The Industry Studies Association (ISA) cordially invites submissions of abstracts for individual papers and panels for the 2022 ISA Annual Conference. While the ISA welcomes papers and
panels related to the conference theme, a tie to theme is not mandatory.
ISA's annual conference provides a forum to share industry studies research with fellow researchers, industry leaders and policy makers; provoke dialogue on industry challenges and opportunities; and form new collaborations. We welcome research that incorporates an industry focus from all disciplines; we regard the multi-disciplinary mix of scholars as one of the greatest strengths of our conference. ISA is especially interested in organized panels and papers that emphasize observation and insight into a particular industry or that consider how knowledge gained in studying one industry can provide insights into other industries.
Amid the uncertainty and disruptions imposed on the world by COVID over the past two years, we've also seen shining examples of the power of innovation. From widespread remote and hybrid technology-mediated work to private space travel, from virtual medical visits and COVID-19 vaccine development to autonomous and electric vehicles – new developments in types of innovations, pathways to them (including financing and regulating), technologies and supply chains underlying them, and outcomes, both desired and unanticipated, are spurring dialogue and debate and informing both research and policy.
Phenomena carrying signals about the future of innovation are emerging within and across organizations, industries and ecosystems, whether locally, nationally, regionally or globally:
- New industries are emerging as are the organizational forms required for them to flourish (e.g., platforms and ecosystems) and the roles that define and distribute how work gets done
- The successes (and excesses) attributable to innovation in some sectors – such as Big Tech – now invite reexamination and deliberation of whether new rules and guard rails are needed in domains that have always sought – and depended upon – laissez-faire treatment
- Purpose-driven, responsible innovation is increasingly a goal of both entrepreneurs and firms – and an expectation from many employees, consumers/citizens, and policymakers
In short, as industries and their stakeholders consider their future innovation activities,
new roles, new rules, and new responsibilities are emerging. Questions arise: how do we spread the positives of innovation and limit unintended consequences? Misinformation, climate threat, inequitable treatment, and supply chain vulnerability already loom large. The conference aims to address these issues and more. Our aim is to encourage wide-ranging conversations about as many aspects of innovation as possible, i.e., how innovations are developed, implemented, managed, and what consequences innovations have – via hoped-for transformations or unintended consequences.
We definitely welcome submissions that explicitly address how the COVID-19 pandemic is (and will continue) shaping the future of innovation. There is no question that the pandemic forced creative adaptation on the part of individuals, firms, institutions, and nations – and a rethinking of how the post-pandemic world could be different – and better – than the world we knew before. We do, nonetheless, want the focus on innovation to be broader in scope than what was prompted by the pandemic.
Topics of interest relevant to this year's theme include (but are not limited to):
New roles:- Private-public collaborations for innovation (e.g., Operation Warp Speed)
- Innovation and industry studies in the age of big data and new technologies
- Resilient supply chains and process management in a dynamic, global world
New rules: - Financing innovation
- Evaluating innovation through social and economic lens - What's different? What's not?
- The new regulatory climate for technology and data use globally
New responsibilities: - Responding to climate change via innovation
- Purpose-driven, responsible innovation
- Building equitable, inclusive, and sustainable labor markets amid technological advancements like artificial intelligence
New organization:- Innovation work in virtual and hybrid worlds: the roles of teams and leaders
- The structure of innovation: Platform, industry and/or or ecosystem
- How innovations interconnect to drive new industry emergence
Submissions should be made to the research streams listed below. However, these streams are not meant to be exhaustive, and the committee also welcomes submissions in the "General Industry Studies" category. This category may include industry-specific as well as cross-industry papers and panels. The program committee will shift papers and panels from the general industry studies stream to other streams where appropriate.