Over the last decade, there has been a significant increase in interest in set-analytic methods in management research, notably Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and configurational thinking. As in previous years, the Academy of Management (AoM) annual conference featured a comprehensive workshop (PDW) titled ‘CONFIGURATIONAL ANALYSIS IN MANAGEMENT RESEARCH: ADVANCES IN QCA METHODOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS‘.

Anna Sławik did a wonderful job of organizing it this year.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We’re excited to share a call for papers for a special themed section of Organization Theory on the configurational nature of organizational phenomena.

The section invites theoretical contributions from a broad range of traditions, including set-theoretic, typological, process, practice, relational, network, complexity, paradox, and dialectical approaches. Familiarity with configurational methods is neither required nor expected.

We’re hoping to reach scholars across a wide range of theoretical and disciplinary communities, so we would be very grateful if you could share it with colleagues or networks that may be interested. And, of course, we would especially love to see your own ideas in the mix!

The submission deadline is January 31, 2027.

The full call is available here and below.

Many thanks for helping us spread the word.

All the best,

Joanna, Peer, Santi, and Markus

Congratulations to Peer Fiss and Charles Ragin on winning the OMT Joanne Martin Trailblazer Award for their trailblazing work advancing set-analytic methods and introducing Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) within organization and management research.

The Joanne Martin Trailblazer Award recognizes scholars who have taken a leadership role in the field of OMT (Organization and Management Theory Divisionin of the Academy of Management) by opening up new lines of thinking or inquiry. A Trailblazer is a boundary-spanner and a conversation starter, someone who extends and builds the OMT community by shepherding new ideas and new scholarship, often in unconventional ways.

It’s wonderful to see so many QCA events coming up soon!

A wide range of training facilities included: https://compasss.org/events/category/training/

Please pay special attention to the QCA conference in Japan. Together with the QCA Conference of the Americas (held in Cincinnati in March this year) and the European QCA conference (to be held in Rotterdam in December), each year these conferences offer a great opportunity to exchange ideas and learn more about QCA, with Paper Development Workshops (PDW). Wanna know more? Visit the COMPASSS event site: https://lnkd.in/ewUeQK4p

5th Annual QCA Conference of the Americas

Building on the success of our first four conferences—from Houston to Los Angeles to Chicago to Baton Rouge—AQCA2026 took place in Cincinnati this year. Once again, it brought together our growing cross-disciplinary community of scholars and practitioners using and developing QCA and related configurational methods. Whether they were examining how multiple conditions combine to produce outcomes, exploring equifinality or grappling with issues of necessity and sufficiency, AQCA2026 offered kindred spirits and rigorous yet friendly feedback. Whether they were seasoned practitioners or were newly exploring configurational approaches, AQCA offered three days of lively discussion and learning, as well as the kind of community-building that has become a hallmark of AQA’s conferences. There were ample opportunities for socialising during coffee breaks, happy hours and meals.

Thank you to the organisers, Joanna, Claude, Gary and Peer, for a wonderful conference in Cincinnati! Special thanks to Joanna for being the organiser and local host this year!

From December 9 to 11, QCA enthusiasts gathered in Krakow, Poland, for the 13th EuropeanQCAConference2025 (formerly known as the International QCA Workshop). It was a successful conference with a PDW and an expert workshop. Thank you to the local organizers Anna Sławik, Seweryn Krupnik, Aleksandra Rudawska, and Esther Staes—you were fantastic!

Registration is now open for the 5th Annual QCA Conference of the Americas, to be hosted by the Carl H. Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati. Complete details are on our conference website, and you can register for the conference via CARMA.

NAKANISHI Yoshinobu is Professor of Business Administration at Hosei University, Tokyo.