Working on the Dark Side: A Workshop for New Research on Organizational Misconduct Saturday, Aug 4 2012 4:15PM - 7:15PM at Sheraton Boston Hotel in Independence East The current economic environment and the persistence of corporate scandals are increasing the need for academics to take up misconduct as a critical and coherent area of inquiry. To date, empirical research on these related phenomena (such as fraud, corruption, misbehaviour, deviance, illegality, etc.) has been sporadic. However, we believe this area of scholarship has the potential to make an important and cohesive impact on the Academy. This PDW seeks to provide hands on development of participants' working papers who will be matched with senior mentors: Blake Ashforth, Art Brief and Donald Palmer and to build a community of scholars currently working on organizational misconduct. We are aiming for an intimate session of no more than 15 papers, and so encourage those interested to contact the organizers as soon as possible to secure their places. Interested scholars should submit drafts of papers to the organizers by June 1; in certain circumstances, detailed outlines will be acceptable. Andrew von Nordenflycht, Simon Fraser University Jo-Ellen Pozner, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley Celia Moore, London Business School

1. 1
Submission #XXXXX
PDW proposal
Working on the Dark Side: A Paper Development Workshop
for New Research in Organizational Misconduct
Organizers
Celia Moore, London Business School
Regents Park, London NW1 4SA, United Kingdom
Tel.: 44 20 7000 8931; email: cmoore@london.edu
Jo-Ellen Pozner, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
545 Student Services Building, #1900, Berkeley, CA, 94705
Tel.: (510) 643 1413; email: pozner@haas.berkeley.edu
Andrew von Nordenflycht, Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University
500 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 1W6, Canada
Tel.: 778-782-2236; email: vonetc@sfu.ca
Senior Scholars
Blake Ashforth, Arizona State University
Art Brief, University of Utah
Phil Bromiley, University of California Irvine
Don Palmer, University of California Davis
Abstract
This PDW brings together scholars to discuss and develop working papers broadly related to
organizational misconduct, corruption, and deviance. This session will be a practical one,
geared toward hands-on development of participants’ working papers. We have invited a team
of senior scholars who have successfully published papers on misconduct and related topics in
top management journals. We will pair these scholars with PDW participants interested in
developing their working papers towards publication. PDW applicants will submit their working
papers or detailed outlines to the organizers, including a one-page abstract, by June 1.
Primary Sponsor
Organizational Management and Theory Division (OMT)
Other divisions to which the session would be of interest

2. 2
Business Policy and Strategy (BPS)
Organizational Behavior (OB)
Social Issues in Management (SIM)
Proposal
We would like to propose a Professional Development Workshop that brings together scholars
to discuss and develop working papers broadly related to organizational misconduct,
corruption, and deviance.
Although our general assumption as organizational scholars is that the objects of our study
operate above board and honestly, repeated experience shows that this is not the case. A
recent study, in fact, indicates that the business press reported on misconduct at 40% of the
Fortune 100 between 2000 and 2005 (Clement 2006). Misconduct must therefore be
considered a normative aspect of organizational life, which generates real consequences.
Whereas misconduct has received increased attention of late (see the July 2008 special issue of
AMR), this area of inquiry has not yet emerged as a cohesive field. This is due in part to the
number of diverse labels given to organizational misconduct (such as fraud, corruption,
misbehavior, deviance, illegality, etc.), and is exacerbated by the fact that, to date, empirical
research on these related phenomena has been sporadic. However, the current economic
environment and the persistence of corporate scandals are both working to increase
momentum for academics to take up misconduct as a critical and coherent area of inquiry.
Since so many phenomena are applicable to organizational misconduct, such work necessarily
entails the application of a broad range of methodologies. Creative approaches to data
collection (in no small part due to the difficulty of accessing data on issues that organizations
would prefer remain hidden) are also often required. One of the goals of this PDW, therefore,
is to bring together scholars from a variety of backgrounds and theoretical traditions to share
ideas and help each other develop their work toward publication.
Additionally, since empirical attention on organizational misconduct is relatively new, scholars
have not had many opportunities to meet and share their work and research stories. A second
goal of this PDW, then, would be to help build a community of scholars currently working on
issues relating to organizational misconduct and set a foundation from which new
collaborations might develop.
Participant application procedure

3. 3
Participants will be required to submit drafts of papers to the organizers by June 1. In certain
circumstances, very detailed outlines will be acceptable. The goal will be to pair about three
papers/sets of collaborators to each senior mentor. The organizers will use their discretion to
determine the applicability of papers for the symposium, with a view to selecting papers that
focus most directly on misconduct at the organizational level (for example, experimental work
at the individual level of analysis is likely not appropriate).
The organizers will assign selected papers to senior scholars, as appropriate, who will act as
mentors on the project. Each mentor will receive an outline or working paper from no more
than three participants and will prepare comments in advance of the AoM meetings.
Participants will also receive the full papers of the other projects that have been paired with the
same mentor, to encourage a fuller discussion of each project. To facilitate discussion, abstracts
of all accepted papers will also be circulated among the full group of participants in advance of
the session to encourage peer mentoring and in-depth discussion.
The PDW will be organized around roundtable discussions. After a brief introduction, the
mentors will provide targeted feedback to small groups of PDW participants whose papers they
have reviewed. Feedback will be given in small groups, so that all participants at each table can
both provide feedback and learn from the other works in progress. To close the session,
participants will have the opportunity to present a short synopsis of their papers and ideas to
the full group, with the goal of sharing new ideas and encouraging potential collaboration.
We anticipate a session of no more than 10-15 working papers. We have already recruited a
strong roster of senior scholars working in this area, including Blake Ashforth, Art Brief, Phil
Bromiley, and Don Palmer, to facilitate the group.
Two of the three organizers successfully proposed and organized a similar PDW session in 2009.
Fifteen papers were accepted and workshopped at the session, and some of these papers have
since been published in top tier journals (for example, Marcel & Cowen, 2011). In addition, the
authors organized a well-reviewed, well-attended symposium on a similar topic at the 2011
AoM meetings in San Antonio. We believe that this PDW will help junior scholars more
effectively publish on this critical topic in the top journals.

4. 4
Logistics
Room setup: Because this is a working paper session, the ideal room setup would entail
approximately 4 small round tables (depending on participation) to seat 6 to 8 people each, , to
facilitate small group discussion. A whiteboard for each table, if available, would be extremely
helpful. In addition, we would like to request that a small podium be set up at the front of the
room.
Timeframe
We propose a three-hour session to be organized as follows:
• Introduction (20 minutes)
• Working paper session (120 minutes)
• Concluding remarks and wrap-up (40 minutes)
Marcel, J., & Cowen, A. (2011). Damaged goods: The board’s decision to dismiss reputationally-
compromised directors. Academy of Management Journal.
I have received signed statements from all intended participants agreeing to participate for
the entire workshop, AND that these participants are not in violation of the Rule of Three +
Three.