Technology and Innovation Management TIM

Dear colleagues,

We are very excited to invite you to our AOM 2026 presenter symposium, "Purpose Under Pressure: (Survival of) Corporate Purpose in the Face of Major Political Change." Link here. The symposium will take place on:

The symposium brings together an outstanding panel to examine what happens to corporate purpose when firms face major political, regulatory, and institutional change. The session will feature presentations by John Almandoz, Rodolphe Durand, Claudine Gartenberg, and Matthew Kraatz, with Todd Zenger serving as the discussant.

Across the presentations, the panelists will consider whether corporate purpose serves as a resilient anchor for decision-making and stakeholder relations, becomes a strategic liability that invites backlash or symbolic decoupling, or evolves as firms adapt to shifting political and regulatory conditions. The discussion will address attention-based views of purpose, the relationship between CSR actions and employee purpose clarity, the diffusion of purpose as a management concept in American corporations, and the role of purpose, values, and authority in resolving stakeholder value conflicts inside organizations.

The symposium aims to generate a multi-level conversation about when purpose remains credible and durable under pressure, when it fragments or becomes politicized, and how firms can embed purpose in governance, strategy, and daily work so that it can withstand turbulent socio-political environments.

We would be delighted to see you there and hope you can join the conversation.

Best,
Deepika Chhillar and Derek Lief (Organizers)