Strategic Plan

Historic References

Strategic Plan 
In 2010, the Board of Governors approved the Academy of Management (AOM) Strategic Plan after a planning process that included multiple steps and broad member participation. The AOM Strategic Plan lays out the AOM’s mission and direction, in light of shifts in membership and interest areas, as well as dramatic changes in the field of management research and education. It includes our vision, mission, values and four key areas of strategic intent. Since 2010, specific objectives have been revised as progress was made along various dimensions of the plan, through "strategic doing" projects and initiatives. Throughout the 2016-17 term, the Board revisited the AOM’s strategy and engaged in a series of discussions and activities intended to build upon the Strategic Plan and produce a unifying vision and broad goals to fulfill the mission on a five-year horizon.

Vision
We inspire and enable a better world through our scholarship and teaching about management and organizations.

Mission
To build a vibrant and supportive community of scholars by markedly expanding opportunities to connect and explore ideas.

Values
Our mission is guided by key values:

• We value high quality research, teaching, and practice in the field of management and organization.
• We cultivate and advocate ethical behavior in all aspects of our work.
• We provide a dynamic and supportive community for all of our members, embracing the full diversity of our backgrounds and experiences.
• We respect each of our members' voices and seek to amplify their ideas.
• We build cooperative relationships with other institutions committed to the advancement of scholarship and teaching about management and organization.

Objectives:
1. Internationalization

• Implement a series of recommendations from "Welcoming Task Force" report to foster a more welcoming Annual Meeting for new and international members
• Host a forum for non U.S. affiliate/associate groups to identify trends, issues of common concern and opportunities for collaboration
• Define internationalization in AOM in order to monitor participation and increase the involvement of members from different regions
• Begin establishing robust mechanisms for international collaboration (research, teaching, practice, personal career development, etc.) starting with AOM Connect
• Facilitate knowledge transfer regarding effective processes for holding collaborative thematic workshops
• Data gathering and issue exploration
• Hold our first non North American conference
• Create and implement mechanisms to monitor and encourage international participation in division and Academy-wide governance

2. Professional Impact

• Produce a plan to invest substantial resources for the purpose of identifying and then beginning to respond to members’ needs for additional teaching resources. 
• Define "professional impact" and for whom
• Engage our colleagues and relevant stakeholders in a reflexive consideration and conversation about the meaning of professional impact. We will then engage in a conversation, broadening current operationalizations of impact (beyond articles, citations, media mentions) to include demonstrable effects on organizations and communities
• Develop at least two new approaches to enhance our professional impact
• Create meaningful rewards and recognition program for scholarship that inspires and enables a better world. 

3. State of the Profession

• Establish an AOM diversity committee in order to monitor participation and increase the involvement of members from different backgrounds
• Conduct a thorough analysis on the nature, climate and culture of diversity within AOM
• Engage in a study about the professional challenges facing members and identify what role AOM might play in addressing them
• Produce a report on the status of tenure track and non-tenure track positions and alternatives to attain tenure as used by (business) schools around the world

 4. Academy Management

• Produce a white paper that examines an alternative dues structure. Issues to be addressed will include possibly providing some fee-based services (i.e., services that are unbundled from the dues) and offering new types of membership with associated differences in dues and fees
• Build a larger portfolio of robust mechanisms to facilitate cross-Division and Interest Group community learning, knowledge transfer, and leadership development
• Conduct initial review of progress in executing the new Strategic Plan, in anticipation of a more thorough 5-year review of performance relative to mission, values and objectives. This initial review will assess whether near-term implementation targets for each Strategic Intent were achieved and assess the feasibility of meeting longer-term targets, and may lead to adjustments in the initial implementation plans
• Evaluate portfolio of AOM publications and make decisions on need for outlets that give voice to different paradigms, approaches, etc. 

Historic Strategic Intent Statements, which formed the foundation upon which the Strategic Direction, adopted in 2017, was developed:

Former Strategic Objectives (2014) Related to Historic Strategic “Doing” Activities
At the December 2013 and April 2014 Board of Governors’ meetings, the Board assessed progress on the strategic objectives outlined in the 2010 AOM Strategic Plan and identified new (and revised) objectives based on the current needs of the association and its members. The following objectives were adopted at the August 2014 meeting of the Board of  Governors.

Internationalization
The AOM is inspired by the breadth of its international membership. In all of our activities, we value and respect our diversity and strive to leverage it to support our mutual learning. Further, we recognize and seek opportunities to collaborate with kindred organizations for mutual benefit. We embrace the challenge of advancing our scholarship and teaching worldwide. 

• Create and implement mechanisms to encourage and measure geographic participation and geographic diversity, at all levels of the AOM. 
• Develop multi-year strategy and business plans for small, geographically diverse meetings that incorporate innovative models and leverage member expertise in learning.

Professional Impact
The AOM encourages our members to make a positive difference in the world by supporting scholarship that matters. We encourage and facilitate dialogue with practice that will enhance the world's social and economic well-being. Tending to the next generation of scholars, we help our members educate their students to be resourceful and responsible leaders. In all, we are a premier network of scholars who care about the enduring impact of our work.

• Produce a plan to invest resources for the purpose of identifying and then beginning to respond to members needs for additional teaching resources.   
• Engage our colleagues and relevant stakeholders in reflective consideration and conversation about the meaning of professional impact and for whom, followed by conversation that broadens current measurement of impact (beyond articles, citations, and media mentions).
• Develop a strategy and implementation plan for disseminating knowledge to non-academic audiences through novel online approaches.

State of the Profession
We live in a demanding and dynamic environment, one that both challenges our profession and offers opportunities for growth and innovation. We help to define what it means to be a management and organization scholars in our changing world. Looking to practice, we help define what it means to be a leader in contemporary society. In collaboration with our stakeholders, we work to remove barriers and create opportunities to realize our professional aspirations, listed below:

• Identify for AOM leaders (DIG chairs, BOG, etc.) the key learnings from the D&I survey and encourage the development of initiatives that are reflective of those learnings likely to increase member involvement and feelings of inclusion.
• Generate and carry out a plan consisting of multiple approaches to gaining explicit, multi-dimensional understanding about the professional challenges facing members and their implications for the AOM (ex. Deans conferences, exit interviews, observations, focus groups, inquiry interviews, collaborations with other associations to assess challenges, etc.)
  

Governance and Organization

Objectives

Category
Produce a plan to invest substantial resources for the purpose of identifying and then beginning to respond to members needs for additional teaching resources.

Membership and Services
Define "professional impact" and for whom.

Data Gathering and Issue Exploration
Engage our colleagues and relevant stakeholders in a reflexive consideration and conversation about the meaning of professional impact. We will then engage in a conversation, broadening current operationalization of impact (beyond articles, citations, media mentions) to include demonstrable effects on organizations and communities. Develop at least two new approaches to enhance our professional impact.

Research and Practice
Create meaningful rewards and recognition program for scholarship that inspires and enables a better world.
Membership and Services

State of the Profession 
We live in a demanding and dynamic environment, an environment that both challenges our profession and offers opportunities for growth and innovation. We help define what it means to be a management and organization scholar in our changing world. Looking to practice, we help define what it means to be a leader in contemporary society. In collaboration with our stakeholders, we work to remove barriers and create opportunities to realize our professional aspirations.

Objective
Establish an AOM diversity committee to monitor participation and increase the involvement of members from different backgrounds.

Diversity
Conduct a thorough analysis on the nature, climate and culture of diversity within AOM.
Engage in a study about the professional challenges facing members and identify what role AOM might play in addressing them.

Data Gathering and Issue Exploration
Produce a report on the status of tenure track and non-tenure track positions and alternatives to attain tenure as used by (business) schools around the world.

Academy Management 
The AOM is distinguished by its many small communities that together ask and answer a range of important scholarly questions. The AOM is united by an abiding passion for excellence in the creation and dissemination of management and organization knowledge. To sustain the long-term health of our professional association, we will

a) provide a portfolio of member-responsive services that supports our strategic initiatives;

b) manage our finances in a fiscally responsible manner, allowing us to be at once responsive to our members' needs and ready to seize opportunities as they appear; and

c) maintain governance mechanisms that are capable of balancing the interests of a large, volunteer-based organization and its many constituent communities.

Membership and Services
Build a larger portfolio of robust mechanisms to facilitate cross-Division and Interest Group community learning, knowledge transfer, and leadership development.

Governance and Organization
Conduct initial review of progress in executing the new Strategic Plan, in anticipation of a more thorough 5-year review of performance relative to mission, values and objectives. This initial review will assess whether near-term implementation targets for each Strategic Intent were achieved and assess the feasibility of meeting longer-term targets, and may lead to adjustments in the initial implementation plans.

Governance and Organization
Evaluate portfolio of AOM publications and make decisions on need for outlets that give voice to different paradigms, approaches, etc.

Publishing and Journals

The Prompt for Planning
Some years had passed since our last conversation about how to remain indispensable to the membership. Leaders had come and gone, the AOM had grown and become more diverse, and the world had changed, as did the immediate environment in which our members now find themselves in.  

In response, the AOM’s leadership engaged in a strategic planning effort from 2008-2010 to shape our association for years to come.  
The planning process included multiple steps and broad member participation. We invite you to read the documents that informed the plan and take a journey through our vision, mission, values, strategic intentions and objectives.

Process
The planning process included six steps:

1. Scan the Environment (including the global management education landscape, member perspectives, membership survey, membership statistics, association trends, and more…)
2. Identify Strategic Issues (We identified ten strategic issues later combined into four statements of strategic intent.  We also assessed our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to gauge our ability to respond) 
3. Set Vision (what future we strive for)
4. Craft Mission (what we hope to accomplish)
5. Articulate Values (how we make the journey)
6. Decide how to move forward (We crafted statements of strategic intent and objectives. The statements of strategic intent are broad, in order to invite widespread member participation, yet concise to give focus to our collective objective-setting efforts)