The Africa Academy of Management (AFAM) invites submissions for Professional Development Workshops (PDWs) at the 84th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM 2024), 9-13 August 2024 Chicago, IL, USA.

The workshops will take place Friday, 9 August through Sunday, 11 August 2024.

We encourage members of all divisions, interest groups, and theme committees of the Academy to submit PDW proposals that explore African dimensions of management theory and practice that are reflective of this year’s theme ‘Innovating for the Future.’ We look forward to proposals that advance knowledge and scholarship in the theory and practice of management among African scholars and/or academics interested in management and organization issues in Africa.

Proposals must broaden our understanding of issues relating to what, when, why, how, and where of ‘Innovating for the Future’ in an African context. An increasingly competitive global marketplace and technological advancements have put a premium on the ability of organizations to create and sustain competitive advantage and ultimately enhance their survival. Critical to this endeavor is innovation in both products and services as well as organizational processes. Although much is known about innovation, there is a dearth of research on innovation processes in African contexts. This is rather unfortunate as the resource-constrained nature of these contexts make an understanding of innovation processes critical to developing the knowledge base that these organizations can draw on to promote innovation and therefore enhance their survival. To this end, this PDW is meant to provide a forum to discuss critical issues that relate to the nature of innovation in African contexts, its ecosystem and impact on organizational performance. Additionally, it aims to explore the impact of the innovation imperative on environmental and human resource sustainability.

This year’s theme provides an excellent opportunity to reinvigorate scholarly engagement with pedagogical issues as well as bridge the practitioner-academic divide in African contexts. PDW proposals that are interdisciplinary and potentially offer a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, organizational, and cultural forces that shape innovation in African contexts are encouraged. We are particularly seeking interactive, inclusive, and creative PDW proposals that are aligned with AFAM’s primary objective of enabling the Academy ‘perform and support educational activities that contribute to intellectual and operational leadership in the field of management within an African context.’  Though not exhaustive, indicative questions that PDW proposals must aim to address include:

• What is the nature of innovation in the formal and informal sectors?
• How do we contextualize Western-inspired theories to explain innovation processes in African contexts?
• What is improvisation and how does it relate to innovation?
• What are the implications of technological advancements for the training and development of African employees?
• What are the triggers of innovation in African contexts and different organizational forms?
• How do organizations, small and large, build innovation capability?
• What role does human resource management play in developing the human resource capability to implement innovation strategies?
• How do organizations manage the tension between innovating for today and for the future?
• How and what are the drivers of organization learning in African contexts?
• What role do governments and employers’ associations play in promoting an enterprising/innovative culture?
• What methodologies can be used to study innovation processes in African contexts?
• What is the role of entrepreneurial education in promoting innovation?
• What role does technological advancement (including digitization) play in promoting innovation?
• What is the role of institutions and contextual conditions in influencing innovation within organizations?

The goals of our PDWs include:

• Helping to provide Academy members exposure to scholarship in the African context.
• Assisting Academy members in their research activities to facilitate the inclusion of research and comparative studies on Africa/African diaspora.
• Encouraging and facilitating an understanding of African management practices and cultural perspectives as they apply to management scholarship.

All proposals require a statement indicating that all PDW participants have consented to participate in the PDW. The AOM’s ‘Rule of Three’ for the PDW program is that ‘no one may submit or be associated with more than 3 PDW submissions or appear in more than 3 PDW sessions.’ Proposals that violate these rules may be rejected.

Acceptance of AFAM PDW proposals will be based on the following criteria: (i) relevance to the AFAM membership; (ii) novelty and creativity; (iii) developmental orientation; (iv) interactive and inclusive, and (v) logical coherence. Although not a requirement, considering our focus on inter-disciplinarity, we welcome proposals of interest to other AOM divisions. Please indicate in the submission document what divisions and interest groups may be suitable as potential co-sponsors.

The AOM 2024 submission deadline is Tuesday, 9 January 2024, 17:00 ET UTC-5/GMT-5.

All submissions must be made online via the AOM Submission Center. If you have any questions regarding the AFAM PDW or would like to explore the appropriateness of your proposal, please contact the AFAM PDW Co-chairs, Samuel Aryee or Anastacia Mamabolo at your earliest but preferably no later than Tuesday, 9 January 2024. We look forward to receiving your proposals.