AOM 2011: Scholarly Program Day 1

AOM 2011 Coverage: Schedule Planning | PDW Reactions | Scholarly Day 1 | Scholarly Day 2

Today was the first day of the scholarly program at the Academy of Management 2011 conference, and it was a long one.

I started the day by facilitating a fascinating discussion in Why Minds Matter: Learning, Knowledge and Development in Organizations.  Papers were quite diverse with a few threads in common.  One of my favorites was a piece on “The Games Managers Play,” an exploration of the concept of play in developmental activities.  Play is an integral part of child development, and the skills gained in play have many parallels to the skills needed by successful managers.  There was even a suggestion in the paper that by teaching children not to play too early (e.g. a well-meaning teaching encouraging “serious” behavior in 1st grade), their ability to lead later in life might be inhibited.  I look forward to the paper in Academy of Management Learning and Education.

After a brief meeting with my editor at SAGE and lunch with my collaborator, @iopsychology, I attended a caucus entitled, Use of Digital Social Networks by Companies: What is Different in Latin America from Asia?  I was a little concerned that the caucus would be completely focused on Latin America and Asia (only because I don’t know anything about social media in those areas!), but fortunately it turned into a general discussion of cross-cultural differences in social media strategy across cultures.  Fascinating stuff!

After passing out in my hotel room for an hour (4 hours of sleep is apparently a bad idea), I went to the OB Division Social Hour where, as Technology Czar for the OB Division, I managed the presentation and took photos of award winners, which will eventually make their way onto the OB division website.

So here’s my Twitter stream for today!  If you missed it, I’ll be live again tomorrow!