Call for paper: WOA 2025 – Navigating Organizational Change in Times of Uncertainty

Università degli Studi d’Annunzio Chieti-Pescara
May 29th – 30th, 2025

GENERAL THEME

Organizations must adapt to unforeseen challenges and uncertainties in today’s rapidly evolving landscape. Global pandemics, technological disruptions, economic fluctuations, geopolitical crises, and wars are reshaping market dynamics and economic stability. These unprecedented challenges demand robust and effective change management strategies.

Navigating organizational change in such uncertain times requires a multifaceted approach that blends established theories with modern practices. Prioritizing leadership, fostering a strong organizational culture, engaging employees, embracing agility, leveraging digital transformation, building resilience, and ensuring clear communication are critical to enhancing an organization’s capacity to adapt and thrive.

Understanding and applying proven change management frameworks is essential for guiding organizations through transitions. These frameworks must also allow flexibility to address the unique challenges posed by uncertainty. By revitalizing established methods and exploring innovative approaches, organizations can develop strategies that are both comprehensive and adaptable.

Managing change effectively has become a vital competency for leaders and managers. Ongoing research in this area offers valuable insights for practitioners seeking to implement successful change initiatives in an increasingly complex environment.

The WOA 2025 would be a forum to explore the multifaceted nature of organizational change by integrating diverse theoretical frameworks and practical approaches. It seeks to uncover innovative strategies for navigating change in times of uncertainty. Below are key themes of interest from both scientific and managerial perspectives:

• Leadership plays a pivotal role in navigating organizational change. Then studies can focus on the competencies and behaviours of leaders who successfully guide their organizations through turbulent times, highlighting the importance of emotional intelligence, communication skills, and vision.
• The relationship between organizational culture and change initiatives is a critical area of investigation. Research highlights that aligning change efforts with an organization’s existing culture significantly increases the likelihood of successful implementation.
• The well-being of employees during times of change is increasingly recognized as a vital factor in achieving organizational success. Fostering a supportive environment can enhance resilience and engagement.
• Organizations prioritising open communication and establishing robust feedback mechanisms are better equipped to navigate uncertainty and foster trust during transitional periods.
• The rapid acceleration of digital transformation presents profound challenges and opportunities for organizational change. Successfully adopting new technologies requires managing the accompanying cultural and operational shifts to ensure sustainable integration.
• Ethical decision-making and strong governance structures are critical in ensuring transparency and accountability during organizational transitions.

We invite submissions of original research, theoretical papers, case studies, and innovative research ideas to contribute new empirical evidence and theoretical perspectives on the themes outlined above. Below are example questions and topics to inspire contributions:

• How do organizational structures and managerial processes adapt to manage uncertainty effectively?
• What strategies ensure effective change management in volatile and unpredictable environments?
• What is the role of leadership in guiding organizations through complex transitions, and how can leaders cultivate emotional intelligence and visionary thinking to navigate challenges?
• How can organizations foster employee engagement and resilience during transformative periods?
• What is the impact of digital transformation on organizational change processes, and how can organizations address the cultural and operational shifts it requires?
• How does the alignment between organizational culture and change initiatives influence the success of transformation efforts?
• What human resource practices best support change initiatives while prioritizing employee well-being and mental health?
• How can organizations establish open communication channels and feedback mechanisms to build trust during transitions?
• What role does ethical governance play in ensuring transparency, accountability, and fairness during change processes?
• How can diversity and inclusion perspectives enhance innovation, collaboration, and problem-solving during organizational transformations?
• What are the critical challenges and opportunities associated with integrating sustainability and social responsibility into organizational change strategies?
• How do inter-organizational collaborations and partnerships influence the management of large-scale changes?
• In what ways can data analytics and AI tools be leveraged to predict, plan, and manage change effectively?
• How do globalization and cross-cultural dynamics affect the implementation of change initiatives in multinational organizations?
• What are the emerging trends in employee learning and development that support successful adaptation to change?
• How can organizations create adaptive and agile work environments to thrive in a constantly evolving landscape?

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS

The WOA 2025 will be characterized by the presence of two different types of sessions (Papers and Research Ideas) and a Doctoral Consortium.

1. PAPER SESSIONS (SHORT PAPER and FULL PAPER) May 29th (afternoon) and May 30th (all day): Short papers presenting completed research – including theoretical, methodological, findings, and discussion and contributions sections – may be submitted in such a session.
2. RESEARCH IDEAS (POSTER) May 29th (afternoon) and May 30th (all day): Abstracts about work in progress, research ideas, or early-stage works eliciting feedback can be sent to this session to receive advice and discuss broader. Indeed, this session is suitable for suggestions exchange and open discussion of research projects and ideas in an early development phase.
3. DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM May 29th (morning): The Doctoral Consortium is designed to provide doctoral candidates with feedback on their research projects while fostering a sense of community among participants. It also promotes interaction with senior scholars, offering an opportunity to discuss related research topics. Additionally, the Consortium is intended to guide doctoral candidates in their academic journey, offering insights into the publication process and developing essential skills for communicating and presenting their work. Furthermore, it aims to encourage future collaborations. The Consortium’s themes will be organized according to the research areas that characterize the WOA community, ensuring that each doctoral candidate can engage with scholars and experts within their field of study. A suitable number of senior scholars will be involved to ensure a 1:4 ratio between senior scholars and doctoral candidates.
   The Doctoral Consortium will be organized in two sessions.
   In the first session, doctoral candidates will have one minute to introduce their research projects during an initial pitch session. They will then be grouped into small discussion groups based on preferences expressed during the pitch. Discussions will take place in roundtable sessions lasting approximately one and a half hours, facilitated by a senior scholar. During these sessions, each doctoral candidate will present his/her research in detail and receive feedback from both the senior scholar and other participants.
   In the second session, the five best papers selected from the submissions will be discussed in a plenary session with an editor from a scholarly journal. During this session, the editor will guide the authors through a critical review of their work, offering a live assessment of the papers to provide an insider’s perspective on the academic publication process. The day will conclude with a final plenary session focused on summarizing key insights and defining possible future developments for the projects presented.

SUBMISSION

Full and short papers, research ideas and Doctoral projects must be submitted electronically via EasyChair by April 13th 2025.

FULL and SHORT PAPERS

Submitting full and short papers must include a Title page and a Main document in a pdf format, which will be uploaded as separate files. Contributions will be double-blind reviewed.

Short papers of a maximum of 3000 words (incl. references, appendices and other material) should contain the paper’s purpose, theoretical background, the research gap that is addressed, the approach taken, the methods of analysis (in empirical papers), main findings, and contributions (if any). Papers will be discussed deeply in the conference session to obtain useful comments and advice.

Notification of acceptance will be communicated by May 2nd.

RESEARCH IDEAS

Work-in-progress sessions, research ideas, and early-stage work will be presented with the support of printed presentations displayed on large boards (100 h x 70l centimeters; portrait format).

Individual posters will be clustered in thematic “call for ideas” sessions lasting 60-90 minutes each. Since this session aims to generate a dynamic discussion among presenters and the audience, a facilitator will lead an introductory round in which each presenter introduces her/his poster, specifying what kind of advice is expected (approx. 3 minutes each). Then, the audience members will be able to interact with the presenter (7-10 minutes).

All research ideas will be accepted to be presented

DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM

Participation in the Doctoral Consortium will require the submission of an extended abstract of the research paper that contains the purpose of the research, the theoretical background, the research gap that is addressed, the approach taken, the method(s) that is adopted and the main findings and contributions.

SOCIAL EVENTS

At the end of the social dinner (May 29th), it will be possible to dance (live music is provided!)

On Saturday morning (only reserving until May 1st), it will be possible to participate in a bicycle (assisted bikes on demand) excursion at the famous “Trabucchi Coast” with a light (!) lunch included (“paranza” fried fish). More details will be provided by February 15th.

We look forward to your contributions and an engaging and insightful conference!