The Organisational Communication (ORG) Working Group of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites the submission of proposals for papers for IAMCR 2025, which will be held in Singapore, from 13th to 17 July 2025. The Organisational Communication Working Group was approved at the IAMCR annual conference in July 2024 and is dedicated to contributing to the theoretical and practical understanding of the place, purpose, manifestations and implications of communication within and across organisational borders, from critical, structural and strategic perspectives.
The deadline for submission is 7 February 2025, at 23h59 UTC.
See the list of all sections and working groups and their remits
See the CfPs of all sections and working groups
IAMCR conferences address many diverse topics defined by our 37 thematic sections and working groups. We also propose a single central theme to be explored throughout the conference with the aim of generating and exploring multiple perspectives. This is accomplished through plenary and special sessions, as well as in many of the sessions of the sections and working groups. The 2025 central theme is Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet.
Consult a detailed description of the main theme
The IAMCR Organisational Communication working group invites papers that reflect on the above theme while also considering the implications for communication within and across organisational borders. In particular, we encourage discussions on the evolutions taking place in how organisations and their stakeholders interact over issues relating to environmental sustainability. Organisations are being forced by technological evolutions and affordances; growing stakeholder power, consciousness of organisational impacts and demand for environmental action; and growing regulatory attention to adopt more sustainable practices. Importantly, the growing recognition for, uptake and influence of AI in messaging have complicated the dynamics of authenticity in conversations around the environment challenge. These raise a number of questions for contemplation around:
- Communication and decision making towards the adoption of such environment-friendly actions
- How conversations about environmental sustainability are instigated, initiated and by whom?
- Ethics, leadership and change management to accommodate environment friendly practices
- Outcomes emanating from conversations about climate action in organisations
- Greenwashing and other colorwashing
- The societal impact of rhetoric and stories about environment
- Who is discussing/debating the climate issue within organisational boundaries?
- What activist roles are taken on by organisations in addressing the climate challenge
- The voice of developing country organisations in conversations about climate justice?
We invite proposals for papers that reflect on these issues from both brand building, and critical perspectives. In addition to papers that reflect the general conference theme, we also invite proposals for papers that address the following themes, including from interdisciplinary perspectives:
- Organisational communication via indigenous and citizen media
- Stakeholder-initiated interactions with organisations
- Technological change and its impacts on communication by and with organisations
- Digital spaces, speed and brand crisis communication
- Organisational communication and diversity and inclusivity
- The influence of AI on dialogic communication and ethical issues
Guidelines for abstracts
Abstracts are requested for papers to be presented in person at the conference in Singapore. Abstract should be between 800 and 1000 words and must be submitted exclusively through IAMCR’s submission system from 3 December 2024 through 7 February 2025, at 23.59 UTC. Emailed abstracts will not be accepted.
It is expected that each person will submit only one abstract. However, no author’s name should appear on more than two abstracts, either individually or as part of any group of authors and authors should not submit more than one abstract to any single section or working group. The same abstract, or a version with minor variations in title or content, must not be submitted to more than one Section or Working Group. Such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected. Authors submitting the same work to multiple Sections or Working Groups may be removed entirely from the conference programme.
Evaluation criteria
Submitted abstracts will generally be evaluated on the basis of:
- Technical merit
- Readability
- Originality and/or significance
- Use of or contribution to theory
- Relevance to the section and current trends or controversies in its field
- Depth of knowledge of the research, theory and/or literature related to to the proposed topic as evidenced in the submission
- Acceptance of proposals may also be conditioned by programme diversity and balance criteria
Statement on use of AI tools
IAMCR does not encourage or condone the use of generative AI tools to prepare abstracts submitted for consideration for our conferences. IAMCR values originality, integrity, and transparency in academic work, and believes that human-authored contributions best support rigorous and innovative scholarship in media and communication research. Should an author choose to use a generative AI tool in the preparation of an abstract, we require that they include a clear statement within their submission disclosing the tool's use. This statement must specify: (1) the name of any AI tool used; (2) how the tool was used in preparing the abstract, and; (3) the reason for using the tool. Failure to disclose the use of generative AI in accordance with these guidelines may impact the evaluation and acceptance of the submission.
Languages
Abstracts for the Organisational Communication working group are only accepted in English. Presentations at the conference will also be in English.
Deadlines and key dates
The deadline to submit abstracts is 7 February 2025, at 23.59 UTC. For other key dates see https://iamcr.org/singapore2025/keydates. Dates are subject to change.
Contacts
For further information about the Organisational Communication Working Group, visit our website. You may also write to the members of the Head:
Chair: Abena Animwaa Yeboah-Banin (ayeboah-banin@ug.edu.gh)
Vice-Chair: Mokhtar Elareshi (melareshi@sharjah.ac.ae)
Vice-Chair: Gisela Gonçalves (gisela.goncalves@ubi.pt)
