DMI 2012 International Research Conference (Aug 2012, Boston USA)

Location: Boston, USA
Dates: 8-9 August 2012
Website: http://dmi.org/dmi/html/conference/academic12/academic.htm
Deadline for submission of extended abstracts: 18 April 2012

The Design Management Institute is pleased to announce that it is soliciting submissions for an academic conference to be held August 8-9, 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Our goal is to create an inclusive conversation among academics from a variety of disciplines including business (organizational behavior, strategy, marketing, and operations) and design management (design strategy, product design, brand identity, communications, interactive design, user experience, architecture, and environmental design) to examine the ways in which design thinking can inform innovation currently and in the future. We aim to lay the groundwork to build a scholarly community and advance the state of the art in design management research, theory, and practice, and produce a significant contribution to the field through the paper presentations, conference proceedings and producing a special issue of the Design Management Journal.

Businesses are changing; manufacturers are becoming service providers and services are focusing increasingly on experiences. Organizations, in both the profit and the social sector, are seeking competitive advantage through innovation in their offerings, structure, processes, and business models. We believe that now is the time to convene a gathering of academics to take a critical look at how we can bring a scholarly lens to the ways that design may help to both shape and implement innovation in these emerging developments.

We invite submissions on the following seven themes:

Design-led innovation in products and services
Design-led innovation in organizations and the workplace
Design-led innovation in business models
Bridging research and practice in the management of design
Innovations in design management education
Developing design thinking skills
Innovations in design research methodologies, management processes, and outcomes

The academic committee will select the best of these papers for publication in a special issue of theDesign Management Journal to be published in 2013.

Submissions, in the form of an extended abstract, are due by April 18, 2012 and must meet the following guidelines:

1500 word (maximum) abstract containing the following:

Working title
Summary of paper
Description of methodology used (if appropriate)
Contribution to the field
Implications for theory and practice

Authors of accepted submissions will be notified by May 25, 2012.

Submission Guidelines

All proposals for full papers will be reviewed anonymously by at least two reviewers. For consideration, please submit your paper using the online proposal submission form.

The submission should contain a working title and a summary (maximum 1500 words) of the primary topics/themes of your paper, and the track from the seven listed above for which you wish your paper to be considered. To preserve anonymity, author names should not be identified in the body of the paper or extended summary. Authors should be referred to in the text or notes in the third person only.

Acceptance for presentation in the conference will be confirmed by May 25, 2012. The final version of the full paper should be emailed to conference secretary John Tobin by July 13, 2012 for inclusion in the Proceedings. Papers must not have been previously published. All accepted papers will be included in the Proceedings (CD format) and online on the DMI website.

Scholarships

A number of scholarships for the DMI International Research Conference will be available for students and educators thanks to the generous support of the US National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Scholarships will provide complimentary admission to the event. Scholarships do not cover travel and lodging costs.

To apply for a scholarship, please submit your current C.V., a two-to-three paragraph summary of your current studies and research goals, and a two-to-three paragraph summary describing why you are requesting the scholarship and how you would benefit from your participation in the conference. DMI will conduct two rounds of scholarship awards. Applications for the first round of awards will be due April 18, 2012. Applications for the second round of awards will be due June 1, 2012. Please submit all scholarship applications using the online form.