General Theme

28th EGOS Colloquium 2012, Helsinki

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The theme of the 28th EGOS Colloquium 2012 in Helsinki is Design!? The concept of design has been defined and used in a multitude of ways in a variety of academic fields, ranging from the classics of organizational design to studies on open sourcing and aesthetics.

At the Colloquium, we seek not only to problematize and rethink the various meanings of design, but also to promote discussion on new ways to view and to understand organizations and organizing on this basis.

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The exclamation mark in Design!? denotes the need for organizational and other theorists to take actively into account different perspectives, to take a stand, and to suggest new and innovative ideas vis-à-vis existing work. The question mark, in turn, encourages problematization of established notions, conceptualizations and categorizations.

Organizational and other theorists need to render visible and question the taken-for-granted understandings that sustain and reproduce established boundaries in organizations and organizing? as well as in the ways in which researchers make sense of them.

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In the harsh Northern climate, Helsinki, the Finnish capital, is emblematic of the social, practical and cultural aspects of Design!?

In the Finnish context, design is first and foremost about usefulness, rather than exclusiveness and glamour. Design is not something reserved for elites and connoisseurs. It is everywhere. Sometimes it fails to please the eye, but it usually works, plain and simple.

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Welcome to Helsinki, the World Design Capital 2012!