We (Aleksi Aaltonen and Marta Stelmaszak) are excited to announce the Innovating in Data-Based Reality: New Perspectives on Data as a Research Object Professional Development Workshop that will be held at the Academy of Management 2024 Annual Meeting in Chicago on Saturday, 10 August 2024 at 12:30 - 2:30 pm (no separate registration needed).
If you are interested in the study of data, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to engage with our excellent lineup of expert speakers: Sirkka Jarvenpaa (UT Austin), Jannis Kallinikos (LUISS University), Dorothy Leidner (University of Virginia), Natalia Levina (NYU), and Jan Recker (University of Hamburg)!
Overview
Data are key cognitive resources and unique semiotic artifacts that permeate organizational settings and the socioeconomic life today. Recent literature debunks the idea that data are simply ‘raw facts’ that fuel analytics and algorithmic systems—but what’s next? In this professional development workshop, we put forward the idea that data themselves should be an object of research and innovation, rather than just an accessory to digital innovation. We aim to push the boundaries of research on digital data and their role in contemporary innovation and organizing from different, complementary and sometimes competing, perspectives. Five expert speakers will introduce their own, diverse approaches to data as a research object and a key ingredient of innovation. The experts will variously acknowledge or theorize, for instance, the characteristics of data artifacts, data-related practices, issues with data quality and governance, or the broader organizational configurations that emerge around them. After the experts’ introductory remarks, participants will break into smaller groups with each expert to discuss in-depth the perspectives, methods, and directions for the growing research interest in data.
Expert Speakers
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Sirkka Jarvenpaa, University of Texas Austin
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Jannis Kallinikos, LUISS University
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Dorothy Leidner, University of Virginia
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Natalia Levina, New York University
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Jan Recker, University of Hamburg
Format
The workshop engages participants in interactive discussions to share their points of view and experience, learn from other participants and expert speakers. We will start with a short introduction by the two co-organizers (10 minutes). Then, five experts will briefly outline their thoughts on the following questions (5 minutes each):
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How to study data in a thoroughly datafied environment?
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How can innovation by and through data be theorized?
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What are the methods and kinds of evidence one should look for?
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What kind of knowledge can be useful for managers and policy makers to explore and exploit opportunities to innovate and organize with data in their industry?
This will serve as an introduction to the breakout groups so that participants can choose which group to join, each lead by one of the experts. The groups will include experts and participants discussing the above questions from the perspective introduced by the expert leading the group (30 minutes). The goal is for the participants to garner insights into the study of data most relevant to their research. The group will need to choose a rapporteur among the participants who gets to act as a panelist in the final session. Finally, the rapporteur for each group will report key discussion points back to the plenary (20 minutes). To draw conclusions, each expert will be asked to deliver a final statement commenting on discussions in breakout groups (20 minutes).
JOIN us in Chicago on Saturday, 10 August 2024, 12:30 - 2:30 pm!
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Aleksi Aaltonen
Assistant Professor
Fox School of Business, Temple University
Philadelphia PA
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