The theory of path dependence continues to attract great interest in business, strategy and organization studies. An increasing number of scholars have started to use the theory for studying organizational inertia and fixed transaction patterns. The conference organized by the path dependency research centre of the Freie Universität Berlin aims at providing a platform for researchers interested in analyzing path phenomena from different perspectives. The discussions are expected to focus on both conceptual issues of building and extending path theory and empirical studies guided by path conceptions. Conceptual as well as empirical papers from different fields are welcome: organization theory, organizational behaviour, strategic management, marketing, innovation and entrepreneurship. Beyond the field of business studies, we explicitly welcome contributions from economists, sociologists, historians and political scientists.

Format: This will be an intensive 2-day conference with concluding panels and two key-note speeches by Professors Paul David and Anne Huff. A maximum of 50 participants will be selected to guarantee a workshop atmosphere. The sessions combine paper presentations and discussions including interactive elements. The conference will take place at a special conference site located on the campus of the Freie Universität Berlin. Accommodation at reasonable prices is available at this site.

Submission: The organizers invite you to submit a paper for the conference. Papers are due by November 15, 2007. Please email your submission to pfadkolleg@wiwiss.fu-berlin.de. Proposals must be submitted in rich text (rtf) or portable document format (pdf) and should include:
• a full paper of a maximum of 8000 words, including an abstract of 200 words
• a separate sheet with contact information, including affiliation, e-mail, telephone, fax, and postal
address of the author(s).

Conference Organizers
Georg Schreyögg, Freie Universität Berlin
Jörg Sydow, Freie Universität Berlin
Albrecht Söllner, Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder

Registration and Deadlines
Submission of papers November 15, 2007
Notification of authors December 15, 2007 (also the deadline for submitting papers to OS)

For further practicalities and additional information please visit www.pfadkolleg.de

Publication: Organization Studies (OS) is willing to publish a Special Themed Section on “Organizational Path Dependency”. Conference participants are invited to submit their paper for consideration to this special OS section. Deadline for submitting a full paper is December 15, 2007. Please submit your paper directly to OS (in conformity with the OS author guidelines to be found at oss.sagepub.com), indicating that it is a submission to the Special Themed Section: Organizational Path Dependency – and send the paper cc to pfadkolleg@wiwiss.fu-berlin.de.