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PDW 07 – Research Methods and Strategies for Co-Creating Desirable Futures with Practitioners

Convenors:
Ali Aslan Gümüşay
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany
Juliane Reinecke
University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Alexa Böckel
Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany
Fenja Nolting
Hertie School, Germany
Amanda Williams
IMD Business School, Switzerland

Call for Applications

Panelists & Facilitators + respective approach:
 
Emma Bell, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden:  Qualitative methods, feminism, activism
Alexa Böckel, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany:  Transdisciplinary research
Ali Aslan Gümüşay, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany:  Futures approaches
Lisa Hehenberger, ESADE Business School, Spain:  Inside-out approach
Katrin Heucher, University of Groningen, The Netherlands:  Ethnography
Paula Jarzabkowski, University of Queensland Business School, Australia:  Field work
Martina Linnenluecke, University of Technology Sydney, Australia:  Industry projects
Fenja Nolting, Hertie School, Germany:  Ethnography / learning partnerships
Juliane Reinecke, Saïd Business School, United Kingdom:  Futures theorizing
Violina Rindova, University of California, USA:  Design-based strategies
Jennifer Whyte, Imperial College London, United Kindom:  Visualization, design, and futures
Amanda Williams, IMD Business School, Switzerland:  Engaged scholarship
Haitao Yu, University of Macau, China:  Ethnography

Purpose

The overall goal of this Pre-Colloquium Development Workshop (PDW) – hosted by the EGOS Standing Working Group (SWG) 10 on “Organizing Desirable Futures: Sustainable Transformation, Impactful Scholarship & Grand Challenges” – is to promote research methods and strategies that involve collaboration and communication with practitioners in co-creating desirable futures. This PDW will offer the opportunity for scholars at all stages to explore under-discussed research approaches – action research, co-creation, design, futures approaches, transdisciplinary research, engaged scholarship – that may be suitable for working closely with organizations and managers that are driving change to create desirable futures such as a fair and just world both socially and environmentally.
 
There is a growing scholarly interest in producing research that is also societally relevant and impactful – meaning that the research we produce contributes to solving the social and environmental issues that we study (Bansal & Sharma, 2022; Harley & Fleming, 2021; Jarzabkowski et al., 2021; Reinecke et al., 2022; Wickert et al., 2020). Yet, the dominant research approaches of our field are too researcher-centric – they were designed to help us build theory as silent observers of events that have already occurred – not to (co-)solve societal problems that are still unraveling as we speak (Langley & Klag, 2017). Alternative approaches such as action research or co-creation (Hehenberger et al., 2019; Lüscher & Lewis, 2008; Sharma & Bansal, 2020) bring the researcher into closer contact with practitioners and position the researcher as both an observer and active participant in driving change. However, these approaches are not widely accepted and present many barriers that prevent researchers from utilizing them (Williams et al., 2022).
 
In this PDW, we ask the question: “Are our research approaches suited for helping to achieve societal change? Or do we need to break the boundaries of our current research approaches in order to (co-)create the desirable futures that we would like to see (cf. Gümüsay & Reinecke, 2022, 2024)?” Given the challenges facing impactful research, we also ask: “How can we publish such research?” We argue that organization scholars need to ask difficult questions that touch the core of our field’s assumptions and research approaches in order to truly move forward as co-creators of desirable futures.
 
This PDW will showcase underutilized research approaches that scholars in our field are currently using and leave space for imagining what new approaches might look like (Williams et al., 2022). The PDW aims to facilitate conversations between experienced scholars, early-career scholars, and PhD candidates to discuss paper proposals and project ideas. Thus, we invite the EGOS community to jointly work on expanding our methodological approaches for addressing grand challenges and co-creating desirable futures, generating new research idea(l)s, and fostering potential research and impact collaborations.
 

Format

After a brief introduction to the background, aims, and panelists of the event, the workshop will be divided into roundtables (including online breakout groups), each chaired by one of our organizers, facilitators and/or panelists and dedicated to the exploration of one specific research method. The aim of the roundtable is both educational and explorative, to (a) deepen knowledge about unconventional research methods for impact, and (b) explore and imagine ways the methods could be used in future research projects. Participants will also discuss and receive feedback on their project ideas, and roundtable moderators will facilitate the discussion and ensure that participants will receive rich and diverse inspirations for their respective projects.
 
After the roundtables, we will hold a co-hosted panel discussion with PDW 03 (“Social Movements and Organizing towards (Un)Desirable Futures”), broadening the conversation on publishing futures-oriented research. Panelists Juliane Reinecke, Martina Linnenluecke, Violina Rindova, Grace Augustine, and Ozan Alakavuklar will share their experiences and insights as editors and authors, addressing challenges and strategies in publishing impactful research on desirable futures.
 

Application

We welcome submissions associated with the use of various research approaches that involve the researcher in tackling social and environmental issues. Please submit – via the EGOS website – by April 30, 2025, a single document of application (.docx, or .pdf file) that includes the following information:

  • On the title page, please clearly indicate:

    • all co-author’s names, affiliations, and email addresses;

    • co-authors who will also attend the PDW in-person or online;

    • facilitator preference for the roundtables

  • A summary (0.5–1 page) of a proposed or current project explaining the proposed method and the relation to the PDW theme.

 
For organizational purposes, we will later ask accepted participants to fill in a Google docs form.
 

References

  • Bansal, T., & Sharma, G. (2022): “Three Different Approaches to Impact: Translating, Cocreating, and Performing.” Business & Society, 61 (4), 827–832.
  • Gümüsay, A.A., & Reinecke, J. (2022): “Researching for Desirable Futures: From Real Utopias to Imagining Alternatives.” Journal of Management Studies, 59 (1), 236–242.
  • Gümüsay, A.A., & Reinecke, J. (2024): “Imagining Desirable Futures: A call for prospective theorizing with speculative rigour.” Organization Theory, 5 (1); https://doi.org/10.1177/26317877241235939.
  • Harley, B., & Fleming, P. (2021): “Not Even Trying to Change the World: Why Do Elite Management Journals Ignore the Major Problems Facing Humanity?” The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 57 (2), 133–152.
  • Hehenberger, L., Mair, J., & Metz, A. (2019): “The assembly of a field ideology: An idea-centric perspective on systemic power in impact investing.” Academy of Management Journal, 62 (6), 1672-–704.
  • Jarzabkowski, P., Dowell, G.W., & Berchicci, L. (2021): “Strategy and organization scholarship through a radical sustainability lens: A call for 5.0.” Strategic Organization, 19 (3), 449–455.
  • Langley, A., & Klag, M. (2019): “Being Where? Navigating the Involvement Paradox in Qualitative Research Accounts.” Organizational Research Methods, 22 (2), 515–538.
  • Lüscher, L.S., & Lewis, M.W. (2008): “Organizational Change and Managerial Sensemaking: Working Through Paradox.” Academy of Management Journal, 51 (2), 221–240.
  • Reinecke, J., Boxenbaum, E., & Gehman, J. (2022): “Impactful Theory: Pathways to Mattering.” Organization Theory, 3 (4), 1–20.
  • Sharma, G., & Bansal, T. (2020): “Cocreating rigorous and relevant knowledge.” Academy of Management Journal, 63 (2), 386–410.
  • Wickert, C., Post, C., Doh, J.P., Prescott, J.E., & Prencipe, A. (2021): “Management Research that Makes a Difference: Broadening the Meaning of Impact.” Journal of Management Studies, 58 (2), 297–320.
  • Williams, A., Whiteman, G., Walls, J., Harley, B., & Dowell, G. (2022): “Call for Papers: Special issue of Strategic Organization: Impact Driven Strategy Research for Grand Challenges.” Strategic Organization, 20 (1), 225–227.
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Ali Aslan Gümüşay works within the fields of organization, innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability as Professor at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany, and Head of the Research Group at the Humboldt Institute for Internet & Society. His own research consists of four areas: (1) values, meaning, and hybridity in entrepreneurial contexts; (2) societal challenges, sustainability, and new forms of organizing; (3) digitization, management, and innovation and (4) science, futures, and impact. Ali’s work has been published in journals such as ‘Academy of Management Journal’, ‘Academy of Management Perspectives’, ‘Business & Society’, ‘Innovation: Organization & Management’, ‘Journal of Business Ethics’, ‘Journal of Management Studies’, and ‘Research Policy’.
Juliane Reinecke is a Professor of Management Studie at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Her research draws on insights from organisation theory, political philosophy and process studies to explore, broadly speaking, how transnational governance institutions emerge and evolve as a result of the interactions of multiple stakeholders to promote more just and sustainable forms of globalisation in global supply chains, but also organisations in general. Juliane’s work has been published in the ‘Academy of Management Journal’, ‘Academy of Management Review’, ‘Journal of Management Studies’, ‘Organization Science’, ‘Organization Studies’, and ‘Research Policy’, among others.
Alexa Böckel is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Sustainability Management at Leuphana University Lüneburg (Germany), a scholarship holder of the ‘Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt’ and a researcher at Wuppertal Institute. Her research focus is on entrepreneurship in the circular economy as an approach to systems change, and she considers herself as an engaged scholar. Alexa has published in ‘Journal of Cleaner Production’,’ Creativity and Innovation Management’, ‘Management Review Quarterly’, and ‘Sustainable Production and Consumption’.
Fenja Nolting is a PhD candidate in the Doctoral Program in Governance at Hertie School, Berlin, Germany. Her research focuses on understanding changing systems to approach the societal and environmental challenges we are facing today. She is especially interested in the power dynamics at play in any organized system change effort. Prior to her PhD at the Hertie School, Fenja gained insights into various system change approaches from her work at an NGO innovating the food system, at a consultancy specialized on system change and at an ag-tech startup. She has published in ‘Electronic Markets’.
Amanda Williams is a Sustainability Research Fellow at the Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business, IMD Business School, Switzerland. Her research lies at the intersection of sustainability management and social-ecological systems. She studies how organizations understand global sustainability issues and develop corporate sustainability strategies that align with global targets, and she approaches her work from a systems theory perspective and works with qualitative research methods. Amanda has published in ‘Academy of Management Discoveries’, ‘Journal of Management’, ‘Journal of Management Studies’, ‘Strategic Organization’, ‘Business & Society’, ‘Journal of Business Ethics’, and ‘Journal of Cleaner Production’.