16th Philosophy of Management annual conference

Friday 21st to monday 24th june 2024
EM Normandie Oxford campus

International conference

DEADLINE EXTENDED UNTIL FEBRUARY 17th 2024

Call for Papers

The 16th edition of the Philosophy of Management Annual Conference will be held in Oxford, UK at the EM Normandie Oxford Campus, on 21-24 June 2024.

As usual, it guarantees a 45-minute slot for each paper, for an unhurried presentation and in-depth discussion.

General track

We welcome submissions that explore all angles of management in private or public organizations through a philosophical lens: e.g., applied ethics; social, moral and political philosophy; ontology; epistemology; axiology; aesthetics. In any of these areas, we encourage scholars to propose novel, critical, timely and/or controversial arguments. Submissions can also adopt a ‘meta-’ standpoint for raising and answering questions such as “What is philosophy of management?” “Is philosophy useful for managers?” “Is management a science or an art?” “Can management be part of the humanities and, if not, what else should it be part of?” We are looking forward to receiving your submissions by 31 January 2024.

Special tracks

The Conference is associated with the journal Philosophy of Management and, in addition to the general track, will host two
special tracks for papers aiming to be submitted after the conference to one of the incoming special issues of this journal. If submitting for one of these special tracks, please mention it in the title of your paper.

Special Track: Rethinking Leadership

Most of the academic work on leadership is conducted by social scientists, who frequently lament the lack of an agreed-upon definition of their subject matter and who often complain about conceptual confusions. Philosophers are in a position to make meaningful contributions to the conceptual clarification of leadership and its related notions. Here are some suggested areas of
conceptual and normative inquiry. Is it possible to define the concept of leadership as employed by practitioners and scholars? How are we to understand the traditional lineup of “leadership theories”—are they about the same thing, and are they actually competitors? In what sense is the concept of “distributed” or shared leadership to be considered to be leadership at all, if everyone has the same level of influence and responsibility? Is leadership essentially normative, given that guiding a group in just any direction—as effectively as you like—does not alone seem to be a sufficient criterion of good leadership? What can social ontology tell us about leadership, given that the notion of leadership is so embedded in other social constructed ideas, such as organizations, resources, directions, rights, and responsibilities? Is leadership an appropriate topic for scientific inquiry? What can we learn from philosophers who have directly addressed leadership, such as Confucius, Laozi, Kautilya, Plato, Seneca, or Machiavelli?

Special Track: The AI Awakening

The Center for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety recently released a statement that “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war”. The statement was signed and endorsed by prominent figures within the AI community, including executives from OpenAI, DeepMind, and Anthropic, in addition to researchers across the globe. Unsurprisingly, the fear of extinction has caught the attention of media worldwide, painting the emergence of AI as an “existential threat”. Indeed, AI poses an immediate danger to our relationship with the world, our place in it, and the values we constitute. One glaring illustration of this is the exploitation of our personal data for profit maximization, often at the cost of our autonomy, human agency, and democratic foundations. At the same time, AI can also be considered a progressive technology which promotes plurality, empowers citizens, and serves the public good. This brings us to an opportune moment to delve into the philosophical aspects surrounding the management of AI and contemplate the roles that both private enterprises and governments can and ought to assume in this evolving landscape.

This special track delves into fundamental questions surrounding the management of AI, its implications, and its place in the broader context of human existence. We welcome submissions focusing on ethical, political, and social dilemmas concerning the development and deployment of AI systems, including issues related to privacy, bias, and the impact of automation on society. We also invite scholars to engage with the topic from diverse non-normative perspectives, such as epistemology, ontology, and aesthetics. This philosophical inquiry does not only seek to understand the limitations and possibilities of AI but also challenges us to reflect on the nature of our own humanity in a world increasingly intertwined with this technology. 

16th PHOM programme

Saturday Keynote

The Moral Logic of Leadership

Leadership is an inescapably normative endeavor, even though some leaders don’t see it that way. Most definitions and descriptions of leadership contain or imply moral concepts such as responsibility and duty. The idea of leadership is inherently utilitarian and somewhat altruistic. We hire, elect, or appoint leaders to look after the greatest good of their constituents, organizations, or followers, not themselves. However, leaders only exist if they are in a relationship with willing, or at least not unwilling, followers. This presentation explores the logic of that relationship and what it means for accountability based on its function, the autonomy of its members, and their ability to make moral judgments. The talk offers insight into the question: Do people get the leaders they deserve?

Joanne B. Ciulla

Joanne B. Ciulla is Professor of Leadership Ethics and Director of the Institute for Ethical Leadership at Rutgers Business School. Before joining Rutgers, she was a founding faculty member of the University of Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership Studies. Prof. Ciulla has had academic appointments at LaSalle University, Harvard Business School, and The Wharton School and held the UNESCO Chair in Leadership Studies at the UN Leadership Academy. A BA, MA, and PhD in philosophy, Prof. Ciulla publishes extensively on ethics in leadership and business and on the philosophy of work. Her recent book, The Search for Ethics in Leadership, Business, and Beyond, is an autobiographical collection. She has received lifetime achievement awards for her scholarship from the Society for Business Ethics, The International Leadership Association, and the Network of Leadership Scholars at the Academy of Management.

Sunday Keynote

A dialogue on philosophy of management theory and practice between Chris Cowton and Roger Crisp

Roger Crisp

Roger Crisp is Director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford, Uehiro Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at St Anne’s College, Oxford, and Honorary Professor at the Dianoia Institute of Philosophy, Australian Catholic University. He is the author of Mill on Utilitarianism, Reasons and the Good, The Cosmos of Duty, and Sacrifice Regained, edited the Oxford Handbook of the History of Ethics, and has translated Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics for Cambridge University Press. He has written on many issues in practical ethics and served on various UK committees and working parties.

Chris Cowton

Chris Cowton is Emeritus Professor at the University of Huddersfield, having served as Professor of Accounting (1996-2016), Dean of the Business School (2008-2016), and Professor of Financial Ethics (2016-2019). He previously lectured at the University of Oxford (1986-1996). Now based in London, he was Associate Director of the Institute of Business Ethics, 2019-2023. He has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Leeds' Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied (IDEA) Centre, the University of the Basque Country, Bilbao (Spain) and the University of Bergamo (Spain). In 2013 he was awarded the University of Huddersfield’s first DLitt (Doctor of Letters, a higher doctorate) in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of knowledge in business and financial ethics.

Although notionally 'retired', Chris continues to publish and to speak to academic and business audiences on a regular basis, as well as undertaking various projects. For example, he was the architect and main writer of the online Ethics CPD course, consisting of several modules, launched by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in November 2023.