Positive Relationships at Work microcommunity 2016 meeting

June 23, 2016

In June, the Cornell School of Hotel Administration (SHA) hosted the Positive Relationships at Work Roundtable and Third Biennial Meeting of the (PRW) Microcommunity. Over three days, the attendees offered and received feedback on in-process projects, built and strengthened interpersonal connections, and discussed ways to move the field of positive relationships at work forward.

The approximately thirty attendees included faculty and doctoral students from the Cornell SHA and the PRW Microcommunity. Attendees were invited to ensure a mix of senior and junior scholars as well as long-time and newer relationships researchers. Prior to the meeting, all attendees submitted abstracts describing current relationships-focused projects; during the meeting, those projects were the focus of extended small and large group discussions.

The meeting included a panel conversation with top-tier journal editors about publishing research on relationships at work. The goal was to identify opportunities and challenges unique to this field of study. Attendees also shared meals, played a Pictionary-inspired game using relationships constructs, and enjoyed a concert in the Cornell Chimes bell tower.

Three professors from the Cornell SHA chaired the meeting: Stephanie Creary, Jamie Perry, and Kristina Workman. Additional organizers included Elana Feldman (University of Massachusetts-Lowell), Lyndon Garrett (University of Michigan), Kerry Gibson (Babson College), Dana Harari (Georgia Tech), Emily Heaphy (Boston University), Kathy Kram (Boston University), and Beth Schinoff (Arizona State University). The Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) and the Cornell Institute for Hospitality Labor and Employment Relations (CIHLER) generously co-sponsored the meeting.

The PRW Microcommunity was founded in 2011 and has since grown to over ninety members. To learn more about the Microcommunity, please visit the Positive Relationships at Work Microcommunity webpage. (Stay tuned – the website will be moving in the beginning of July!) To join the Microcommunity, please contact Kerry Gibson at kgibson@babson.edu.

In the spirit of continuing to foster opportunities for in-person conversations about relationships research, we hope to see you at the PRW-sponsored Professional Development Workshop at the 2016 Academy of Management meeting in Anaheim, CA: “Capturing Positive Relationships at Work: A Measurement Workshop and Research Incubator” (Friday, August 5, 8:00-11:00 a.m., Anaheim Convention Center 205B). Pre-registration is required.