The Industry Studies Association (ISA) cordially invites submissions of abstracts for individual papers and panels for the 2025 Annual Conference (see submission links below).

ISA’s annual conference provides a forum to share industry studies research with fellow researchers, industry leaders and policy makers; provoke dialogue on industry challenges and opportunities; and form new collaborations. We welcome research that incorporates an industry focus from all disciplines; we regard the multi-disciplinary mix of scholars as one of the greatest strengths of our conference. ISA is especially interested in organized panels and papers that emphasize observation and insight into a particular industry or that consider how knowledge gained in studying one industry can provide insights into other industries.

2025 Conference Theme
Context Matters:
Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Industrial Policy
in the New Era of Geopolitics

We are thrilled to return to MIT, an initial grantee of the Sloan Foundation’s $100 million industry studies program. The Sloan Foundation funded 26 industry studies from 1999-2010 and provided initial funding for the ISA in 2010. MIT’s five-year, fourteen-country International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP) was one of Sloan-funded industry studies, which also included Wharton’s banking and Berkeley’s semiconductor studies. These studies pioneered the broad yet deep comparative research that illuminates the systemic and organizational challenges as industries transform. The IMVP demonstrated how the collaborative, multi-disciplinary nature of industry studies research exposes issues often hidden to solely disciplinary work. Along with many papers, the IMVP also resulted in the book, The Machine that Changed the World, that popularized ‘lean manufacturing’.

With the rise of geopolitical shifts, climate, energy, health care challenges and increasing economic nationalism, the need for continued collaborative industry research is greater than ever.  The ISA is well-placed to help understand and advance solutions to these challenges. As an example, ISA members and conference attendees have held and currently hold prominent policy positions in multiple White House administrations. Currently, the ISA is a strategic partner of the International Trade Association's Supply Chain Center.

MIT is at the epicenter of one of largest entrepreneurial ecosystems in the world. MIT alumni have founded over 30,000 active companies with revenue in excess of $1.9 trillion and employ 4.6 million people. Boston and Cambridge also form one of the largest medical and biopharma clusters in the world. In 2025, we take this remarkable ecosystem as a starting point for our conference. Come to Cambridge June 4-6th and experience this unique environment yourself.

While the ISA encourages papers and panels related to the conference theme, a tie to theme is not mandatory. Any papers or panels that build upon the ISA’s foundational interest in organizations and industries are welcome.  

Please feel free to contact the Conference Program Co-Chairs listed below with questions.

• Hiram Samel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, [email protected]
• John Paul Helveston, George Washington University, [email protected]
• Anant Mishra, University of Minnesota, [email protected]

The deadline for submissions is Friday January 24, 2025.

If you are an ISA member, please login to begin.  If you are not already an ISA member, our website will ask you to create an account as a precondition of the submission process. This step provides the information we need for future communication with you about your submission, whether it is accepted, and scheduling and logistical details for the conference.  It is separate from the action of becoming a member and paying dues or registering for the conference, both of which will be required later if your submission is accepted.  

Welcome from John Gray
ISA President

 Welcome to the website of the Industry Studies Association! We are happy you are here. Please browse this website to see our board, our mission, a recap of our 2024 conference, our 2024 award winners, a preview of our 2025 conference at MIT in Cambridge, MA, and more!

 We are an offshoot of the highly impactful Sloan Foundation Industry Studies, whose grantees included MIT’s automobile studies (which resulted in, among other things, The Machine that Changed the World), Wharton’s banking studies, and UC-Berkeley’s semiconductor studies.

 Currently, we exist to promote such Industry Studies research—research that is grounded in the details of the industry, often cross-disciplinary, and relevant to practitioners and policymakers alike. That is, research that has impact. We promote such research in several ways.

 Our biggest activity is our annual conference, which in 2025 will be held at MIT in Cambridge, MA, from June 4 to June 6. The conference gathers researchers, policymakers, and thought leaders from a broad range of disciplines committed to a deep understanding of the role that context – industry, location, and organization—plays in phenomena. The conference will include a Professional Development Workshop (PDW) for students and junior scholars, engaging plenaries, and opportunities for interesting site visits. For an idea of what our conferences have entailed, please see the 2024 Sacramento and 2023 Columbus recaps! We expect the MIT conference to be even bigger and better.

 Stay tuned to this website in general, and the conference page specifically, for updates as we pull together the 2025 program. We are also in the early planning stages of our first-ever international (mini)-conference, in Oxford, UK, in Sept 2025.

 Beyond the conference, we support the collation of policy work to enable connections between researchers and policymakers. You can sign up to receive the Federal Industrial Policy & Strategy Update, compiled by board member Andrew Reamer. This weekly e-mail promotes researcher ties to policymakers—and vice versa—by collating, organizing, and disseminating public policy-related announcement and news. Simply e-mail Andrew at [email protected] to sign up.

 We also promote Industry Studies scholarship, by encouraging the creation of Industry Studies departments at top journals such as the “Public Policy and Industry Studies” Department at the Journal of Operations Management and the “Industry Studies and Public Policy” department at the Production and Operations Management journal. We also annually give out the Ralph Gomory award for the best published Industry Studies paper in Industry Studies award, selected from papers published in ten top journals across different disciplines.

 I encourage you to get involved in ISA. If you intend to join us at MIT, or if you just want to support and be involved in what we do, become a member now! If you’re inspired to do so, donate!

 Soon, the submission site will open for the MIT 2025 conference, with a deadline in mid-January for submission. Please start planning now to submit a paper abstract or a panel description. Or, offer to be involved in—as a mentor or mentee—our PDW . E-mail board member Jeff Furman at [email protected] to express interest in the PDW.

 I look forward to your engagement, and to seeing you at MIT in early June!

Diana Jue-Rajasingh (Rice University)  

The Folding Effect: The Role of Reframed Distance in Organizational Search

Sukhun Kang
(University of California – Santa Barbara) 

Ralph P. Gomory Best Industry Studies Paper Award

WINNING PAPER:

People, performance and transition: A case study of psychological contract and stakeholder orientation in the Toyota Australia plant closure

Journal of Operations Management

Daniel Samson (University of Melbourne)

Morgan Swink (Texas Christian University)

RUNNER-UP:

Exploring the structure of internal combustion engine and battery electric vehicles: Implications for the architecture of the automotive industry 

Industrial and Corporate Change

                    
Johann P. Murmann                                            Benedikt A. Schuler

(University of St. Gallen)