Apologies for cross-posting.
Call for Submission to AOM PDW:
Past, Present, and Future of a Behavioral Theory of the Firm: Integrating Cognition and Emotion
Sponsors: OMT & OB & MOC Divisions
Register, join, and discuss your BTOF research
PDW "Past, Present, and Future of a Behavioral Theory of the Firm"
Philadelphia AOM Conference 2026
Saturday, August 1, 2026 2:00 PM-5:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)
at Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel in Freedom Ballroom
Keynote Speakers:
· Dorthe Doejbak Haakonsson (Aarhus)
· Dongil Daniel Keum (Columbia)
· Timo Olavi Vuori (Aalto)
· Lily Yuxuan Zhu (Washington State)
Organizers:
● Pino Audia (Dartmouth)
● Songcui Hu (U. of Arizona)
● John Joseph (UC-Irvine)
● Hart Posen (Dartmouth)
Roundtable Facilitators:
● Stephan Billinger (Southern Denmark)
● Daniela Blettner (Simon Fraser)
● Julien Clement (Stanford)
● Jerry Guo (Frankfurt School of Finance and Management)
● Joon Mahn Lee (Seoul National U.)
● Sunkee Lee (CMU)
● Luke Rhee (UC-Irvine)
● Horacio Rousseau (FSU)
● Cyndi Zhang (SMU)
The Behavioral Theory of the Firm (BTOF) has had a foundational impact on the development of much work in both organization theory and strategy. We seek to build an annual PDW that will be the touchstone of BTOF theoretical development (AOM 2026 will represent the sixth edition). This year's theme is: Integrating cognition and emotion. Although the BTOF characterizes organizational decision-making as boundedly rational and shaped by cognitive and structural constraints, its core ideas have long implied an important role for emotions. For example, in Cyert and March's (1963), frustration and the drive to eliminate it underlie problemistic search, while joy and playful exploration motivate slack-driven search. Later work on responses to low performance highlights how threat-induced emotions such as anxiety and fear shape attention shifts across reference points (March and Shapira, 1992; Audia and Brion, 2007). More recently, BTOF research has explicitly theorized the role of emotions, challenging the image of "Tin Man" decision makers devoid of heart (Levinthal and Newark, 2023). We will engage with these advances that directly consider the integration of cognition and emotion within the BTOF conceptual framework. We provide a discussion forum where scholars can develop a shared understanding of BTOF research and insights for developing research to advance theory.
The PDW will follow a two-part format:
Part 1: Keynote speakers. Dorthe Doejbak Haakonsson (Aarhus), Daniel Keum (Columbia), Timo Olavi Vuori (Aalto), and Lily Yuxuan Zhu (Washington State) will focus on addressing various aspects of how emotions contribute to advancing the BTOF, including their roles in attention allocation, risk taking, team coordination, and organizational responses to performance feedback. Registration is NOT required for participation in Part 1 of the PDW.
Part 2: Roundtable discussions. Each table discussion will be focused on a different domain of BTOF research (e.g., aspirations, cognitive representations, problemistic search, organizational structure, multiple goals, self-enhancement). Prospective participants will apply by submitting a 2-page description of a BTOF-related research idea to be explored with the discussants and other participants. Each roundtable discussion will be guided by two experienced scholars who work in the BTOF tradition. Registration IS required.
To participate in Part 2, the roundtable discussion, please fill out the short registration form on this link by July 12, 2026. This will help us assign participants to roundtables based on their research interests. We will confirm registration for this PDW by July 24, 2026. If you have any questions, please contact btof.aompdw@gmail.com or any of the organizers.
------------------------------
Songcui Hu
Associate Professor
The University of Arizona
Tucson AZ
------------------------------