12261: Launching Micro-Communities to Support Impact Scholarship

Impact-driven scholars addressing grand challenges often struggle with designing, implementing, writing up, and publishing their research because it requires novel approaches and perspectives that deviate from mainstream management science. Communities of practice can support these scholars in creating impact. The purpose of this workshop is to launch or revitalise self-organized micro-communities of impact scholars interested in related ontologies, methods, phenomena, or theories. To do so, we have developed a playbook for micro-communities of impact scholars that we will pilot in this workshop. The workshop concept and the playbook draw on our experience of initiating and developing a spontaneous micro-community that has supported our PhD journeys. We want to explore the resonance of the playbook with the attendees and spark their curiosity and excitement to form or revitalise their own micro-communities. The PDW participants will benefit from a supportive, action-oriented environment tailored to their challenges and aspirations. The workshop provides an interactive platform for sharing experiences, individual reflection, building connections, and launching new or revitalising existing micro-communities for impact. With this workshop, we aim to create impact on the individual, organizational, and societal levels by illuminating the role of developmental friendship in self-organised communities and contributing to more relevant and rigorous research on addressing grand challenges.