Workshop: Future Directions for Science of Organizations

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Nontechnical Description of Significance and ImportanceThe hallmark of the Science of Organizations is its applicability to a variety of disciplines including business, communication, economics, engineering, information technology, psychology, public administration, and sociology. These disparate disciplines offer varying perspectives about a range of issues associated with organizations of all sizes (e.g., corporations, small non-profit organizations, government agencies, teams) and scopes (e.g., multi-national, local, subsets of larger organizations). At the same time, however, the breadth of disciplines present challenges in identifying areas to strategically grow the field?s research portfolio, encouraging interdisciplinary and international research activities, and promoting the applications of research results. Moreover, methodological advances have occurred that make new, more sophisticated approaches to organizational research possible. A workshop will be held that assembles participants from multiple disciplines to participate in focused discussions about this inherently interdisciplinary field. The successful completion of this workshop has the potential to fundamentally change organizational science research by highlighting new, innovative opportunities for research and promoting opportunities for longitudinal, complex, interdisciplinary research activities. The results of such efforts may provide new insights about how to foster more effective organizations. Significant effort will be made to ensure that underrepresented populations are invited to participate in the workshop. Students will be involved in the workshop, thereby exposing them to cutting-edge research ideas and providing the opportunity to meet leaders in the field of organization science. Technical DescriptionThe community of Science of Organizations has a strong history of welcoming a broad array of disciplinary perspectives researching organizations of all sizes and scopes, including business, sociology, information/information technology, engineering/operations research, communication, economics, political science, public administration, industrial labor relations, and psychology. The purpose of the proposed workshop is to assemble scholars from these various disciplines to (1) discuss the future of research in science of organizations, (2) identify strategies for encouraging, and rewarding, interdisciplinary and international collaborative research initiatives in the science of organizations community, and (3) brainstorm how to promote the results of research conducted in science of organizations. The one-and-half day workshop will be held on October 1 and 2, 2015 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. Three half-day sessions will each focus on one of the three elements of the workshop purpose. The invited participants will bring a variety of perspectives about the research process including previously funded principal investigators for the Science of Organizations (SoO) program at NSF, journal editors, thought leaders, and active researchers. The complement of participants will engage in rich dialogs about the aforementioned issues that may be instrumental in prioritizing research activities in this field and highlight opportunities for the research community.