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Management Spirituality and Religion Interest Group

Announcing the 2011 Most Promising Dissertation Awards

The Academy of Management MSR Interest Group is pleased to announce the 2011 Most Promising Dissertation Awards. These awards are made available annually to doctoral candidates approaching completion of comprehensive exams, beginning the formulation of their dissertation topics, and/or currently performing dissertation-related research. This year, we are pleased to continue a tradition of awarding cash stipends to top finalists for the purpose of offsetting dissertation research costs.

Purpose

The purpose of these awards is to honor and assist doctoral candidates working in the domain of Management, Spirituality, and Religion (MSR) to develop quality dissertations that can: (1) Integrate management with spirituality and/or religion, and (2) reflect novel and/or significant evidence-based theoretical and/or applied contributions to the field. As an emerging discipline of scholarship within the Academy of Management, MSR seeks to encourage quality doctoral dissertations as a springboard to ongoing contributory research and inquiry.

Objectives

Objectives of the Most Promising Dissertation Awards includes, but is not limited to:

·         Acknowledging the value of intended or current dissertation work as competitively reviewed by an international panel of scholars.

·         Helping to establish contacts with MSR researchers who share common interests in the proposed or current area of study and who can afford valuable coaching.

·         Providing an opportunity (through the MSR Doctoral Consortium) to interact with scholars and other doctoral candidates in refining the theoretical and methodological foundations of theses, and to explore action implications.

·         Assisting with the refinement and/or implementation phases of research projects if and when feasible.

Submission Requirements

NO MORE THAN FOUR (4) DOUBLE-SPACED PAGES MAY BE SUBMITTED, INCLUDING REFERENCES AND/OR FIGURES, providing an overview ("executive summary") of the proposed research, setting forth the topic of interest or study, its relevance to MSR, links to interesting theoretical concerns, preliminary or current methodological approaches, and connection to managerial actions or practice. "Refined" proposals and/or research findings are not required. An aim of the Most Promising Dissertation Awards is to capture early ideation or research of significant promise and to provide subsequent assistance in the refinement of quality scholarly efforts. Already completed or defended dissertations are ineligible.

A SEPARATE COVER SHEET SHOULD ACCOMPANY EACH SUBMISSION, CONTAINING THE SUBMITTER'S NAME, FULL ADDRESS, EMAIL, AND PHONE NUMBER. NO IDENTIFYING INFORMATION SHOULD APPEAR IN THE FOUR-PAGE DISSERTATION OVERVIEW.

Submissions should generally align with the MSR domain statement: "The study of the relationship and relevance of spirituality and religion in management and organizations. Major topics include: theoretical advances or empirical evidence about the effectiveness of spiritual or religious principles and practices in management, from approaches represented in the literature including religious ethics, spirituality and work, and spiritual leadership, as well as applications of particular religions, and secular spiritualities to work, management/leadership, organization, and the business system; and evaluation studies of the effectiveness of management approaches that nurture the human spirit in private, non-public or public institutions."

Please send along a digital photo with all submissions. Submission of material for this award shall be deemed as an acknowledgement by applicants that they authorize the MSR Interest Group to publish photos, biographical information, and/or portions of submitted material for press releases or other purposes that the organization may deem appropriate.

Expectations of Finalists

·         Attend the 2011 Academy of Management meeting in Austin, TX and the Doctoral Student and New Faculty Consortium and awards presentation during that event.

·         Come prepared to discuss progress to date on the research proposal as well as receive feedback during the Consortium.

·         Submit a scholarly paper to MSR through the Academy of Management review process when the thesis is completed.

Submission Deadline

Award applications should be sent electronically to Dr. Jaye Goosby Smith, jaye.smith@csuci.edu, no later than April 1, 2011. Finalists will be notified approximately two months in advance of the Academy of Management Annual Meeting in order to allow them to make appropriate travel plans for attendance. Additional information on the conference may be found at the Academy of Management website, http://meetings.aomonline.org/2011.

Selection Committee

The selection committee for Most Promising Dissertation Awards in any given year may consist of MSR Interest Group officers, distinguished Academy of Management scholars, and external invited reviewers. All decisions by the selection committee are final. Anyone who wishes to serve on the selection committee should contact Dr. Jaye Goosby Smith, jaye.smith@csuci.edu.

Doctoral Consortium

Inquiries related to the MSR Doctoral Consortium may be addressed to the Consortium co-chairs, Drs. Lee Robbins, leeprobbins@att.net, and/or Leona Lobell Torkelsen, lmlobell@email.phoenix.edu.