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FEKIS 2023

Welcome to FEKIS 2023: Reimagining relevance

Stockholm School of Economics have the honor of welcoming you to FEKIS 2023 on October 11-12, 2023. More information regarding the event and how to register is coming soon.

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Reimagining relevance

The increasing number of university programs and university-educated people in society has been proposed as a contributing cause for the explosion of so-called 'bullshit jobs' (Graeber, 2018) as well as a devaluation of education and an increased focus on formal qualifications and CV embellishment with more focus on form than content, which has been named 'the triumph of emptiness' (Alvesson, 2011).

Business administration as a subject can be considered particularly vulnerable here, as both research and education have long been subject to criticism –research for being too rigorous but irrelevant (Eisenhardt et al, 2016; Gulati, 2007) and education for training future leaders in overly theoretical approaches to the detriment of practical experience and qualitative insights, which can lead to not only bad but catastrophic decisions and system crises (Mintzberg, 2005).

As a counterweight to this, there is now an increasing focus on international rankings of business education and research also emphasizing positive impact on society. For example, impact forms a large part of the Research Excellence Framework in Great Britain, which governs rankings and the allocation of research funds. In recent years, the Financial Times, which makes one of the most influential ranking lists of business schools has also expressed that business schools' one-sided focus on academic publications and citations has led to reduced relevance, and that they will place greater emphasis on societal influence and impact in the future. In Sweden, 18 higher education institutions implemented Vinnova projects to increase collaboration capacity with industry and the surrounding society - the so-called The K3 project - as collaboration can increase the efficiency and quality of everything that a university does, regardless of whether it relates to education, quality work, and can also be directly decisive in dealing with society-wide challenges such as competence supply or sustainability.

Against this background, this year's FEKIS conference invites a broad group of stakeholders (researchers, students, research funders, industry, and society) for a constructive discussion on collaboration and impact in research and education in business administration.

Some overarching topics for the conference are:

  • The importance of impact and collaboration in education
    Do we train/prepare PhD students in the right way? What is the impact of business education on the practice of business administration?
  • The importance of impact and collaboration in research
    How can the relevance of Swedish business research be strengthened? How is Swedish research evaluated and what role does impact and collaboration play in evaluations?
  • The importance of impact and collaboration for promotion within academia
    What role does impact and collaboration play for promotions within academia?
  • The importance of impact and collaboration
    Is there a formalized Swedish job market within business administration and what does it look like? Should business administration collaborate more closely with industry and society in general (cf. KTH, KI)?

Call for sessions proposals

We are hereby inviting session proposals for FEKIS2023 in Stockholm on the theme of Reimagining Relevance. 

Three suggested types of sessions: Presentation, Panel or Workshop/Roundtable 

  • Presentation – Normally 2–4 presenters covering research or a conference topic. After or during presentations the audience should be allowed to pose questions.  
  • Panel – Discussions on a given topic. Panel is usually led by 1-2 moderators and contains panelists (academics or practitioners) who contribute with their perspectives. The audience should be allowed to pose questions or comments. 
  • Workshop/Roundtable – Workshops and Roundtable sessions are designed for participant interaction. 1-2 moderators lead practical exercises or interactive discussions, which can include breakout groups, and are responsible for the session process and summary discussion. 
     
     

How to submit your proposal
Proposals for sessions can be submitted to 
fekis@hhs.se with the following information (max 500 words/~1 page), MS Word/PPT or PDF format recommended: 

  • Title 
  • Session type (Presentation, Panel or Workshop/Roundtable) 
  • Session language (English or Swedish) 
  • Estimated timeframe 
  • Session lead(s) and confirmed participants/panelists (including affiliation) 
  • Abstract briefly describing the contents and intended insights for session participants.  
  • A few words on how the session will be made interactive for the audience.  

For additional information contact: fekis@hhs.se 

IMPORTANT DATES

  • March – May: Call for proposals
  • May – August: Registration to attend the conference
  • 10th of October: PhD Day
  • 10th of October: Meeting with the Association Council
  • 11th of October: Annual Meeting
  • 11-12 of October: FEKIS-conference