Tracks

01. Perspectives on Service research

The concept service has increasingly come to denote a perspective on value creation rather that a specific category of market offerings. Service research focuses not only on service companies but also on complex service systems. In this track we invite scholars in management, marketing, organization studies, and other disciplines to contribute with innovative contributions in the field of service research.

02. The practice of services - managing and organizing service production

A growing portion of the economies of Western countries are attributed to the innovation, production, sales and purchase of services. At the same time, traditional production is reshaped and re-envisioned as ‘services’ in many companies. But services and service organizations are commonly said to be distinctly different from traditional industrial products and industrial companies. Considering this, what does the practice of service imply? How are these service organizations managed and organized? This track invites papers across theoretical and empirical fields that investigates these questions.

03. Brands & branding - contemporary theories and practices.

Branding has gone from being thought of as one path towards differentiation amongst many to becoming the dominant logic of marketing. Brands have transcended the domain of marketing becoming relevant in the greater scope of society. This track invites papers from across the marketing discipline and beyond for a discussion on branding and its meaning in marketing and in society.

04. Cooperation among competitors

The interest for research focusing on the complex relationships between competitors that cooperate has grown quite fast as the issues have become a part of every company’s daily agenda.  The former industrial logic with sequential and corporate innovation processes have to a large extent been replaced by an industrial logic based on the ability to through networking integrate technology and strategic skills in the possession of different firms. This has changed the previously clear anchorage of various activities within the boundaries of an organization, which make the understanding of the network context important.

05. Management, information and technology

In a time where different types of ICT-solutions are of great and increasing importance in many aspects of ordinary life, we still lack academic studies about this technology, with all its applications, consequences for work and business. The focus in this track is on how new organisational solutions (roles, routines, rules) is inspired and supported by new ICT.  

06. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Auditing

Auditing is found in and of companies, non-profit organizations, at state, regional and local levels of government and at the supranational level. The practice of auditing also transcend the traditional borders of academic disciplines. Not excluding papers of a more traditional design this track therefore invites papers addressing questions interdisciplinary either in theory, method and/or empirical focus.

08. Market Microstructure

Market microstructure is a relatively new branch of financial economics that seeks to explain how the supply and demand for financial assets are transformed into transactions, and how this process drives asset-pricing dynamics of the securities. Market microstructure research investigates the institutional structure of financial markets particularly information distribution patterns and incentives structure for market participants. Market Microstructure generally helps to explain the behavior of market, its participants, and the price discovery process. .

09. Critical Finance Studies

Becoming critical means transforming one’s self in relation to the transcendental values through which this world is judged, in the course of producing new ways of thinking and existing. The desire driving this track is putting critique to work on financial ideas, theories and practices, in order to create concepts that will allow us to think finance differently. 

 10. Soci(et)al Entrepreneurship: Current findings, challenges and opportunities

The interest in soci(et)al entrepreneurship has increased rapidly during the last few years. A number of researchers are now publishing in the field and several academic institutions launch courses at different levels. Also policy makers start to relate to the challenging issues raised by soci(et)al entrepreneurship. Yet research findings are fragmented and practices are at times unreflected.

11.  Gender equality, diversity and inclusiveness practices in organization

Despite many years of equality work there are still inequalities in organizations and not everyone has the same access to jobs, promotions or rewards in organizations. At the same time the changing demography challenges organizations to create more inclusive organizational climates. We therefore invite people to send in papers on practices of gender equality, diversity and inclusiveness in organizations.

12. Unconventional Views on Entrepreneurship – A Return To Practice?

For more than three decades entrepreneurship has been a high-growth research area. But, what may seem as interesting academically, but how relevant is that to the practicing entrepreneur? What does the lived practice of the entrepreneur look like: This track invites papers which challenges the conventional academic wisdoms. This track focuses in the So What! of entrepreneurship. 

13. Practices in Projects – Researching Temporary  Organizations

Nordic research on temporary organizations has gained attention among academics worldwide. One reason is that researchers (social sciences and engineering) have integrated theories from their fields into project research. Also, researchers and practitioners in fact co-produce knowledge. This track relates to the theme of the conference and is intended to cover recent accomplishments as well as research challenges for the future.

14. The expert society and organisations

Modern organisations are surrounded by a great number of experts on management, quality, social responsibility, IT, accounting, investments, law etc. This track invites papers that see organisations as embedded in an expert society populated by various forms of experts offering different types of advisory services to managers and where questions are touched upon such as why organizations turns to experts, what they do with the expertise that is delivered, what the relations between organizations and experts mean for the development of expertise in particular knowledge areas, or what role experts play for organizations.

15. The practice idiom in organisation Studies

Although the rushed interest in the practice idiom among organization and management theorists has opened new theoretical horizons, more critical assessment of its contribution to our understanding of organizational aspects is highly timely. It is thus the aim of this track to critically assess the promises the practice idiom holds for organization theory and practice.)

16. Management and management studies as textual practices

Doing and studying management are to a large extent textual practices in which texts are produced and distributed in the day-to-day activities in organizations. Texts are not merely a reflection of management and management studies, but a practice in its own rights. We thus invite papers that explore the textuality of management, management studies and the relation between the two.

17. Nordic Practices of HRM

Human resource management (HRM), and human resources (HR), are today accepted concepts for theories about people management as well as a term for the personnel function. This track invites papers that investigate the practical work with HR(M) issues in Nordic countries, and to discuss similarities and differences within these countries and compared to other parts of the world. Is there a typical Nordic practice of HRM?

18. Sustainability and Human Resource Management: Merging aspects of CSR

Sustainability generates an increased interest in business and organisation research, and is widespread in managerial practices. This track is a call for reflective, empirical and concept-driven papers that scrutinize practices and concepts of corporate responsibility in general, and CSR and HRM in particular.

19. Self-control and self-organisation in post-bureaucratic organisations

The principles of organizing and controlling work are alleged to have undergone a substantial “post-bureaucratization”, resulting in self-managed work procedures, blurred boundaries between work and private life and between production and consumption. This track therefore invites papers that investigate the new authorities, the new forms and techniques of management and control, and the new forms of work, life and consumption that post-bureaucratization implies.

20. The politics of health and embodiment in organizations

Contemporary western societies are penetrated by efforts to shape and improve the health of employees and citizens, work organizations and populations. This track therefore invites papers across business administration that investigate how practices of management and control are mobilized to improve public and workplace health, and how people in organizations cope with and resist public and workplace health initiatives.

21. Practicing Restructuring and Downsizing

In the wakening of the global financial crisis, media have frequently reported declining business for a range of corporations and organizations, having effects on a multitude of levels in the society and everyday business life. We invite papers on various topics related to the downside of business focusing issues as decline, downsizing, closures, turnaround, sharp-benders, surviving failures and bankruptcy.

22. Change & Intervention

The state of art in the research and practice field “Change and Intervention” is shaped by a paradox. On the one hand; models, tools, and prescriptions about change and intervention as well as on change communication are legion - even when the variation of the models and tools is not very large. On the other hand; studies about how they affect the daily practices and discourses of managers, employees or civil servants are scarce. In adherence to the action and practice turn in the social sciences, our track wants to focus on the interplay of Change & Intervention with other practices like communicating, administrating, managing, leading, opposing, challenging, evaluating, sense-making and reflecting. Therefore we call particularly for interdisciplinary studies of the shaped and shaping practices of Change & Intervention.

23. Mergers & Acquisitions: A Stakeholder PerspectiveA merger or an acquisition is in most cases a challenging endeavour with a single and ultimate aim: to create value for the owner(s). Officially such a strategy is often supported by arguments of how other stakeholders, for example customers to the new company, will benefit. We argue that a stakeholder perspective will show how a narrow and one-sided focus on owners can be detrimental to value-creation in general - not only for other stakeholders within and outside the organization - but also for the owner(s).

24. Processes and mechanisms of knowledge integration in organizations

The generation and integration of knowledge in organizations is fundamental for production and innovation in goods and services. We are interested in contributions that address mechanisms and processes involved in knowledge integration, and possible antecedent conditions. Papers discussing knowledge integration mechanisms and processes on different levels in and between organizations are invited

25. Managing the interactive organization

As the Internet has developed into an interactive marketplace of information, always updated and on top of the most recent developments in society, many organizations are struggling with how to integrate social media and open technologies into their operations and management. Therefore, this track seeks submissions that advance our knowledge of management response to open technologies and social media.

26. Open and User Innovation

According to Henry Chesbrough “Open innovation” describes a new paradigm for the management of industrial innovation in the 21st century, in which firms work with external partners to both commercialize their internal innovations and to obtain a source of external innovations that can be commercialized. The concept was coined by Chesbrough based on his research on the innovation practices in large multinational companies. Studies of User Innovation have been pioneered by Eric von Hippel for more than 35 years. He and others have shown that users are a common source of innovation, especially in product markets due to their incentives to benefit from the use of an innovation and knowledge of problems and sometimes solutions. Both concepts has spurred a lot of interest from research as well as practice and even become national policy. Denmark adopted recently a national policy on user-driven innovation.  

Invariably, our careers have been affected by influential individuals in our field that we consider ”giants.” This track therefore invites papers in which colleagues are encouraged to identify and support the one individual that has affected his or her career. Papers will include the how, when, where and what that supports the choice.

28. Företagsekonomi som akademiskt undervisningsämne – komplexitet, utmaningar och utveckling  
“Teaching in business studies – complexities, challenges and developments in teaching practices”

Företagsekonomi är det samhällsvetenskapliga ämne som attraherar flest studenter. Ofta förväntar de sig att ämnet ska vara praktiknära och yrkesförberedande. Samtidigt utmärks ämnet av en snabb teoretisk utveckling och en betydande intern heterogenitet. Mot den bakgrunden inbjuder detta konferenstema till diskussion om de pedagogiska och didaktiska utmaningar som ämnets komplexitet, mångfald och särdrag erbjuder och hur dessa kan hanteras i undervisningen.

29. Entrepreneurship education

Entrepreneurship education has globally gained strength apace with its fast growth in educational institutions and their curriculum development.  Its recent research has moved from content questions to the processes of learning and teaching in diverse contexts. This track invites scholars to share their research findings of diverse aspects of entrepreneurship education to further develop its multidisciplinary research agenda.

30. Exploring demand & supply of management knowledge as a collaborative practice

Beyond all polarized rhetoric about the value respectively risk of academy and industry collaboration, there is a vast and interesting array of activities carried out more or less successfully dealing with the co-production and co-consumption of management knowledge. This track therefore invites papers aiming for the explo-ration and evaluation of the challenges and possibilities of an ongoing collaborative practice.

31. Open track

It is custom to have an open track at NFF-conferences to make it possible for people to present papers on many different topics. If a larger number of papers are submitted to this open track, there is the possibility of organizing a number of session dealing with different themes.  

32. PhD-Workshop

In accordance with NFF traditions a pre-conference PhD Workshop will be held in the Stockholm Archipelago on 20-21 August 2011, the Saturday and Sunday before the main NFF conference. All topics, pertinent perspectives and methodological approaches will be considered. The workshop is intended to be not only a source of scientific inspiration, but also a social event. Only a limited number of students can be admitted to the workshop.