Sunday, 11^th October 2009, Washington DC.

The Practice of Strategy Interest Group has organized three Sunday sessions for the 2009 SMS conference. Please note that no prior registration is required, however if you plan to attend send us an email at: Sotirios.Paroutis@wbs.ac.uk

Session 1: Learning from Practice - Opening the Black box of Consulting Engagements

Time: 10:00-11:30

In this first session of the day for the Practice of Strategy Interest Group we will investigate in depth the intricacies and challenges of consulting engagements. The session will address the following questions: What are the characteristics of a consulting engagement? How are these engagements changing under the current challenging economic conditions? How can consulting engagements be improved?  Practitioners and practitioner-oriented academics are encouraged to bring their own experiences to this interactive session. The focus will be on sharing the experience and knowledge of business people, consultants, and academics to improve strategy practice.

Facilitator:

Paul Friga (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Session 2: Conducting Practice Studies - Introduction, Methods and Challenges

Time: 13:00-14:30

While practice research is a rich and expanding area, scholars can also be confronted by a number of challenges, spanning theoretical, conceptual and methodological issues.

The purpose of this session is to introduce participants to the key ideas behind the practice approach and generate a dialogue on the challenges and benefits when conducting a practice study.

The panelists will share their experiences and insights in: conceptualizing, designing, conducting and publishing practice research. Specifically we will discuss the following key questions: how can practice be conceptualized, what are the key theories that scholars can use, how can a practice study be designed, what are the challenges in publishing practice studies and how can these be dealt with.

The panelists will give brief introductory remarks, after which we will have a lively discussion among the panelists and the audience, addressing specific questions.

Panelists:

Leif Melin (Jönköping International Business School)

Thomas Lawton (Cranfield University)

Paul Knott (University of Canterbury)

David Stiles (University of Canterbury)

Session 3: Promising Research Directions Using a Practice Approach

Time: 15:00-16:30

In the third session, we will be discussing the future directions for Practice studies. This session will focus on ways to develop new theory and questions informed from practice literature and practice.

The panelists will briefly present where the interesting and promising areas of the field are currently emerging and comment on the future research questions that need to be addressed. Attendees will then break into small groups based on the presentations and hold a dialogue on the likely future directions of the practice approach. Final reports from groups will conclude the session.

This penultimate session will help you network with other researchers/practitioners and form the basis for future research collaborations.

Panelists:

Veronique Ambrosini (Cardiff University)

Tomi Laamanen (Helsinki University of Technology)

Sari Stenfors (Stanford University)

PDF File of sessions