We warmly invite you to our Professional Development Workshop (PDW), Compliant but Irresponsible?: Sustainability and the Rhetorics of Organizational Stewardship, at the 2026 Academy of Management Annual Meeting.
This PDW brings together scholars from different regions across the globe to provide complementary perspectives and critically examine how socioecological stewardship and sustainability organizing are shaped by legacies of extraction, colonial governance, regulatory capture, and histories of organizational misconduct. Drawing on litigated cases involving multimillion-dollar liability claims and compensation settlements involving multinational corporations, especially in Indigenous contexts, the workshop explores how responsibility is constructed, contested, justified, and sometimes denied across organizational, legal, and community interfaces.
Among the key questions we will explore are: Can organizations be compliant and still be irresponsible? Where does the boundary of organizational socioecological responsibility lie, especially when societal expectations extend beyond the locus of regulation? What insights can Indigenous ontologies, relational ethics, and intergenerational accountability offer for sustainability organizing? And how might management theory and practice move beyond the rhetorics of compliance toward more meaningful forms of stewardship?
We invite scholars, practitioners, and early-career researchers whose research engages with these themes and the broader field of management for socioecological well-being to bring questions, ideas, and ongoing research projects to this highly interactive session. The PDW will feature case presentations, panel discussions, and audience engagement designed to advance conversations on sustainability, stewardship, organizational responsibility, and the normative foundations of socioecological accountability.
The PDW will be held from 8:00 to 10:00 AM ET (GMT-4/UTC-4) on Sunday, August 2, 2026, at the Sheraton – Liberty Ballroom A. Those participating in the conference remotely will also have the opportunity to join online. Please send a direct message to any of the organizers if you would like to receive a link to participate.
Panelists
- Irene Henriques (York University, Canada)
- Diego Coraiola (University of Victoria, Canada)
- Stephen Cummings (University of Sydney, Australia)
Case Presenters
- Peter Musinguzi (University of Melbourne, Australia)
- Esther Hennchen (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain)
- Hellen Marquezini (University of Victoria, Canada)
- Christian Igbeghe (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
- Irene Henriques (York University, Canada)
Moderator
- Lauren Walter (University of Victoria, Canada)
Organizers
Christian Igbeghe (University of Jyväskylä, Finland), Peter Musinguzi (University of Melbourne, Australia), Lauren Walter (University of Victoria, Canada).
This PDW is sponsored by the ONE Division and welcomes scholars and practitioners across career stages, divisions, and interest groups. It provides an interactive space for developing new research ideas, receiving diverse perspectives, and advancing ongoing conversations on sustainability, organizational responsibility, and stewardship.
We look forward to seeing you in Philadelphia!
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Christian Igbeghe
Doctoral Researcher
University of Jyväskylä
Jyvaskyla
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