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“DARK SIDE VI" CASE-WRITING COMPETITION

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: <st1:date year="2007" day="1" month="2">FEBRUARY 1, 2007</st1:date>

The Critical Management Studies (CMS) Interest Group and the Management Education Division (MED) of the <st1:place><st1:placetype>Academy</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>Management</st1:placename></st1:place> are pleased to sponsor the Dark Side VI Case-Writing Competition at the 2007 <st1:place><st1:placetype>Academy</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>Management Conference</st1:placename></st1:place> (<st1:city><st1:place>Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>).  Now in its sixth year, the Dark Side Case Competition is designed to encourage and acknowledge case writing that addresses the dark side of contemporary capitalism.

Submissions are invited from faculty, students and those working in industry.  We are looking for teaching cases – not research papers based on case studies or otherwise.  Our goal is to encourage the development of first-rate classroom materials that generate discussion around dark side issues. In previous competitions, cases have examined issues in developed as well as developing countries, in organizations ranging from multinational corporations to entrepreneurial start-ups, on situations describing micro, interpersonal dilemmas and conflicts to more macro-level organizational decisions and actions with broad social, economic and political implications.

CASE REVIEW AND CASE SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Cases will be reviewed by an international panel of reviewers.  Cases judged to be one of the “best” 5 entries will be showcased by their authors at a Professional Development Workshop session at the 2007 <st1:place><st1:placetype>Academy</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>Management Conference</st1:placename></st1:place> in <st1:city><st1:place>Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>.  All submissions will be eligible for the “best case award.”  The best case will also be recognized at an award ceremony at the <st1:place><st1:placetype>Academy</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>Management</st1:placename></st1:place> conference in <st1:city><st1:place>Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>; synopses of the winning and best cases are posted on the AOM CMS website.  The award will go to the best case study – not to the worst offender.  The award selection criteria include:

·        the importance, from a critical perspective, of the issues raised;

·        the quality of the underlying research: we encourage solid background research using interviews, legal proceedings, archival data, etc.;

·        the quality of the presentation: the case should not be polemically one-sided – it should give voice to a range of points of view;

·        the clarity of the writing;

·        the usefulness of an accompanying teaching note (guidelines follow).

All submissions should include a teaching note.  The teaching note should enable the panel to judge the likely effectiveness of using the case in the classroom.  It is suggested that the teaching note include:

· a synopsis of the case;

·  a brief description of the research behind the case;

·  suggested courses including course level (undergrad/grad) and course type (policy, <st1:place>OB</st1:place>, OT, MIS, Labour Relations, etc.);

·  guide questions that make explicit the issues raised by the case and the importance of these issues from a critical perspective; suggested answers should be included and the answers to the guide questions should draw out managerial and organizational implications of the situation and of the recommended plan(s) of action as well as generating some discussion on how the case relates to relevant theories;

·  a suggested teaching plan (issues and time allocation/issue);

·  reference list of related readings;

·  a case update, if available;

NOTE: the case will be judged entirely on the written material provided by authors.  The presentations at the Professional Development Workshop session will not form part of the competition process but will allow the case writers the opportunity to discuss their cases.

Results of the previous years of the competition are posted at the CMS website (http://aom.pace.edu/cms/).

Submissions should be received (email only please) by <st1:date year="2007" day="1" month="2">February 1^st, 2007</st1:date>.  Individual authors should not be involved in more than three cases.  Where possible, cases should be submitted in both pdf and Word versions.  Please put all identifying information and contact details on the front page only, and begin the second page with the title of the case.

Submissions and inquiries should be addressed to Case Competition organizers

Emmanuel Raufflet (emmanuel.raufflet@hec.ca)

Latha Poonamallee (latha.poonamallee@case.edu)

SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

MOTIVATION FOR THE COMPETITION

Our case libraries are almost exclusively devoted to "best-practice" cases profiling  business decisions faced by what are generally considered to be well-managed firms.  The cupboard is relatively bare when instructors look for cases on the more typical, merely average firm, or on really scandalously bad practices, or on the sometimes bad consequences of much-praised practices.  It is especially difficult to find reasonably rich cases on labor/management conflict or issues dealing with fundamental challenges to the management’s definition of a fair employment relationship.

Some of our colleagues who write cases justify this "bright side" bias, arguing that there are 100 ways to go wrong for every one way to go right.  We challenge that premise, for several reasons:

·        the patterns we observe among the wrong ways tell us a great deal about weaknesses of the broader system of business and of our society;

·        there are a large number of organizations who do very well for one set of stakeholders (e.g., owners) at great expense to other stakeholders (e.g., workers or local communities); and

·        our students deserve materials that prompt them to think through the scope of feasible and appropriate action if they happen to find themselves confronted with such practices.

This competition therefore aims to encourage the development of cases that provoke reflection and debate on the "dark side" of contemporary capitalism.  Some might argue that we are promoting "muckraking." They are correct: we feel that if there's so much "muck" out there, it behooves us to look at it squarely and decide what should be done about it. For both teaching and research purposes, it is critical that we have well documented worst-practices cases on the table, so that we have the opportunity to understand how such organizations come in being, how they function, and how they might be challenged and changed.

We especially want cases that lead discussion of broader social-political-economic structures and help students think critically about the consequences of these structures.  We hope to receive submissions from case writers examining a range of organizational and social issues including, but not limited to:

·        Cases focused on labour relations – instructors in this area are especially eager to see cases that raise issues about the difficulties workers encounter in organizing unions and otherwise expressing voice at work.

·        Cases focused on environmentally harmful practices – we need to understand better the factors that entice firms to pollute, and how these conditions might be changed.

·        Cases that explore issues of gender and race and the deep structures of power that marginalize, oppress and silence individuals and groups

·        Cases that examine the paradox of technology as an element of our environment that enables and constrains individuals

A FINAL NOTE ON THE JUDGING PROCESS

An international committee composed of academics and practitioners from various countries will make the selection of the “5 best entries” and of the best case study.

International Panel of Case Competition Judges

To be announced.