Karlshochschule International University

Conference “Narrative and Innovation” at Karlshochschule International University

Autor: Patrick Breitenbach am 10.08.2010

From 15 to 17 September 2010 the international conference on “Narrative and Innovation” is taking place at Karlshochschule International University.

The conference forms part of an interpretive approach towards business administration, strategic management, and entrepreneurship, by introducing instruments of semiotics, linguistics, narratology, and others. The topic of the conference therefore is open to a bundle of scientific and industrial perspectives.

From an entrepreneurial perspective, the early recognition of change in societies, markets and organizations is crucial. Not only from a competitive point of view are the signals more valuable, the earlier they are recognized.

Early recognition based on narratives opens windows for innovation and helps to foster new business opportunities.

• How do value systems of cultures and organizations exchange their scales and priorities?
• Which narratives form part in the encounter of partners in a complex network of stakeholders, which interactional formats can be identified?
• How do generic structures change, how can the sense-making character of new signs and stories be interpreted?
• How do styles in story-telling change and what does style-shifting indicate?
• Where are the strategic and organizational challenges?
• What are the levers that open new paths to opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial innovation and business development?

The proposed symposium is initiated by Prof. Dr. habil. Andreas Müller and Prof. Dr. Lutz Becker of Karlshochschule International University. It will have to deal with these last questions. Slight changes in the construction and the semantics of narratives or stories might represent the weak signals Igor Ansoff spoke about and which make the strategic anticipation of change possible. How can they be detected, what kind of analysis is apt for their description?

Scholars from all over the world (e.g. from Malaysia, Sweden, Japan, Australia) will participate in the three-day conference and contribute with posters, presentations or panel discussions. Beside speeches and presentations fringe events such as a Cultural Event or a Banquet are planned.

As keynote speakers of the conference we are very pleased to announce

Dr. Barbara Czarniawska
Professor of Management Studies from the University of Gothenburg
“Emerging Institutions: Pyramids or Anthills?”

Dr. Alfred Kieser
Professor of Business Administration and Organization from the University of Mannheim
“Fashion in Organization Theory”

Philippe Rixhon
BA in Philosophy, MSc in Engineering, MSc in Management, MA in Theatre Directing from Philippe Rixhon Associates Ltd. and L’atelier Spectaculaire Ltd. in London
“Life and Innovation – A Practitioner’s Narrative”

Dr. Andreas Zeuch
Consultant from beratergruppe sinnvoll • wirtschaften
“Riding dead horses. We need a shift of paradigm, not cosmetics”

To get an overview of the whole program please visit http://narrative-and-innovation.com/program/.

Registration is possible until 15th August.

The Organization Team