Dear friends and colleagues,
The organizational change field has never faced greater complexity-or greater opportunity. As organizations navigate artificial intelligence, digital transformation, geopolitical uncertainty, and shifting societal expectations, the distance between generating knowledge and creating meaningful impact has become increasingly consequential.
Research provides the conceptual foundations for understanding change. Practice reveals how those ideas unfold in the realities of organizational life. Scholarship is enriched through its engagement with practice, just as practice is strengthened by its grounding in research. Yet perhaps the greatest opportunity lies beyond the exchange of knowledge. It lies in creating spaces where scholars and practitioners jointly question assumptions, imagine new possibilities, and shape the future of our field together.
With this belief in mind, three years ago we launched a conversation within the Academy of Management's Organization Development & Change (ODC) Division. What began as an effort to strengthen dialogue between scholars and practitioners has grown into an ongoing workshop series and an emerging community committed to exploring a broader question: How should the organizational change field evolve to address the challenges of an increasingly complex world?
We are delighted to continue that conversation at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Philadelphia through our Professional Development Workshop:
Bridging the Gap: Aligning Academic Insights with Practical Excellence in Organizational Change
Date & Time: Saturday, August 1, 8:00–11:30 AM
Location: Philadelphia Marriott Downtown – Franklin 7
Together with David Bright (Wright State University) and Rita Čiapaitė-Baublienė (CHANGE LT), I have the privilege of convening this conversation alongside an exceptional panel of scholars and practitioners:
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Michael Jarrett (INSEAD)
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Alec Levenson (USC Marshall Center for Effective Organizations)
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Greg Voeller (Gagen MacDonald; Association of Change Management Professionals)
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Erika Vaiginienė (Vilnius University)
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Larry Ebert (University of San Francisco)
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Claudy Jules (Jules Advisory Services)
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Debra A. Noumair (Teachers College, Columbia University)
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Katrina Monton (Rutgers University)
Our ambition is not simply to exchange perspectives. It is to create a space where ideas are challenged, assumptions are reconsidered, and new collaborations emerge-contributing to the continued evolution of the organizational change field.
If you will be attending AOM 2026, we warmly invite you to join us. Your perspective is an important part of this conversation, and we hope you will help shape where it goes next.
We look forward to seeing many of you in Philadelphia.
Warm regards,
Gediminas Baublys
Assistant Professor, Vilnius University
On behalf of the workshop organizing team