APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTING


Journal of Organizational Change Management - Call for Papers

Special Issue on the Sociology of Objects: Rediscovering the Importance
of Objects in Organizational Life

Submission deadline is October 1st, 2002

Guest Editors:

Alexis Downs, University of Central Oklahoma: [log in to unmask]

Rouven Hagemeijer, Erasmus University Rotterdam: [log in to unmask]


Up until now, the importance of objects with respect to processes of
organizing has largely been ignored within not only organization studies
but broader social theory as well. Any attention that did get paid to
the role of these objects reduced them to symbols, i.e. social
constructions produced by human actors engaged in sensemaking
activities. One notable exception to this has been the field of Science
and Technology Studies, where objects are seen as possessing an
ontological status of their own.

Recently, however, there have been a number of developments that make
such a treatment wholly inadequate: examples are the continuous
expansion of global flows of goods and capital that undermine the
effective functioning of individual nation-states, the advent of
consumerism and the corresponding shift towards demand-oriented
economies, and the formation of so-called risk-communities around wastes
dumped into our environment. Each and every one of these phenomena
centres around objects of a certain kind, be it consumer goods, money or
the hole in the ozone layer. Furthermore, they all have very real
consequences for humankind, consequences that cannot be explained by
seeing them as socially constructed symbols alone.

As a result, the time has come to re-evaluate the way in which the
functioning of social collectives, such as organizations, is influenced
by the objects that can be found within them. We therefore welcome
theoretical as well as empirical papers from a variety of disciplines
that address (but are by no means limited to) any of the following
issues from a critical perspective:

- Objects and the process of organizing: explorations of the different
ways in which objects simultaneously produce and are produced by the
patterns of interaction within social collectives, their role in the
promulgation of organizational cultures and subcultures, their use in
the creation of identities at the organizational, individual, and group
level, and the role they play in both the facilitation and obstruction
of change efforts.

- Objects and broader social theory: treatises that examine the
potential contribution of psychological, sociological, and philosophical
theories to the understanding of the use of objects within and between
organizations. Possible avenues of investigation are historical
materialism, psycho-analytical theory, fetishism, the gift, and theories
of consumption and desire.

- Methodological issues concerning the study of objects: contributions
that address different methodological approaches to the study of objects
within organizations. Among others, this means discussing possible
research methods and their respective strong points and shortcomings.
Other possibilities are how to combine different methods in order to
further the insight into the multifaceted nature of objects and ways in
which researchers can deal with the tension between the dual nature
(i.e. being both cultural and natural) of objects.

Contributions should be mailed or e-mailed to

Alexis Downs
Department of Management
University of Central Oklahoma
100 N. University Drive
Edmond OK  73034
USA

[log in to unmask]

and

Rouven Hagemeijer
Rotterdam School of Management
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Room F3-31
PO Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
The Netherlands

[log in to unmask]

Potential contributors should consult the web page for JOCM
(http://www.mcb.co.uk/cgi-bin/journal1/jocm) for notes to contributors
regarding submissions - a precis of these notes follows.


Notes for contributors to this Special Issue

Articles submitted to the journal should be original contributions and
should not be under consideration for any other publication at the same
time. Authors submitting articles for publication warrant that the work
is not an infringement of any existing copyright and will indemnify the
publisher against any breach of such warranty. For ease of dissemination
and to ensure proper policing of use, papers and contributions become
the legal copyright of the publisher unless otherwise agreed.

The reviewing process
Each paper is reviewed by two referees for double blind peer review.
Based on their recommendations, the editors then decide whether the
paper should be accepted as is, revised or rejected. The complete packet
of manuscripts is not to exceed 42,000 words, which in itself will place
a restriction on the number of papers that can be accepted.

Manuscript requirements
Manuscript should be submitted in double line spacing with wide margins.
All authors should be shown and author's details must be printed on a
separate sheet and the author should not be identified anywhere else in
the article. As a guide, articles should be between 3,000 and 6,000
words in length. A title of not more than eight words should be
provided. A brief autobiographical note should be supplied including
full name, affiliation, e-mail address and full international contact
details.

Authors must supply an abstract of 100-150 words. Up to six keywords
should be included which encapsulate the principal subjects covered by
the article. Where there is a methodology, it should be clearly
described under a separate heading. Headings must be short, clearly
defined and not numbered. Notes or Endnotes should be used only if
absolutely necessary and must be identified in the text by consecutive
numbers, enclosed in square brackets and listed at the end of the
article.

Figures, charts and diagrams should be kept to a minimum. They must be
black and white with minimum shading and numbered consecutively using
Arabic numerals with a brief title and labeled axes. In the text, the
position of the figure should be shown by typing on a separate line the
words "take in Figure 2". Good quality originals must be provided.
Tables should be kept to a minimum. They must be numbered consecutively
with roman numerals and a brief title. In the text, the position of the
table should be shown by typing on a separate line the words "take in
Table IV". And illustrations must be supplied as good quality black and
white original half tones with captions. Their position should be shown
in the text by typing on a separate line the words "take in Plate 2".

References to other publications must be in Harvard style. That is,
shown within the text as the first author's name followed by a comma and
year of publication all in round brackets, e.g. (Fox, 1994). At the end
of the article a reference list in alphabetical order must be given as
follows:

¨ For books: surname, initials, (year) title (in italics), publisher,
place of publication, e.g. Casson, M. (1979), Alternatives to the
Multinational Enterprise, Macmillan, London.

¨ For journals: surname, initials, (year) "title", journal, volume,
number, pages, e.g. Fox, S. (1994), "Empowerment as a catalyst for
change: an example from the food industry", Supply Chain Management,
Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 29-33.

- Final submission of the article: Once accepted for publication, the
final version of the manuscript must be provided, accompanied by a 3.5"
disk of the same version labeled with: disk format; author name(s);
title of article; journal title; file name.

- Each article must be accompanied by a completed and signed Journal
Article Record Form available from the Editor or on
http://www.mcb.co.uk/literati/nethome.htm.

The manuscript will be considered to be the definitive version of the
article. The author must ensure that it is complete, grammatically
correct and without spelling or typographical errors.

In preparing the disk, please use one of the following formats: Word or
Word Perfect. Figures, which are provided electronically, must be in
Tif, Gif or Pic file extensions. All figures and graphics must also be
supplied as good quality originals.