Call for Papers: Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop in Business History, 29 June 2022
Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University Newcastle.
The ABH will hold its tenth annual Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop on 29 June 2023. This event immediately precedes the 2023 ABH Annual Conference at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University. The full call for papers can be found here: https://www.theabh.org/conferences. Participants in the Workshop are encouraged to attend the main ABH Annual Conference following the Workshop. They will also have an opportunity to participate in the Poster Competition (explained in the main call for papers). The Workshop is an excellent opportunity for doctoral students to discuss their work with other research students and established academics in business history in an informal and supportive environment. It is important to note that this will not be a hybrid event and all participants need to attend the workshop in person. Students at any stage of their doctoral studies, whether in their first year or very close to submitting, are urged to apply. In addition to providing new researchers with an opportunity to discuss their work with experienced researchers in the discipline, the Workshop will also include at least one skill-related session. The Workshop interprets the term ‘business history’ broadly, and it is intended that students in areas such as (but not confined to) the history of management and organizations, international trade and investment, financial or economic history, agricultural history, the history of not-for- profit organisations, government-industry relations, accounting history, social studies of technology, and historians or management or labour will find it useful. Students undertaking topics with a significant business history element but in disciplines other than economic or business history are also welcome. We embrace students researching any era or region of history. Skills sessions are typically led by regular ABH members; in the past these have included ‘getting published’, ‘using historical sources’, and ‘preparing for your viva examination’ sessions. There will be ample time for discussion of each student’s work and the opportunity to gain feedback from active researchers in the field.
How to Apply for the Tony Slaven Workshop
Your application should be no more than 4 pages sent together in a single computer file: 1) a one-page CV; 2) one page stating the name(s) of the student’s supervisor(s), the title of the theses (a proposed title is fine), the university and department where the student is registered and the date of commencement of thesis registration; 3) an abstract of the work to be presented.
If selected for the workshop, you will be asked to prepare a 15-minute presentation that is either a summary of your PhD project (giving an overview of the overarching themes, research questions, and methodologies) or a chapter/paper.
You may apply via email to Dr Michael Aldous at m.aldous@qub.ac.uk. Please use the subject line “Tony Slaven Workshop” and submit by 24 March 2023.
Newcastle Business School Northumbria University 29 June 2023
The ABH will hold its tenth annual Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop on 29 June 2023. This event immediately precedes the 2023 ABH Annual Conference at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University. Participants in the Workshop are encouraged to attend the main ABH Annual Conference following the Workshop. They will also have an opportunity to participate in the Poster Competition (explained in the main call for papers). The Workshop is an excellent opportunity for doctoral students to discuss their work with other research students and established academics in business history in an informal and supportive environment. It is important to note that this will not be a hybrid event and all participants need to attend the workshop in person. Students at any stage of their doctoral studies, whether in their first year or very close to submitting, are urged to apply. In addition to providing new researchers with an opportunity to discuss their work with experienced researchers in the discipline, the Workshop will also include at least one skill-related session. The Workshop interprets the term ‘business history’ broadly, and it is intended that students in areas such as (but not confined to) the history of management and organizations, international trade and investment, financial or economic history, agricultural history, the history of not-for- profit organisations, government-industry relations, accounting history, social studies of technology, and historians or management or labour will find it useful. Students undertaking topics with a significant business history element but in disciplines other than economic or business history are also welcome. We embrace students researching any era or region of history. Skills sessions are typically led by regular ABH members; in the past these have included ‘getting published’, ‘using historical sources’, and ‘preparing for your viva examination’ sessions. There will be ample time for discussion of each student’s work and the opportunity to gain feedback from active researchers in the field.
How to Apply for the Tony Slaven Workshop
Your application should be no more than 4 pages sent together in a single computer file: 1) a one-page CV; 2) one page stating the name(s) of the student’s supervisor(s), the title of the theses (a proposed title is fine), the university and department where the student is registered and the date of commencement of thesis registration; 3) an abstract of the work to be presented.
If selected for the workshop, you will be asked to prepare a 15-minute presentation that is either a summary of your PhD project (giving an overview of the overarching themes, research questions, and methodologies) or a chapter/paper.
You may apply via email to Dr Michael Aldous at m.aldous[at]qub.ac.uk. Please use the subject line “Tony Slaven Workshop” and submit by 24 March 2023.
Association of Business Historians Annual Conference Newcastle Business School Northumbria University 30 June-1 July 2023
Named in honour of the British business historian Donald Coleman (1920-1995), this prize is awarded annually by the Association of Business Historians to recognise excellence in new research in Britain. It is open to PhD dissertations in Business History (broadly defined) either having a British subject or completed at a British university. All dissertations completed in the previous year (2022) to that of the Prize are eligible. In keeping with the ABH’s broad understanding of business history, applications are strongly encouraged from candidates in economic history, social history, labour history, intellectual history, cultural history, environmental history, the history of science and technology, the history of medicine, or any other subfield. The value of the prize is £500, sponsored by the Taylor & Francis Group, a scholarly publisher. To be eligible for the Prize, finalists must present their findings in person at the Association’s annual conference, held on 29th June-1st July 2023. A complete list of previous winners may be found at: http://www.gla.ac.uk/external/ABH/coleman.html
How to Apply for the Coleman Prize
Supervisors are encouraged to nominate recent PhDs, and self-nominations are also strongly welcomed. Please send a PDF including the title of your PhD dissertation and a brief abstract (up to 2 double-spaced pages) to christine.leslie@glasgow.ac.uk by 24 February 2023. Shortlisted candidates will be requested to submit electronic copies of their theses 17 March 2023. Finalists will be notified by 14 April 2023.
Everyone appearing on the programme must register for the meeting. PhD students whose papers are accepted for the meeting may apply for funds to partially defray their travel costs by applying to the Francesca Carnevali Travel Grant for PhD Students. A limited number of scholarships are available from the Francesca Carnevali fund of the ABH to contribute towards the travel, accommodation and registration costs of students doing a PhD in the United Kingdom, who are presenting in the Slaven Workshop, the ABH conference or the Coleman Prize.
In the 2020s, business history remains ‘in an inventive mood, bursting with multiple futures and paths forward’ (Kipping et al., 2016; 19). Having moved on from the 20th century preoccupation with large corporations, business historians now engage with a multiplicity of themes and topics. While the discipline has yet to make a significant impact on the curricula of most business schools, and few schools of history teach the subject, judged from the perspective of the high ranking of its major journals business history has established a highly credible position across the social sciences and humanities. On the other hand, many have questioned whether the discipline has adapted sufficiently to what remains a highly challenging environment for business historians (Scranton and Fridenson, 2013; Wilson et al., 2022). Are we merely preaching to ourselves? Have we engaged with society’s biggest issues, and thereby limited the opportunities of influencing practice in an effective way? Is the preoccupation with the USA, Europe and Japan restricting our understanding of the many paths taken by business in other socio-cultural and political contexts?
In searching for answers to these questions, the conference will assess the extent to which the discipline ought to be more ambitious in developing its research agendas. This builds effectively on the themes of last year’s ABH conference at Strathclyde, when we debated the theme of ‘Turning points and persistent problems’. Crucially, we need to change the attitudes of senior university managers to the subject by demonstrating its considerable relevance to students’ intellectual development, as well as influencing the worlds of practice that rarely consider historical perspectives. Although this will provide business historians with major challenges, achieving these aims will generate much greater credibility and offer rich opportunities for the discipline. Above all, we want the discipline to have a wider impact, whether this be on other disciplines or the various worlds of practice, thereby extending the barriers that have limited business history’s potential to influence the world around us.
What are the areas into which business historians might delve?
– The Worlds of Practice: In recognition of the ways in which ‘uses of the past’ have infiltrated disciplines such as strategy, corporate identity and human resource management, we need to investigate how business historians can work more extensively with practitioners, whether they be policy-makers, corporate executives or archivists. As impact is such an important issue, especially in the UK, business history must respond to the challenge.
– Emerging Markets: we agree with Friedman and Jones (2017; p. 455), who strongly encourage business historians to engage in research projects that encompass economies outside the United States, Western Europe and Japan; ‘the future of business history rests in part on recognizing the centrality of this alternative business history, rather than treating the business history of Africa, Asia, and Latin America as tangential to the central themes of the discipline’. Scranton (2019, 2020) has already made this move, putting into practice what he and Fridenson (2013) noted in Reimagining Business History.
– Sustainability: while Jones and Lubinski (2014; p. 18) made a strenuous appeal for business historians to analyse ‘why some firms become “greener” than others’, apart from the work of Bergquist (2017) and of Jones (2022), relatively little effort has been made to develop this theme and assess the wide sustainability agenda and corporate responses. The forthcoming book by Jones (2022) will no doubt stimulate much wider interest in the role business has played in accommodating the environmental agenda into corporate strategy and performance, focusing especially on the term ‘deep responsibility’.
– Corporate Ethics and Corporate Governance: while there has been extensive work done in these fields, given the extent of corporate misbehaviour and violations of corporate codes it is vital that business historians participate in these debates. For example, the British Academy’s Future of the Corporation project (2021) would benefit from greater historical insights into context and behaviour.
– Gender and Race: again, while the literature on women and racial issues in business have expanded over the course of the last thirty years, these remain significant areas for investigation because of the way they open up our understanding of how business and society interact. This would also link with the decolonization agenda that is now sweeping the world. One might also add that masculinity is another neglected area of study; even though sociologists have written extensively about ‘hegemonic masculinity’ (Connell & Wood, 2005), the business history literature has failed to assess how this influenced the achievement and execution of power.
– Social Science Theory: Following the ‘historic turn’ in organization studies (Clark and Rowlinson, 2004) and the recent surge in interest amongst strategy and international business scholars in the incorporation of historical analysis into research agendas (Perchard et al., 2017), a substantial debate has been occupying a lot of space in prominent journals. Although the methodological issues arising from this work have yet to be resolved, it is essential to assess how business historians can engage with theoretical concepts when conducting research.
Needless to say, there could well be other agendas that need to be incorporated into the ambit of business history, an issue that will no doubt be raised at the conference. The key issue here is finding a place for business history in debating the ‘Big Issues’ that face society, applying our skills and knowledge to finding solutions that are both effective and sustainable. By pursuing this strategy, we might better engage with both the worlds of practice and senior university managers, demonstrating our credibility and relevance to the major debates of our time.
Sources:
British Academy (2021), Future of the Corporation, British Academy.
Clark, P., & Rowlinson, M. (2004). The treatment of history in organization studies: Towards an ‘historic turn’? Business History, 46(3), 331–352.
Connell, R.W., & Wood, J. (2005). Globalization and business masculinities. Men and Masculinities, 7(4), 347–364.
Friedman, W.A. and Jones, G. (2017). Time for debate. Business History Review, 85 (Spring), pp.1-8.
Jones, G. (2022). The Search for the Deep Responsibility of Business. Boston, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Jones, G. & Lubinski, C. (2014). Making ‘Green Giants’: Environment sustainability in the German chemical industry, 1950s–1980s, Business History, 56(4), pp.1-14.
Kipping, M., Kurosawa, T., & Wadhwani, R. D. (2016). A revisionist historiography of business history: a richer past for a richer future. In J.F. Wilson, S. Toms, A. de Jong, & E. Buchnea (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Business History (pp. 19–35). Routledge.
Perchard, A., MacKenzie, N.G., Decker, S., & Favero, G. (2017). Clio in the business school: Historical approaches in strategy, international business and entrepreneurship. Business History, 59(6), 904–927.
Scranton, P., & Fridenson, P. (2013). Reimagining Business History. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.
Scranton, P. (2019). Fixing holes in the plan: Maintenance and repair in Poland, 1945–1970. Enterprise et Histoire. 103, pp.54-72.
Scranton, P. (2020). Collaboration, coordination, cooperation and subversive entrepreneurship in Socialist Hungary’, paper given to the Business History Conference.
Wilson, John F. Ian G. Jones, Steven Toms, Anna Tilba, Emily Buchnea and Nicholas Wong (2022), Business History. A Research Overview, Routledge, pp.148.
How to submit a paper or session proposal
The programme committee will consider both individual papers and entire panels. We are keen to encourage both developmental and mature papers. Individual paper proposals should include a one-page (up to 300-word) abstract and brief biographical note. Panel proposals should include a cover letter stating the rationale for the panel and the name of its contact person; one-page (300-word) abstract and author’s CV for each paper; and a list of preferred panel chairs and commentators with contact information. The deadline for submissions is 27 January 2023. Please use the conference e-mail address (below) to submit proposals.
Poster submissions
The ABH also welcomes poster proposals from graduate students on all aspects of business history covering a wide range of periods and countries.
Poster presenters will normally be in either the First or Second Year of their PhD. We also strongly encourage those who have previously presented a poster will submit a paper proposal to the main conference in a subsequent year.
Those wishing to be considered for inclusion in the programme must submit an application by 27 January 2023. This should provide:
Title of your PhD project.
An abstract (300 words).*
A current CV.
*The abstract should explain the background to the poster; the questions addressed; the sources and methods employed; and likely conclusions.
Approved posters must be submitted by 1 June 2023.
If you have any questions, please contact the Conference Organisers via:
On the 1st of July, the Association of Business Historians (ABH) held the Coleman Prize session which featured four excellent presenters: Ian Jones, Nicolaas Strydom, Jeannette Strickland, and Gaurav Pratap Sud. The eventual winner was Ian Jones with his thesis titled Using the past: Authenticity, reliability, and the role of archives in Barclays plc’s use of the past strategies. Ian’s thesis was completed at the University of Liverpool and he was supervised by Dr Margaret Procter and Dr Andrew Smith and Barclays Group Archivists Maria Sienkiewicz. Ian’s thesis analyses the role of Barclays Group Archives (BGA) in the delivery of Barclays’ strategic objectives, abstract below:
Recent scholarship in organisation studies has begun to address how organisations perceive and use their history. However, how organisations preserve and access their history, and how this affects how they are able to use their history is less researched. This thesis investigates how Barclays Group Archives (BGA) contribute to Barclays plc delivering its strategic objectives. It asks, how does BGA, as a specific unit of the organisation, facilitate the delivery of Barclays plc’s strategic objectives? The researcher was embedded in the archives, enabling the gathering of observational data on how BGA operate as well as a unique level of access to archival organisational records. These were used to target and gain access to Barclays plc employees to conduct interviews to ascertain how they used BGA’s resources and what benefits they felt BGA brought. Using interviews, observation, and other qualitative research methods, this thesis introduces archival science theory to the study of how organisations can benefit from using their history, introducing the archival science ideas of authenticity, reliability, usability, and integrity to inform the research on organisational memory and use of the past strategies.
Association of Business Historians Annual Conference
‘Pluralistic perspectives of business history: gender, class, ethnicity, religion’
The Open University Business School, 29-30 June 2018
Call for papers
The 2018 Association of Business Historians Annual Conference will be held on 29-30 June 2018 at the Open University Business School in Milton Keynes. The conference theme is ‘Pluralistic perspectives of business history: gender, class, ethnicity, religion’. The role of different social groups and identities in business is an important, though under researched, topic in business history. However, there is, increasing recognition that, for example, women were not simply ‘angels in the home’, keeping their distance, when compared with men, from the grime of the industrial revolution and the financial transactions which that involved. Social class had an impact in the City, and Quakers, for example, were important in the banking sector. There is now evidence of women occupying roles, not just as workers but also as lenders, business owners, managers, and investors in significant numbers. To what extent did culture or religions influenced occupation of these roles? There is evidence also that lower social classes did invest to some extent in newly launched companies, as did members of the clergy, as in ‘Widows, clergymen and the reckless’.
This conference aims to explore the impact of gender, social class, ethnicity, and religion on business success, fraud, funding, financial markets, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility. Proposals for individual papers, or for full sessions, panel discussions or other session formats are invited on this topic, broadly conceived. Specific topics may include, but are not restricted to:
Ethnic, religious, class groups and women as entrepreneurs, lenders, investors, managers and/or workers.
Archival sources and methodologies to document and analyse different social groups’ participation in business.
Comparative studies of different social groups in business.
Social groups and business failure.
Social roles and relations in the workplace.
Cross-cultural issues in business and management.
Business and social movements.
Cultural, religious, gendered, class-related business networks.
Social groups and fraud, business failure, or market bubbles.
The influence of the law on different social groups or classes’ financial and business decision making.
Social groups or identities and corporate social governance.
Social groups, business and philanthropy.
Social groups or identities and the family firm.
The impact of social groups on business and corporate finance.
Social groups or identities, business, legislation and taxation.
Gendered, cultural, religious and class preferences for business characteristics.
Social groups as colonial and foreign investors.
As always, the ABH also welcomes proposals that are not directly related to the conference theme.
How to submit a paper or session proposal
The program committee will consider both individual papers and entire panels. Individual paper proposals should include a one-page (up to 300 word) abstract and one-page curriculum vitae (CV).
Panel proposals should include a cover letter stating the rationale for the panel and the name of its contact person; one-page (300 word) abstract and author’s CV for each paper; and a list of preferred panel chairs and commentators with contact information.
The deadline for submissions is 15 January 2018.
If you have any questions, please contact the local organisers: dimitris.sotiropoulos@open.ac.uk or Janette.Rutterford@open.ac.uk
First you make a choice for uploading a single paper or a full-session. After pressing each button you will find a mask guiding you through the upload process. Please have available your CV and your Abstract.
Any other idea regarding the conference – workshops, poster sessions, or panel discussions – must be suggested directly to the Programme Committee.
Call for Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop in Business History, 28th June 2018
The ABH will hold its seventh annual Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop on 28 June 2018. This event immediately precedes the 2018 ABH Annual Conference held in Milton Keynes. Participants in the Workshop are encouraged to attend the main ABH Annual Conference following the Workshop. The Workshop is an excellent opportunity for doctoral students to discuss their work with other research students and practicing academics in business history in an informal and supportive environment. Students at any stage of their doctoral career, whether in their first year or very close to submitting, are urged to apply. In addition to providing new researchers with an opportunity to discuss their work with experienced researchers in the discipline, the Workshop will also include at least one skills-related session. The Workshop interprets the term ‘business history’ broadly, and it is intended that students in areas such as (but not confined to) the history of international trade and investment, financial or economic history, agricultural history, not-for-profit organisations, government-industry relations, accounting history, social studies of technology, and historians or management or labour will find it useful. Students undertaking topics with a significant business history element but in disciplines other than economic or business history are also welcome. We welcome students researching any era or region of history. Skills sessions are typically led by regular ABH members; in the past these have included ‘getting published’ and ‘using sources’ sessions. There will be ample time for discussion of each student’s work and the opportunity to gain feedback from active researchers in the field.
How to Apply for the Tony Slaven Workshop
An application should be no more than 4 pages sent together in a single computer file:
1) a one page CV;
2) one page stating the names of the student’s supervisors, the title of the theses (a proposed title is fine), the university and department where the student is registered and the date of commencement of thesis registration;
3) an abstract of the work to be presented. You may apply via email to Dr Mitch Larson at mjlarson@uclan.ac.uk.
Please use the subject line “Tony Slaven Workshop” by the 15 January 2018.
Call for Coleman Prize for Best PhD Dissertation
Named in honour of the British business historian Donald Coleman (1920-1995), this prize is awarded annually by the Association of Business Historians to recognise excellence in new research in Britain. It is open to PhD dissertations in Business History (broadly defined) either having a British subject or completed at a British university. All dissertations completed in the previous calendar year to that of the Prize are eligible. In keeping with the ABH’s broad understanding of business history, applications are strongly encouraged from candidates in economic history, social history, labour history, intellectual history, cultural history, environmental history, the history of science and technology, the history of medicine, or any other subfield. The value of the prize is £500, sponsored by the Taylor & Francis Group, a scholarly publisher. To be eligible for the Prize, finalists must present their findings in person at the Association’s annual conference, held on 29-30 June 2018.
Supervisors are encouraged to nominate recent PhDs, and self-nominations are also strongly welcomed. Please send a PDF including the title of your PhD dissertation and a brief abstract (up to 2 double-spaced pages) to christine.leslie@glasgow.ac.uk by 15 January 2018. Shortlisted candidates will be requested to submit electronic copies of their theses by 15 February 2018. Finalists will be notified by 15 March 2018.
Deadline for All Submissions
The deadline for receipt of all proposals (papers, sessions and panels, Coleman Prize, and Tony Slaven Workshop) is 15 January 2018. Acceptance letters will be sent by 15th March 2018. Everyone appearing on the program must register for the meeting. PhD students whose papers are accepted for the meeting may apply for funds to partially defray their travel costs by applying to the Francesca Carnevali Travel Grant for PhD Students. A limited number of scholarships are available from the Francesca Carnevali fund of the ABH to contribute towards the travel, accommodation, and registration costs of students doing a PhD in the United Kingdom, who are presenting in the Slaven Workshop or the ABH conference. These will be awarded competitively prior to the Workshop. Please indicate in your application whether you would like to be considered for one of these travel grants.
Call for Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop in Business History, 29 June 2017
Call for Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop in Business History, 29 June 2017
The ABH will hold its sixth annual Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop on 29 June, 2017. This event is immediately preceding the 2017 ABH Annual Conference held in Glasgow. Participants in the Workshop are encouraged to attend the main ABH Annual Conference following the Workshop. The Workshop is an excellent opportunity for doctoral students to discuss their work with other research students and practicing academics in business history in an informal and supportive environment. Students at any stage of their doctoral career, whether in their first year or very close to submitting, are urged to come. In addition to providing new researchers with an opportunity to discuss their work with others in a related discipline, the Workshop will also include at least one skills-related session.
The Workshop interprets the term ‘business history’ broadly, and it is intended that students in areas such as (but not confined to) the history of international trade and investment, financial or economic history, agricultural history, not-for-profit organisations, government-industry relations, accounting history, social studies of technology, and historians or management or labour will find it useful. Students undertaking topics with a significant business history element but in disciplines other than economic and business history are also welcome. We welcome students researching any era or region of history.
There will be at least one session led by regular ABH members; in the past these have included ‘getting published’ and ‘using sources’ sessions. There will be ample time for discussion of each student’s work and the opportunity to gain feedback from active researchers in the field.
How to Apply for the Tony Slaven Workshop
An application should be no more than 4 pages sent together in a single computer file: 1) a one page CV; 2) one page stating the names of the student’s supervisors, the title of the theses (a proposed title is fine),the university and department where the student is registered and the date of commencement of thesis registration; 3) an abstract of the work to be presented.
You may apply via email to Dr Mitch Larson at mjlarson@uclan.ac.uk. Please use the subject line “Tony Slaven Workshop” by the 15 January 2017.
Deadline for All Submissions
The deadline for receipt of all proposals (papers, session and panels; Coleman Prize, and Tony Slaven Workshop) is 15 January 2017. Acceptance letters will be sent by 15th March 2017. Everyone appearing on the program must register for the meeting. PhD students whose papers are accepted for the meeting may apply for funds to partially defray their travel costs by applying to the Francesca Carnevali Travel Grant for PhD Students. A limited number of scholarships are available from the Francesca Carnevali fund of the ABH to contribute towards the travel, accommodation, and registration costs of students doing a PhD in the United Kingdom, who are presenting in the Slaven Workshop or the ABH conference. These will be awarded competitively prior to the Workshop. Please indicate in your application whether you would like to be considered for one of these travel grants. To apply for this grant please email Christine.Leslie@glasgow.ac.uk by 31 March 2017. Further information about the Carnevali Grant will be placed on the ABH website early in the New Year at http://www.gla.ac.uk/external/ABH.
Association of Business Historians Annual Conference 2017
‘The Human Factor in Business History’
University of Glasgow,
29 June – 1 July 2017
Call for Papers
Understanding the strategy and structure of firms forms a vital part of the discipline of business history, as does the deployment of essential tools such as typologies of company forms, theories of the firm and firm growth and so on. But it is vital, too, for business historians to recognise and investigate those who stand at the heart of business history: the people who create firms, those who own them and those who work for them in various capacities (whether in head offices, in back offices or on the shop floor) to enable companies to function effectively (or, alternatively, passably or dysfunctionally). It is, after all, people who develop and deploy the skills, relationships and capabilities to allow all of this to happen. Just as important, though, is the human impact of the firm and other organisations that employ people, not least because even today those employed spend a very large proportion of their time in the workplace. Indeed, they are usually engaged for more time there than in any other activity with the exception of sleeping. The firm is therefore a place not only for work, which itself involves considerable human interaction, but also a focus for social life and identity. The theme of the 2017 ABH conference is ‘The human factor in business history’.
Proposals for individual papers or for full sessions, panel discussions or other 2 session formats are invited on this topic, broadly conceived. Specific topics might include, but are not limited to:
Entrepreneurs, managers and/or workers
Leadership in business
Biographical and prosopographical approaches to business history
Networks and hierarchies in business as social systems
Cross-cultural issues in business and management
The impact of automation and technology on human interaction in the workplace
Industrial relations and human resource management
Gender roles and relations in the workplace
The human bases of company behaviour and misbehaviour
The human factor in SMEs, family enterprise, corporations and/or MNEs
Local, regional, national and transnational networks and business
The workplace as a community and focus for identity
Business and social movements
The impact of work and production on humans and the physical environment
As always, the ABH also welcomes proposals that are not directly related to the conference theme. How to submit a paper or session proposal The program committee will consider both individual papers and entire panels. Individual paper proposals should include a one-page (up to 300 word) abstract and one-page curriculum vitae (CV). Panel proposals should include a cover letter stating the rationale for the panel and the name of its contact person; one-page (300 word) abstract and author’s CV for each paper; and a list of preferred panel chairs and commentators with contact information.
The deadline for submissions is 15 January 2017. Your application for the conference should come through our online submission platform.
First you make a choice for uploading a single paper or a full-session. After pressing each button you will find a mask guiding you through the upload process. Please have available your CV and your Abstract. Any other idea regarding the conference – workshops, poster sessions, or panel discussions – must be suggested directly to the Programme Committee.
Organizational History Network 