Apologies for cross-posting
We have organized an amazing PDW on Flows, Paths, Processes, and Matter: Developing and Applying Theories for Emerging Technologies.
Please see: https://events.aom.org/events/aom-2026/session/jUfA4YVvKC6wFd0QX5EF5
When: SAT, 1 Aug 2026
Time: 15:15 - 17:15
Location: Philadelphia Marriott Downtown: Level 5: Salon D
If you are keen to better understand different theories and how they apply to our changing world of emerging technologies, then please join us for our PDW.
It features an amazing line-up of experts who will clarify a particular theory, compare it to one that closely resembles it and show its capacity to understand emerging technologies.
Speakers include:
Professor Susan Scott (Imperial College Business School) – sociomateriality
Professor Shaila Miranda (University of Arkansas) – discursive practices
Professor Emmanuelle Vaast (McGill University) – process theory
Dr Reza Mousavi Baygi (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) – flow
Professor Brian Pentland (Michigan State University) – path nets
Making sense of emerging technologies (Bailey et al., 2022) as they shift and change in the world around us is an important focus not limited to scholars of information systems (Seidel et al., 2025). Increasingly it has overtaken the attention of management researchers (Hinds & von Krogh, 2024; Pentland et al., 2022). Equally relevant is a movement towards novel theories that can help explain change as it unfolds where relationality (Emirbayer, 1997; Lee et al., 2020), discursive processes (Hardy & Maguire, 2010; Miranda et al., 2022), path nets (Pentland et al., 2025; Pentland et al., 2022), flows (de Rond et al., 2022; Mousavi Baygi et al., 2021), processes (Deken et al., 2016; Garud & Gehman, 2016; Langley et al., 2013) and entanglements (Orlikowski & Scott, 2008; Scott & Orlikowski, 2014) become central and entity-based research is backgrounded. Such theories that prioritize flows, relationality and processes over entities share much in common. The nuanced overlap amongst them, while interesting, has also a) led to some confusion about how to differentiate them. Another important concern that many scholars face is a question that is b) epistemological in nature – ie how we apply, draw on or build on such theories with empirical data focused on digital technologies. This PDW on emerging technologies brings together experts of path nets, process work, flows and entanglements and their application to digital technologies.
We look forward to seeing you!
Organizers:
Maha Shaikh
Emmanuelle Vaast
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Maha Shaikh
ESADE Business School - Ramon Llull University
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