THEME: 75th Annual Meeng of the Academy of Management
Academy of Management Program Chair: Anita M. McGahan
The theme of the 2015 conference, Opening Governance, invites members to consider
opportunies to improve the effecveness and creavity of organizaons by restructuring
systems at the highest organizaonal levels. The term ‘governance’ refers to leadership
systems, managerial control protocols, property rights, decision rights, and other pracces that
give organizaons their authority and mandates for acon. Opening governance involves
revising these pracces especially in light of big data, crowdsourcing, and other emerging
digital technologies that expand the informaon and experse available to organizaonal
leaders. How and when should managers open governance pracces to involvement by
engaged stakeholders? What advances and problems arise from transparency in decision
making? The Opening Governance theme also points to fundamental quesons about how
various types of organizaon forms compete to govern valuable resources. What are the
tradeoffs associated with pursuing a specific value-creaon opportunity under the governance
structure of an investor-owned corporaon as opposed to a privately held corporaon, a B
Corporaon, or even a licensing arrangement or non-profit organizaon? How can
organizaons work more effecvely with governmental agencies and foundaons to create
value?
Organizaons operang under all kinds of governance structures – including companies,
non-governmental organizaons, hospitals, schools, and governments -- will be pressed over
the next generaon to make be/er decisions; respond more quickly to informaon; coordinate
be/er; disseminate important informaon faster; waste less; operate more cleanly and fairly;
culvate trust through transparency; and mobilize experse more efficiently. Digital analycs
are already generang new types of insights about personal and organizaonal behavior. As a
result, quesons about the control and ownership of behavioral data will become acute.
Innovaon in systems of governance over massive amounts of this machine-enabled data will
be central to taking up the opportunity for innovang at the levels required to address the
biggest problems of our me – such as climate change and the fragility of financial systems.
Organizaons will be compelled to confront the interests of stakeholders in their most
important informaon assets and, at the same me, only be able to develop and use these
assets through collaboraon and partnership.
The opportunies for new approaches to value creaon are also extensive. Important new
resources are available at scale for managing more effecvely in the face of large problems:
digized informaon, data (big and small), communicaon technologies, new analycal
techniques, extensive networks of relaonships, and knowledge of all sorts. We know relavely
less about effecve mechanisms for deploying these resources effecvely, and we know li/le
about management techniques for conceptualizing and designing resources to address such
problems as the informal economy or massive migraons of people into the world’s cies.
The challenge of governing across organizaonal boundaries is as complex as governing
within organizaons. We must develop systems that put the right organizaons at the
forefront of problem solving at the right mes. Governmental bodies must have the
intelligence and governance structures to regulate private organizaons while at the same
encouraging rather than discouraging decentralized iniave to solve pressing problems.
Organizaons of all forms must work together flexibly, such as when pharmaceucal companies
distribute essenal medicines to non-governmental agencies through public hospitals in
se:ngs of poverty. Responding to public emergencies and innovaon opportunies will
become a hallmark of effecve cross-organizaon management in the 21st century.
What will opening governance involve as a praccal ma/er? It may involve new funcons
for organizaons, such as creang innovaon pla<orms and sponsoring the creaon of digital
standards. It also may create opportunies for new types of public-private collaboraon, such
as when mullateral agencies subcontract crical health-delivery and educaonal funcons to
private companies. For private organizaons, it may involve pooling knowledge to create new
datasets and then compeng over the opportunies created by the data. New business models
may emerge, such as when companies license technology to rivals, or when companies seek to
create networks of entrepreneurial actors that compete for control rights over informaon.
Companies may also benefit from differences in informaon rules across jurisdiconal
boundaries, such as when companies test new products in one country and then introduce
them in other countries. As these pracces disseminate, Boards of Directors will need to
become more engaged in their firms’ informaon technology pracces. NGOs, health-care
providers, educators and governmental actors may collaborate to exchange data and commit to
mutual collaboraon in the face of system failures. The implicaons are almost endless – too
extensive to list.
Opening Governance is an invitaon to think broadly and creavely about the ways in which
organizaons take acon to address the most important management problems and
opportunies of our me. For our meeng in Vancouver, Opening Governance raises quesons
that AOM members of various divisions and interest groups may tackle from many different
perspecves. Thank you for considering the invitaon and for engaging on this theme. Each of
the nearly 19,000 members of our Academy has insights that are welcome at the AOM’s 75th
meeng. It will be great to see you there.
Anita M. McGahan
2015 Vice President & AOM Program Chair