Sorry for cross-postings --
Emmanuel Raufflet
HEC Montréal
"DARK SIDE VI" CASE-WRITING COMPETITION
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 1, 2007
The Critical Management Studies (CMS) Interest Group and the Management
Education Division (MED) of the Academy of Management are pleased to sponsor
the Dark Side VI Case-Writing Competition at the 2007 Academy of Management
Conference (Philadelphia). Now in its sixth year, the Dark Side Case
Competition is designed to encourage and acknowledge case writing that
addresses the dark side of contemporary capitalism.
Submissions are invited from faculty, students and those working in
industry. We are looking for teaching cases - not research papers based on
case studies or otherwise. Our goal is to encourage the development of
first-rate classroom materials that generate discussion around dark side
issues. In previous competitions, cases have examined issues in developed as
well as developing countries, in organizations ranging from multinational
corporations to entrepreneurial start-ups, on situations describing micro,
interpersonal dilemmas and conflicts to more macro-level organizational
decisions and actions with broad social, economic and political
implications.
CASE REVIEW AND CASE SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Cases will be reviewed by an international panel of reviewers. Cases judged
to be one of the "best" 5 entries will be showcased by their authors at a
Professional Development Workshop session at the 2007 Academy of Management
Conference in Philadelphia. All submissions will be eligible for the "best
case award." The best case will also be recognized at an award ceremony at
the Academy of Management conference in Philadelphia; synopses of the
winning and best cases are posted on the AOM CMS website. The award will go
to the best case study - not to the worst offender. The award selection
criteria include:
· the importance, from a critical perspective, of the issues raised;
· the quality of the underlying research: we encourage solid
background research using interviews, legal proceedings, archival data,
etc.;
· the quality of the presentation: the case should not be polemically
one-sided - it should give voice to a range of points of view;
· the clarity of the writing;
· the usefulness of an accompanying teaching note (guidelines
follow).
All submissions should include a teaching note. The teaching note should
enable the panel to judge the likely effectiveness of using the case in the
classroom. It is suggested that the teaching note include:
· a synopsis of the case;
· a brief description of the research behind the case;
· suggested courses including course level (undergrad/grad) and course type
(policy, OB, OT, MIS, Labour Relations, etc.);
· guide questions that make explicit the issues raised by the case and the
importance of these issues from a critical perspective; suggested answers
should be included and the answers to the guide questions should draw out
managerial and organizational implications of the situation and of the
recommended plan(s) of action as well as generating some discussion on how
the case relates to relevant theories;
· a suggested teaching plan (issues and time allocation/issue);
· reference list of related readings;
· a case update, if available;
NOTE: the case will be judged entirely on the written material provided by
authors. The presentations at the Professional Development Workshop session
will not form part of the competition process but will allow the case
writers the opportunity to discuss their cases.
Results of the previous years of the competition are posted at the CMS
website (http://aom.pace.edu/cms/).
Submissions should be received (email only please) by February 1st, 2007.
Individual authors should not be involved in more than three cases. Where
possible, cases should be submitted in both pdf and Word versions. Please
put all identifying information and contact details on the front page only,
and begin the second page with the title of the case.
Submissions and inquiries should be addressed to Case Competition organizers
Emmanuel Raufflet (
emmanuel.raufflet@hec.ca)
Latha Poonamallee (
latha.poonamallee@case.edu)
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
MOTIVATION FOR THE COMPETITION
Our case libraries are almost exclusively devoted to "best-practice" cases
profiling business decisions faced by what are generally considered to be
well-managed firms. The cupboard is relatively bare when instructors look
for cases on the more typical, merely average firm, or on really
scandalously bad practices, or on the sometimes bad consequences of
much-praised practices. It is especially difficult to find reasonably rich
cases on labor/management conflict or issues dealing with fundamental
challenges to the management's definition of a fair employment relationship.
Some of our colleagues who write cases justify this "bright side" bias,
arguing that there are 100 ways to go wrong for every one way to go right.
We challenge that premise, for several reasons:
· the patterns we observe among the wrong ways tell us a great deal
about weaknesses of the broader system of business and of our society;
· there are a large number of organizations who do very well for one
set of stakeholders (e.g., owners) at great expense to other stakeholders
(e.g., workers or local communities); and
· our students deserve materials that prompt them to think through
the scope of feasible and appropriate action if they happen to find
themselves confronted with such practices.
This competition therefore aims to encourage the development of cases that
provoke reflection and debate on the "dark side" of contemporary capitalism.
Some might argue that we are promoting "muckraking." They are correct: we
feel that if there's so much "muck" out there, it behooves us to look at it
squarely and decide what should be done about it. For both teaching and
research purposes, it is critical that we have well documented
worst-practices cases on the table, so that we have the opportunity to
understand how such organizations come in being, how they function, and how
they might be challenged and changed.
We especially want cases that lead discussion of broader
social-political-economic structures and help students think critically
about the consequences of these structures. We hope to receive submissions
from case writers examining a range of organizational and social issues
including, but not limited to:
· Cases focused on labour relations - instructors in this area are
especially eager to see cases that raise issues about the difficulties
workers encounter in organizing unions and otherwise expressing voice at
work.
· Cases focused on environmentally harmful practices - we need to
understand better the factors that entice firms to pollute, and how these
conditions might be changed.
· Cases that explore issues of gender and race and the deep
structures of power that marginalize, oppress and silence individuals and
groups
· Cases that examine the paradox of technology as an element of our
environment that enables and constrains individuals
A FINAL NOTE ON THE JUDGING PROCESS
An international committee composed of academics and practitioners from
various countries will make the selection of the "5 best entries" and of the
best case study.
International Panel of Case Competition Judges
To be announced.