Invitation to Participate in the Academy of Management PDW on System Theory
System Theory has long been perceived as a scientific movement, much rather than a closed theory, to provide a unified and precise language for certain phenomena occurring across disciplines and across observatory scales. Real-world problems can thus be conceptualized as "systems" and ascribed a "systemic nature".
With this series of PDWs dedicated to the present state and future prospects of a system-theoretically inspired organization and management science we intend to re-ignite and continue the discussion of this rich scientific heritage.
For the 2012 PDW, the focal point will be a specific problem that organization and management theory faces today: the issue of collaboration and distributed management and what system theory can offer to tackle the problems emanating from it.
Talks include topics like:
· Increasing the Real World Use of System Theory in Economics and Business
· The impact of organizational memory on inter-organizational collaborations
· Modeling and simulating collaborative systems
· Challenges of collaborating in strategic change
· and many more...
Friday, Aug 3 2012 8:00AM - 12:00PM
Sheraton Boston Hotel in Republic A
System Theory III:
System-Theoretical Perspectives on Collaboration and Distributed Management
Organizer: Andre Reichel; Zeppelin U.;
Speaker: James McHann; Walsh College;
Speaker: Laura Frost; Walsh College;
Presenter: Harald Heinz Tuckermann; U. of St. Gallen;
Presenter: Felix Langenmayr; U. of Zurich;
Presenter: Donald Neumann; U. of Stuttgart;
Presenter: Andrew Martin; U. of Sydney;
Presenter: Lukas Scheiber; U. of Stuttgart;
This is the third consecutive PDW dedicated to System Theory and its implications for organization and management science.
In the 2010 PDW on "System Theory, its Rise, Failure and Renewal for Organizational Theory Building" (Program Session #: 46 | Submission: 14941 | Sponsor(s): OMT, CMS), scholars from North America, Europe and Asia discussed the present challenges and opportunities for system theory. Two conclusions were drawn from it: first, system-theoretical methods, tools and approaches are still not well connected to each other and, what might be even more disturbing, do not derive from a well-founded theoretical ground; second, for managerial practice system theory needs to turn to real management problems for real organizations in real problem contexts.
These two roads have been examined in the 2011 PDW "System Theory on the Ground: Research Methods and Managerial Applications" (Program Session #: 28 | Submission: 13298 | Sponsors: OMT, CMS), bringing together presenters and discussants from Europe, North and South America and focusing on both applications of system theory in managerial practices as well as methods of system theory. This new format, with presentations and a panel discussion at the end, proved to be fruitful for all participants and will be followed in this proposal.
For the 2012 PDW the focal point will be a specific problem organization and management theory faces today: the issue of collaboration and distributed management and what system theory can offer to tackle the problems emanating from it.
We will circulate information material before the PDW to registered participants. Pre-registration is requested for this workshop. To register online, please visit https://secure.aomonline.org/PDWReg. The deadline to register online is August 1, 2012.