Celebrating #OutstandingScholarship in SIM: What our awards tell us about the field
Posted on behalf of @Rajat Panwar, SIM Awards Chair
At a glance
SIM Awards at AOM 2026
📍 Commonwealth B
📅 Presented during SIM Business Meeting
🏆 Categories:
· Outstanding Conference Paper
· Outstanding Student Paper
· Outstanding Business Ethics Paper
· Outstanding Dissertation (and Dissertation Chair recognition)
· Outstanding Book
Each year at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, the SIM Division takes time to recognize what we call our Outstanding Awards. The shift in terminology, from "Best" to "Outstanding", is intentional. It reflects a core principle of our community that scholarship is not a competition with a single winner, but a space where multiple forms of excellence coexist.
These awards therefore do more than recognize individual achievement. They offer a window into the intellectual directions of our field, highlighting the questions, methods, and perspectives that are shaping Social Issues in Management.
Why "Outstanding" matters
The choice of language reflects a deeper philosophical stance. By recognizing "outstanding" rather than "best" work, SIM acknowledges that excellence in scholarship takes many forms.
Some contributions open new theoretical directions. Others refine existing debates with precision and care. Still others shift how we think about methods, evidence, or engagement with practice.
Together, they reflect the diversity of ways in which our field evolves.
Field Insight: Outstanding awards are not only recognition, they are signals of where the field's attention is moving.
What the awards represent
Across categories, the SIM awards collectively highlight the breadth of scholarship in our community:
- Conference and student papers reflect emerging ideas and developing research trajectories
- Ethics papers foreground normative questions and societal responsibility
- Dissertations and books represent sustained intellectual contributions over time
- Mentorship recognition (Dissertation Chairs) acknowledges the relational work that enables scholarly development
The awards collectively map the intellectual landscape of SIM.
Join us in celebrating the field
We warmly invite all SIM members to attend the award sessions during the SIM Business Meeting and throughout the conference. These sessions are an opportunity to celebrate colleagues and to engage with some of the most compelling work in our community.
Whether you are a doctoral student, early-career scholar, or senior academic, the awards sessions offer a snapshot of where SIM scholarship is heading, and who is shaping it.
Thank you to the sponsors
Many of these awards are made possible through the generosity of our sponsors. We are grateful to Loyola University Chicago Quinlan School of Business for supporting the Outstanding Student Paper Award, Dr. Millie Myers and Dr. Jim Weber for the William C. Frederick Outstanding Dissertation Award, the Journal of Business Ethics for the Outstanding Business Ethics Paper Award, and Business & Society for the Outstanding Conference Paper Award.
------------------------------
Nabi Ebrahimi
PhD in Management
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Lowell MA
------------------------------