Call for Applications

Facilitators:

A team of Organization Studies senior editors will provide feedback to participants.

Purpose

Organization Studies aims to publish well-crafted theory papers that galvanize our field. Such papers are crucially important within our academic “ecosystem” of management and organization journals, where they foster new ways of thinking and (re-)direct lines of research.
 
However, developing and writing such conceptual papers brings particular challenges. Oftentimes, prospective authors perceive writing theory as more difficult than writing empirical, methods-driven papers. We believe this is at least partly the case because they have had relatively little training in developing and writing such theory papers. There are also no straightforward formulas or templates for writing theory papers (Czarniawska, 2008).
 
In addition, there are also different styles, or genres, of theory papers (Delbridge & Fiss, 2013), based on whether the main arguments are configured into a set of propositions, a process model, a theoretical essay, or are presented as part of a comprehensive typology (Cornelissen, 2017). Furthermore, implicit expectations about what journals such as Organization Studies expect from a theory paper may not be widely known; more open discussion can help potential authors to overcome these potentially challenging and mystifying aspects of writing a first theory piece (Cornelissen, 2017).
 
The purpose of this Pre-Colloquium Development Workshop (PDW) is therefore to help participants understand (1) the specific expectations regarding a theoretical contribution for Organization Studies, and building on those expectations, (2) help them gain a good grasp of the different ways in which theory papers for this journal can be written.
 
The first part of the workshop (9:00–10:15) features a plenary session and a short roundtable discussion of common issues and expectations regarding theory. We will then in the second part of the workshop (10:30–13:00) divide into round table groups where participants will get feedback on their own paper from a senior editor of Organization Studies.
 
This PDW follows up on previous successful EGOS PDWs. The rationale for this workshop is that there are still very few workshops on theory papers. There continues to be demand, we think, for a more hands-on paper development workshop. EGOS offers an important community of theory-minded scholars who are generally interested in developing publishable conceptual articles and who would like to get actionable feedback and help on how they might develop or strengthen their theory papers.
 
 

Application

We invite authors to submit theory papers to be considered for this workshop. Please note that empirical papers (those with quantitative or qualitative data) will NOT be accepted. In addition, papers that are accepted for presentation at the main colloquium should not be submitted to this workshop. The workshop mainly targets early career researchers and doctoral students, but is also open to more experienced scholars, space permitting. We particularly encourage scholars who have not yet published theory papers in Organization Studies to apply.
 
Everyone interested in this workshop is invited to apply; however, priority will be given to scholars in earlier stages of their careers.
 
Please submit – via the EGOS website – by April 2, 2019 a single document of application (pdf file) that contains the following information:

• On the cover page, a short letter of application containing full details of name, contact (i.e., postal address, phone, and email), affiliation, date of PhD completion (if applicable, stage in the doctoral studies otherwise)

• A statement of why the applicant considers it valuable to attend the PDW

• A full paper that you wish to further develop to a publishable stage and that you will bring to the PDW

References

• Czarniawska, B. (2008): “Organizing: how to study it and how to write about it.” Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, 3 (1), 4–20.
• Cornelissen, J.P. (2017): “Editors’ Comments: Developing Propositions, a Process Model, or Typology? Addressing the Challenges of Writing Theory Without a Boilerplate.” Academy of Management Review, 42 (1), 1–9.
• Delbridge, R., & Fiss, P.C. (2013): “Styles of Theorizing and the Social Organization of Knowledge.” Academy of Management Review, 38 (3), 325–331.