3rd Lugano Conference on Organizations

The Lugano Conference on Organizations is a bi-annual two-day event aimed at discussing “big questions” in the theory of organizations. While perhaps necessary, the publish-or-perish model predominant in most academic institutions often forces us to focus on narrow research questions built around established theoretical paradigms and, eventually, to lose sight on the social scientific significance of our work.

The mission of the Lugano Conference is to provide a forum for scholars interested in linking their research to questions that lie at the very core of social and organizational theory. Some of such questions (such as “what drives stability and change in organizations? “what drives organizational diversity?” “how do organizations affect the division of labor in societies, and vice-versa?”) were discussed in the prior edition of the conference. But many big questions beg our attention besides the ones listed above, and many others are out there for us to discover.

This year the Lugano Conference revolves around Cognition in Organization Theory. With its multitude of intellectual roots, organization theory embraces a multifaceted view on cognition. We aim to leverage this intellectual diversity to discuss how micro and macro cognitive structures and processes affect organizations. This may include on the macro level the following topics

• Cultural embeddedness and cultural adaptation of individuals and organizations
• Audience heterogeneity and interpretation of market signals
• Emergence and diffusion of institutional logics
• Categorization processes and evaluation of candidates

See program attached.

For information: [email protected]