of up to 3000 words. Developmental papers should be clearly-marked “Developmental Paper” on the front page and their purpose is to enable authors to discuss their work while it is in its developmental stage, so comments and feedback obtained at the conference can be incorporated in the final stages of research and writing up. Following, developmental papers should typically include: 
• Introduction and proposed research question  
• Brief literature review 
• Proposed methodology and/or initial findings 
• Potential contribution 
  
• Presenter Symposia
• Panel Symposia

Along with the Call for Submissions, MSR also makes a Call for Reviewers. If you plan to submit a paper, please also sign-up to review. 

Process Overview

The following overview is intended to outline the broad steps involved that take us to the finished MSR Scholarly Program:  

In 2023, the PDW and Scholarly Program segment are placed in designated time slots over the course of the conference.  

Submissions to the Scholarly Program segment of AOM must self-identify a single sponsoring division or interest group (i.e., MSR). However, submitters are encouraged to identify other divisions/interest groups whose members might find their submission relevant. The submission is initially reviewed by the primary sponsor. If it is accepted for inclusion into MSR’s Scholarly Program, the submission becomes visible to the other divisions/interest groups that have been listed and they are invited to co-sponsor the symposium.  

Based on the reviewer feedback, the MSR Scholarly Program Chair selects specific submissions as:  

• MSR Showcase Symposium – These are the best symposium submissions received and are expected to attract a large audience. They do NOT need to address the conference theme. The MSR Scholarly Program Chair may select up to 10% of symposia accepted by their division to be designated as showcase symposia. 
• MSR Best Paper Award – Based on the review process outcomes. 

Based on an initial self-nomination and subsequent reviewer feedback, the MSR Scholarly Program Chair recommends a single accepted submission for the following AOM Program Awards:  

• William H. Newman Award for Best Paper Based on a Dissertation 
• Carolyn Dexter Award for Best International Paper 

It is an honor to be nominated for these awards and the papers are designated as nominees on the program. More information on the Annual Meeting program awards is available on the AOM website.

We look forward to the range of teaching, practitioner, and scholarship research that will crystalize our 2023 MSR effort to “cultivate inner awareness and promote wisdom for the common good” (MSR Domain Statement). 

The "rule of three" applies: individuals may submit, appear in, or be associated with up to three PDWs. 

Final Notes

• Submitters do not need to be members to submit a proposal to the Annual Meeting. 
• If a proposal is accepted, participants must register to attend the Annual Meeting. 
• All participants attending the Annual Meeting must be AOM Members and registered for the Annual Meeting. 
• Submitters who are unclear about the submission process, please review the submission guidelines.
  

Dates to remember 

• Reviewer Sign Up Opens: 6 December 2022 
• Submission Center Opens: 6 December 2022 
• Submission Deadline: Tuesday, 10  January 2023 at 17:00 ET (GMT-5/UTC-5)