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PDW 08: Experimental Research in Organization Studies

Convenors:
Patrick Haack
HEC Lausanne, Switzerland
Alexandre B. Bitektine
Concordia University, Canada
Vern L. Glaser
University of Alberta, Canada

Call for Applications

Facilitators:

Sebastian Hafenbrädl, IESE Business School, Spain
Derek Harmon, University of Michigan, USA
Anna Jasinenko, HHL Leipzig, Germany
Marius Meeus, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Daniel Sands, NYU Stern, USA

Purpose

As in previous years, the purpose of this Pre-Colloquium Development Workshop (PDW) is to advance the use of experimental methods to study organizations and organizational processes. The PDW offers participants an opportunity to learn more about experimental research in this domain, to meet colleagues who use (or plan to use) experimental methods in their research and discuss with them opportunities for using experimental methods to generate new theories for organization, and to receive feedback on current work in progress. The growing interest in experimental research is evidenced by a forthcoming special issue in Organization Science on “Experiments in Organizational Theory,” thus the PDW is timely.
 
We will discuss some illustrative examples of laboratory and non-laboratory experiments in the study of organizations, explore their future potential for examining organizational processes, and discuss experimental approaches for the analysis of organizational and institutional processes. We will draw participants’ attention to common challenges in research on microfoundations of different management theories and highlight the role of experimental methods in the exploration of micro-level processes that, on the one hand, are triggered by macro-level events and, on the other hand, produce macro-level outcomes for organizations, categories and fields.
 
The first part of the workshop starts with opening remarks by the PDW organizers, followed by two presentations that cover topics of particular interest to researchers using (or planning to use) experimental methods in organization studies. The second part is a paper development workshop. Work in progress as well as project ideas will be exchanged in roundtable discussions. Each roundtable will be led by at least one facilitator. We explicitly welcome the submission of project ideas (no paper required). The workshop ends with the third part which includes a general discussion on the potential prospects and pitfalls of experimental research in organization studies. The overall length of the workshop is four hours, including a coffee break of 30 minutes.
 
Part 1

  • The first presentation, by Derek Harmon, will provide participants with the foundational principles of experimental design. The talk will highlight the fundamental criteria used to evaluate experimental research (i.e., internal validity, statistical conclusion validity, construct validity, and external validity). The presentation will also cover types of experimental design, highlighting the purposes and circumstances when researchers might use each of these designs.

  • The second presentation, by Alex Bitektine, Vern Glaser, and Patrick Haack, will give an overview on “hot topics” in experimental research and offers an overview about current experimental research programs in organization studies.

Each of these presentations will be interactive, with ample time for questions, answers, and group discussion.
 
Part 2
The second part of this PDW consists of a paper development workshop. Work in progress as well as project ideas will be exchanged in roundtable discussions. Each roundtable will be led by at least one facilitator. We explicitly welcome the submission of project ideas (no paper required).
 
Part 3
The workshop ends with a general discussion on the potential prospects and pitfalls of experimental research in organization studies.

 

Application

All scholars interested in applying experimental methods to the study of organizational phenomena are invited to apply. However, preference will be given to PhD students/early career scholars. To be considered as an early-career scholar, the applicant needs to have completed his/her doctoral/PhD thesis within the last three years. Attendance of the workshop is limited to 12 participants. Criteria for selection are quality and relevance of the proposal.
 
Please submit – via the EGOS website – by April 2, 2019 a single document of application (.doc, .docx or .pdf file) that includes:

  • On the first page: a short letter of application containing full details of name, address (postal address, phone and email), affiliation (date of PhD completion for early career scholars), and a statement of why you consider it valuable to attend this PDW

  • A CV

  • A two-page proposal of the project idea outlining the research question and its relevance. The proposal should also motivate why an experiment is needed to answer the research question and specify the treatment, as well as the dependent and independent variable(s) in the experiment. In case participants already have a fully working paper, the submission of this full paper is also acceptable. – Please note: the experiments can be carried out after the PDW. The purpose of the roundtable session is to discuss work in progress as well as project ideas, not fully-developed papers.
     

Patrick Haack is an Assistant Professor in the Strategy Department at HEC Lausanne, Switzerland. His primary research interests include social judgment formation, practice adoption, and recent developments in research methodology, especially the application of experiments and formal modeling approaches to the study of institutionalization and legitimation. His research has been published in the ‘Academy of Management Annals’, ‘Academy of Management Review’, ‘Journal of Management Studies’, and ‘Organization Studies’. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the ‘Academy of Management Review’, ‘Business & Society’, ‘Journal of Management Studies’, and ‘Organization Studies’.
Alexandre B. Bitektine is an Associate Professor of Management at JMSB, Concordia University, Canada. His research interests include social judgments (legitimacy, status, reputation, trust, and others), institutional theory, entrepreneurship, sustainable development, as well as application of experimental methods in organizational research. In his research, he seeks to integrate multi-level approach and findings from microsociology and social psychology into institutional theory and organization studies. He currently serves as a member of editorial review boards of the ‘Academy of Management Learning’, the ‘Journal of Management Studies’ and ‘Organization Studies’ and is an active reviewer for several other leading management journals.
Vern L. Glaser is an Assistant Professor in the Strategic Management and Organization Department at the University of Alberta, Canada. His research interests evolve around the question: “How do organizations strategically change practices and culture?” His research looks at four inter-related concepts naturally associated with organizational efforts to change practices and/or culture: language, tools and technology, professional expertise, and organizational consciousness.