NITIM Ph.D. Network
Doctoral Consortium "ICT & governance in network organisations"
Milan (Italy), April 19-21, 2010

facilitated by
CEMS - Community of European Management Schools (www.CEMS.org)
VE-Forum - (www.VE-Forum.org) 

Call for Submissions

Overview
The doctoral consortium on "ICT & governance in network organisations" aims to bring together PhD candidates and faculty, in order to facilitate focused and in-depth discussions. The consortium will encompass the following areas:
. The relationship between ICT, innovation and governance;
. innovation and governance: can they coexist?
. ICT enabled networks and governance dilemmas;
. ICT challenges to governance principles and structures;
. ICT governance: management fashion or need?

www.NITIM.eu is the PhD network on Networks, Information Technology and Innovation Management. The consortium meets regularly at one of the participating universities and is meant to facilitate transdisciplinary debate at the intersection of disciplines like information systems, (innovation) management, engineering, or sociology. It puts particular emphasis on theoretically informed empirical research.

The Milan meeting will focus on ICT & governance and Innovation. Governance results from complexity and implies the definition of rules, processes and procedures to manage that complexity. Innovation on the other hand requires agility and flexibility including the freedom to experiment, to explore directions and elaborate on experience. The emerging developments of open innovation and user-driven innovation adds further dimensions of governance complexity from the involvement of stakeholders outside the firm in the network. Can the two concepts co-exist, especially in networks where governance is intrinsically difficult?

Target group and eligibility
Submissions to the PhD network are invited from PhD candidates, whose research interests lie within the areas listed above and who intend repeated participation throughout their Ph.D. research process
PhD candidates interested in participating for the first time should have developed  a proposal for their research, detailing a problem statement, research question and methodology. They should, however, not be so close to completion of their thesis that they can no longer benefit from the input at the consortium (typically 6 months).
With the submission of the proposal a supporting letter from a faculty member is expected (either the Supervisor or the Director of the PhD programme).

Organisation
The core of the programme will be centred on the critical and constructive discussion of the PhD candidates' research proposals or intermediate versions. In particular, research design (i.e. the linkage between an identified problem area, a research question and the appropriate methodology) will be discussed.  In order to facilitate in-depth discussions of candidates' research, and to provide some additional guidance, the overall number of participants will be limited to 25.
The consortium is also meant to provide additional input, such as: 
. talks by invited speakers about ongoing research and/or methodological issues (e.g. different research traditions in innovation management, IS and neighbouring disciplines);
. discussions about the (changing) landscape of research and higher education in Europe (at the EU level and at national levels);
. open fora about practical considerations (publishing, job market, etc.)
In addition to providing guidance and feedback to the PhD candidates outside the student-supervisor relationship, attendees will have an opportunity for benchmarking their progress (where do I stand vis-à-vis my peers?) and building networks with peers. Repeated participation for establishing long standing networks is encouraged.
PhD candidates (and faculty) are expected to stay for the entire consortium in order to benefit from the discussions and interventions as they unfold over the duration of the event.
The consortium typically will count for 3 ECTS.

Location and costs
The consortium will be held close to Milan, Italy, which is accessible by air from most major European cities. The sessions will be organized at Hotel Relais sul Lago (http://www.relaissullago.it/en/index.php).
It is expected the PhD candidates will pay their own travel, full board accommodation and a registration fee of 100 Euro. The registration fee includes support materials, readings and dinner on Sunday. 

Submission 
Submissions by PhD candidates are sought, which should include:
. A research proposal (4000-5000 words): motivation, research question, relevant literature, research design/ methodology, expected outcomes;
. A statement by the Supervisor or PhD programme Director about the status of the PhD candidate, and a recommendation that he/she will benefit from the consortium.
The deadline for submissions is February 16th, 2010.
Please send the submission to: paola.bielli@unibocconi.it

Consortium committee
Co-chairs
Paola Bielli, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy
Nathalie Mitev, London School of Economics


Faculty 
Robert B. Johnston,  University College Dublin
Bernhard R. Katzy, University BW Munich & Leiden University
Ulrike Lechner, University BW Munich
Magnus Maehring, Copenhagen Business School
András Nemeslaki, Corvinus University Budapest
Matti Rossi, Aalto University School of Economics, Finland
Klaus Sailer, Hochschule München
Virpi Kristiina Tuunainen, Helsinki School of Economics, Finland

Timetable 

February 16, 2010: Deadline for submissions of proposals by PhD candidates, earlier submissions are encouraged.
Submissions will be screened for thematic fit and fast feedback will be provided.
March 1 (or earlier): Notification of acceptance
March 31: Submission of the final version of the proposals
April 19-21: NITIM Doctoral Consortium



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