ODC annual conference 2023

Organizing for Good

October 26th-27th 2023

The Organizational Design Community is pleased to announce that the annual conference will be held virtually on October 26-27, 2023. The theme for this year’s conference is “Organizing for Good”. Recent years have seen a growing interest in moving beyond the traditional emphasis on shareholder value maximization to embrace a more holistic role for organizations in society. Yet key questions on whether, and how, organizations can truly deliver on these social goals while remaining financially viable remain to be answered. Similarly, organizations that pursue non-profit goals, are adopting new organizing models to embrace digital technology, attract new and unconventional ways of funding, and collaborative across sectors.

This year’s conference, co-organized by Tina Ambos and Aseem Kaul, seeks to address these questions, examining how social and financial goals can be brought together in the context of large established organizations, new start-ups, and cross-sector collaborations. Moreover, as achieving meaningful social impact requires bringing together academic insights and real-world practice, this year’s conference will showcase and discuss contemporary examples of innovative organization designs addressing the sustainable development goals through the use of new approaches, technologies, and business models.

Agenda: 

October 26th: 12 pm to 4 pm EST

12.00-12.15 Opening and Introductions

12.15-13.30 Session 1: Collaborative Organizing for Good

Dovev Lavie (Bocconi), Sergio Lazzarini (Ivey), and Aline Gatignon (Wharton)

Interactive session format 

Break 13.30-13.45

13.45-15.00 Session 2: Equity and Purpose in Large Organizations:

Claudine Gartenberg (Wharton) and Chris Rider (Univ of Michigan), Ruth Aguilera (Northeastern Univ)

Interactive session format

Break 15.00-15.15

15.15-15.55h Session 3: A Conversation on Creating Impact

Geoff Davis (Sorensen Impact Institute) and Jonathan Doh (Villanova Univ)

Conversation style discussion 

15.55-16.00 Closing of Day 1

October 27th: 8 am to 12 pm EST 

8.00-8.10: Opening

8.10-9.25 Session 4: Alternative Organizing Models for Social Impact: Chris Marquis (Cambridge), Wesley Koo (Johns Hopkins Univ), Tom Lumpkin (University of Oklahoma)

Interactive session format

Break 9.25-9.40

9.40-11.00 Session 5: Technology-enabled Forms of Organizing

conversation style discussion with Chris Fabian (UNICEF, Giga project) with comments and perspectives from Phanish Puranam (INSEAD) and Vivanna Fang He (Univ of St. Gallen).

11.00-11.15

11.15-11.45 Session 6: Journal of Organization Design Special Issue “Organizing for Good”

Oliver Baumann (Univ of Southern Denmark) and Brian Wu (Univ of Michigan) 

11.45-12.00 Closing of the Conference by ODC Directors