The Past Speaks

Note that the deadline has been extended from 15 to 20 January.

‘The Human Factor in Business History’

University of Glasgow, 29 June – 1 July 2017

Call for Papers

Understanding the strategy and structure of firms forms a vital part of the discipline of business history, as does the deployment of essential tools such as typologies of company forms, theories of the firm and firm growth and so on. But it is vital, too, for business historians to recognise and investigate those who stand at the heart of business history: the people who create firms, those who own them and those who work for them in various capacities (whether in head offices, in back offices or on the shop floor) to enable companies to function effectively (or, alternatively, passably or dysfunctionally). It is, after all, people who develop and deploy the skills, relationships and capabilities to allow all of this to happen. Just as important, though, is the human impact of the firm and other organisations that employ people, not least

because even today those employed spend a very large proportion of their time in the workplace. Indeed, they are usually engaged for more time there than in any other activity with the exception of sleeping. The firm is therefore a place not only for work, which itself involves considerable human interaction, but also a focus for social life and identity.

 

The theme of the 2017 ABH conference is ‘The human factor in business history’.

Proposals for individual papers or for full sessions, panel discussions or other session formats are invited on this topic, broadly conceived. Specific topics might

include, but are not limited to:

 

 Entrepreneurs, managers and/or workers

 Leadership in business

 Biographical and prosopographical approaches to business history

 Networks and hierarchies in business as social systems

 Cross-cultural issues in business and management

 The impact of automation and technology on human interaction in the

workplace

 Industrial relations and human resource management

 Gender roles and relations in the workplace

 The human bases of company behaviour and misbehaviour

 The human factor in SMEs, family enterprise, corporations and/or MNEs

 Local, regional, national and transnational networks and business

 The workplace as a community and focus for identity

 Business and social movements

 The impact of work and production on humans and the physical environment

As always, the ABH also welcomes proposals that are not directly related to the

conference theme.

 

How to submit a paper or session proposal

 

The program committee will consider both individual papers and entire panels.

Individual paper proposals should include a one-page (up to 300 word) abstract and

one-page curriculum vitae (CV). Panel proposals should include a cover letter stating

the rationale for the panel and the name of its contact person; one-page (300 word)

abstract and author’s CV for each paper; and a list of preferred panel chairs and

commentators with contact information. The deadline for submissions is 15 January

2017.

 

 

Your application for the conference should come through our online submission

platform.

 

First you make a choice for uploading a single paper or a full-session. After pressing

each button you will find a mask guiding you through the upload process. Please

have available your CV and your Abstract. Any other idea regarding the conference

– workshops, poster sessions, or panel discussions – must be suggested directly to

the Programme Committee.