Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Annual Meeting Information
Community Resources and AOM Research:
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: 29 May 2020
Loads of Content! The virtual format allows us to experiment with innovative ways of engaging with the conference theme and the scholarship we are passionate about. The virtual program will feature 200+ synchronous (real-time) sessions assembled by all the Division and Interest Groups, the Teaching and Learning Committee, and the All-Academy Theme Committee. These sessions will be scheduled in structured time blocks that account for global time zones. The virtual program is not constrained to Pacific Daylight Time! You’ll find Doctoral and Early Career Consortia alongside a tempting mix of “live” PDWs, Symposia, Paper Sessions, Business Meetings, Plenaries, Awards and Networking Opportunities. All of this without luggage, travel, or jet lag!
As usual, conference registrants will have asynchronous access to the papers accepted to the program. In addition, AOM2020’s registered paper authors and symposium panelists can opt-in to upload pre-recorded videos, slides or other materials and host discussions to facilitate meaningful dialogue during the event. We anticipate hundreds of these enhanced virtual sessions that will offer unprecedented opportunity for participation, feedback, and dissemination that will increase the exposure and impact of our work.
The meeting platform provides organic networking opportunities for geographically dispersed attendees to meet through chats, breakout rooms, and gathering places. We’ll catch up with old friends and make new connections.
Convenient Timeline! The virtual meeting schedule aligns with the original Annual Meeting dates: 7-11 August, with kick off activities on 6 August. This honors the schedule you already have in your calendar with an additional “launch” day at the front so you can join the kick-off activities, build your profile, review the program, plan your itinerary, and explore the features of our virtual platform. For members on the job market, AOM will be hosting a global, virtual career fair (dates and details coming soon).
More Access than Ever! The virtual meeting gives us the opportunity to broaden our academic community by bringing new contributors into the conversation from anywhere in the world –with just an internet connection. The enhanced accessibility provided by this year’s virtual conference will enable a rich diverse dialogue that will benefit professional development and advance the field.
This year, you won’t be facing scheduling conflicts. All the virtual sessions will be recorded, and all papers and enhanced materials will remain accessible to registrants and open for comment until 31 August. AOM2020 gives members more participation and feedback opportunities than ever before. And, all of this access from the comfort and safety of your own laptop!
Great Value! As always, AOM membership is required to participate in AOM2020. Conference registration is required to access the meeting platform. The registration rate for this year is set at $200US for academic and executive members and $100US for students and emeritus members. This rate is designed to offset the costs of the meeting platform for virtual program delivery. Registration will open soon but hundreds of members have already converted their physical meeting registration to the virtual event.
The energy and enthusiasm of the volunteers working to make the 2020 conference an exciting and memorable one is impressive (thank you, thank you!). Bringing “broadening our sight” to life embraces our willingness to see AOM2020 differently. Thank you for joining me as we pivot virtually in this unprecedented period.
Please watch for more details throughout June and July. In the meantime, stay healthy.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline Coyle-Shapiro
President
Academy of Management
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: 7 May 2020
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the AOM Board of Governors is cancelling the 2020 physical meeting of the Academy of Management, scheduled for 7-11 August 2020 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
In view of the importance of the annual meeting for members, this decision was not taken lightly but we are confident that it is the correct one. AOM is, first and foremost, committed to protecting our members’ health and safety and fulfilling our central purpose as a community. All the data we gathered from members, governmental authorities, and health authorities, including announcements from Vancouver last night, converge to a single conclusion: a physical meeting in Vancouver in August will not achieve our purpose of connecting a global community of management and organizational scholars. Therefore, AOM’s Board of Governors voted unanimously on 7 May 2020 to cancel the 2020 physical meeting.
What happens next?
Over the past few weeks, a Task Force and its subgroups have been working with the division and interest groups and program leaders to imagine what key components of the annual meeting could be offered virtually. We will now fully shift our efforts to developing a 2020 virtual meeting in some form. The Vancouver annual meeting received a record number of submissions, and we are committed to honoring the high-quality work of our authors and the efforts of our volunteers.
We are very grateful to all the members who have so enthusiastically embraced the call to collaborate on creating a quirky and memorable 2020 virtual meeting (thank you, thank you!). A virtual meeting, no matter what its collective shape, is definitely uncharted territory for AOM. However, the opportunity to experiment in the way we exchange ideas and advance research will benefit future annual meetings (in whatever form they take).
As you can imagine, designing and delivering a virtual version of AOM 2020 in some form is no small feat and a great deal of work lies ahead of us. You undoubtedly have many questions about what the virtual offering will look like, what it means for your participation, what happens to the trove of research papers and proceedings, what will the registration fee be, and more. We do not have all the answers for you today, but rest assured that every program leader, and every division and interest group, is fully committed to making some portion of their 2020 program available virtually. Please be patient as we continue our work and plan next steps. As new information becomes available, we will share it via email or as additions to our FAQ page. The COVID-19 member survey results are available here.
If you registered for the 2020 Annual Meeting, you will shortly receive a separate communication about the disposition of your registration fee. If you made a hotel reservation through the AOM Housing Bureau, you do not need to take any action as these will be released automatically and without charge. However, if you made a hotel reservation through sources other than the AOM Housing Bureau, you will need to cancel your own reservation. Please also remember to cancel your travel arrangements if you have made them.
Our strength lies in coming together as a community. Please join me in recognizing our volunteers who have already done so much and continue to do so much as we move forward in planning a quirky 2020 virtual meeting. And thank you to all of you for your continued membership in our Academy.
I wish you and your family well.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline Coyle-Shapiro
President
Academy of Management
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: 8 April 2020
Dear Worldwide Members
Thank you for your patience and support as AOM navigates through the COVID-19 pandemic. We particularly appreciate this as we know you are confronting increased uncertainties in your personal and professional lives. This is a defining point in time and a tough period for everyone but we can draw on the spirit and support of us as a collective.
I’d like to share with you the outcome of the discussions at our Board of Governors meeting (April 1-4) relating to the AOM Annual Meeting. Our discussions about COVID-19 were deep and multifaceted reflecting the diverse needs (and constraints) of our members around the world. The safety and health of our members stands at the forefront of many complex issues—the fate of the work submitted by thousands of our valued members, the role of the annual meeting in relation to our mission and identity, the capacity of our volunteers and staff, and our long-term sustainability as an organization.
The Board agreed to make a final decision about the physical meeting no later than May 7, 2020 so as to allow us to engage with division and other program leaders more closely. This decision has significant (and unprecedented) implications for members, divisions and the overall Academy as a community. Consequently, the Board voted to take a short amount of time before making a final decision. Although we cannot eliminate the uncertainty at this juncture, the decision date that we have given ourselves allows us to gather more information from relevant stakeholders, including the critical input of the divisions and interest groups into our strategic planning and implementation.
We reviewed the AOM’s conference development timelines against other critical dates (e.g., British Columbia and Canada’s dates to review border closures and permit mass gatherings). The situation continues to unfold at a rapid pace, and it is unclear what will happen next. In this uncertain and volatile context, we are proactively pursuing options to enable us to prioritize the health and safety of members while facilitating ongoing scholarship and community.
The situation we find ourselves in, and which we face along with the rest of the world, is not one anyone could have imagined. To navigate it successfully together we should take comfort in knowing that we will learn from it. Our newly acquired skills and methods of connecting with family, friends, colleagues and students will have value that carries on into the future once this crisis is behind us.
- What is clear right now is that, no matter what the situation may be in August, many of our colleagues will be unable to travel to Canada because of government travel restrictions, university funding constraints and travel restrictions, or changes in their personal and family responsibilities. This creates a strategic imperative for AOM to find a way to engage these members of our community. As a result, we are currently prioritizing strategies to explore adding virtual components into our 2020 program that would enhance and augment our traditional physical face-to-face activities. Doing this now will also strengthen us and provide a base on which to build if we are unable to come together in August. It is also an opportunity to experiment with different digital formats that may prove useful in enhancing future meetings.
- The volunteers in the divisions and interest groups have been doing a remarkable job in finalizing the program under extremely difficult circumstances. They have displayed exemplary efforts to develop the AOM program and coordinate submissions and reviewers while concurrently moving courses online at their home institutions. They have done this under extreme conditions, often physically isolated from friends and family. We are enormously grateful to all AOM volunteers for doing this (thank you, thank you and thank you).
- We are making a commitment to you that a decision on the physical component of the 2020 meeting (the on-site portion scheduled for delivery in Vancouver in August) will be made no later than May 7. This date allows for a fuller discussion with our key program stakeholders. We have to be honest with ourselves. We cannot “go virtual” with the entire 2020 program. Nor can we simultaneously deliver a full-blown physical conference alongside a virtual one. But in a context that is unparalleled, we could deliver some key parts of the 2020 program virtually – although they may be delivered in an unusual and experimental way. It’s not going to be perfect and perhaps the quirkiness will help further to develop our agility and strengthen our community’s ties.
We have assembled a task force led by Herman Aguinis, Amy Hillman and Quinetta Roberson to guide us in our effort to enhance the virtual component of the program. Subgroups are likely to be added as volunteers come forward to help us think through the design and implementation issues that need to be addressed. This could be an opportunity for members with virtual skills to raise their hand.
In closing, I just want to say how enormously proud I am to be standing alongside other volunteer leaders and members who have shown such resiliency and grit. Our willingness to adapt in order to make the best of a terrible situation will lay the groundwork for an even brighter future for AOM thanks to all of you. We are most assuredly in this together. I will be communicating with you again in the coming weeks.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline Coyle-Shapiro
President
Academy of Management
Resources and Updates:
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: 24 March 2020
As the world collectively increases its efforts to delay the spread of coronavirus, members of our AOM community are adapting to these evolving global challenges. Now more than ever, it is essential that we remind ourselves of our mission: to build a vibrant and supportive community of scholars by markedly expanding opportunities to connect and explore ideas. In this unprecedented time, community does make a difference particularly for members who have been advised to socially isolate. Let us make sure that we come together as a supportive community and extend a helping hand to our fellow members. Staying connected (virtually) through these uncertain times is so important. It is reassuring to see the positive hands of help on Connect@AOM, where each day our members are adding helpful resources regarding teaching, leading virtual teams, emotions at work, and other topics. It is our sincere hope that all members will continue leveraging the Connect Communities to share their knowledge and personal experiences.
Our thoughts are with all members of our AOM community as we confront the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our professional and personal lives. We also express our gratitude to all healthcare professionals for their dedication and expertise as they work on the front line to save lives.
In light of the unprecedented uncertainty and change, you may be wondering “What is happening to the Academy of Management Annual Meeting?” This is the first item on the agenda for the Executive Committee and the Board of Governors who are convening virtually in a special meeting next week (April 1-4). We are assembling as much information as we can, together with our Tourism Vancouver partners, and evaluating the alternatives should we not be able to physically come together this August (7-11). We will engage with DIG and other AOM leaders at the appropriate time as well.
Right now, at this very moment, we are continuing to plan for the Annual Meeting while evaluating all of our options and establishing the timeline for definitive decision making. We ask for your patience and support as we engage in essential dialogue and make the critical assessments that are needed.
Please continue to monitor this web page. Updates will be made as the situation unfolds.
Take care and stay healthy as we strive to surmount the challenges ahead.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline Coyle-Shapiro
President
Academy of Management
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: 13 March 2020
Dear Worldwide AOM Colleagues,
As part of the Academy of Management’s mission to build a vibrant and supportive community of scholars, AOM regularly hosts conferences and other events. These meetings are essential opportunities to build connections. However, as a professional association, we are also committed to the health and safety of our members, and we are always vigilant about monitoring the local conditions where these events are held.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a rapidly developing situation and let me take this opportunity to assure you that we are monitoring it closely and have developed contingency plans we can unfold as needed. Although it is difficult to plan under uncertainty, we will take responsive and decisive action when needed.
Many governments and employers have introduced travel restrictions; policymakers and public health authorities around the world are working to contain the spread of the virus. We are watching these global events unfold, and we are optimistic that these measures will enable us to continue to engage the AOM community in a productive and healthy way. We are a strong community and we will work together to face the current challenge.
We plan to keep you regularly informed and updated of the status of AOM conferences and other events:
The AOM Specialized Conference Advancing Management Research in Latin America in Mexico City 15-17 April 2020 is CANCELLED. We are thankful to all submitters and registrants for their support and we are immensely grateful to the organizers and our many AOM volunteers who have worked tirelessly to produce this very meaningful conference. It is with a heavy heart that we relay this message but it is now inadvisable and impossible to hold this conference. We hope that one day in the future we might be able to hold a specialized conference in Latin America.
Some AOM journal workshops have been postponed. Members are referred to the AOM Journals Paper Development Workshops site for further information.
Divisions and Interest Groups (DIGS) occasionally hold grassroots conferences in varying locations. For the status on individual DIG conferences, please visit the respective DIG websites.
We are continuing to plan for the AOM Annual Meeting 7-11 August 2020 in Vancouver, Canada. Registration and housing are now open.
Mindful of the duty of care, the AOM team remains in close contact with hotel representatives, Convention and Visitors’ Bureaus and local partners on sanitary, health and other measures that should be in place at the facilities hosting our events. We continue to monitor guidelines from the World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other pertinent public health organizations as part of our collective responsibility to focus on the facts and to act with common sense and sound judgment.
Members are advised to check their schools and country-specific travel advisories, as well as other authoritative sources, and to understand their hotel and transportation carrier’s policies on cancellation or changes. As part of our sound judgment and balanced approach, we are also in the process of evaluating our options for virtual presentation should this option be needed. If you have respiratory symptoms or have been exposed to affected individuals or areas, we urge you not to travel to upcoming AOM events. If at any point while in attendance at an AOM event you begin to develop symptoms of Coronavirus (COVID-19), we urge you to seek medical attention.
Please keep checking this webpage, which we suggest that you bookmark. We will be updating it regularly as the situation evolves and making sure it contains links to relevant and reliable public health resources. Please do not hesitate to contact AOM at meetings@aom.org with specific questions about our upcoming conferences and events.
My sincere hope is that we face these challenges as a united management and organization community, supportive of each other and especially of our colleagues who are most affected. I send my best wishes to all of you for good health.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline Coyle-Shapiro
President
Academy of Management
Resources: