Addiction is a growing global public health and social concern, yet it has received relatively little attention within organization and management studies. At AOM 2025, our symposium addresses this gap by exploring how the phenomenon of addiction can serve as a powerful lens for developing novel theoretical insights.
We showcase three research projects that each engage with the phenomenon of addiction from distinct theoretical perspectives:
· Magdalena Waeber and Emamdeen Fohim shed light on how situatedness is shaped when addiction counseling becomes increasingly digitalized
· Asma Zafar and Sylvia Grewatsch reveal how social enterprises embed themselves into more established organizational fields when serving people with substance use disorders
· Emma Lei Jing and Rongrong Zhang examine the issue of stigma from the perspective of the stigma audiences in the context of harm reduction services
Together, they emphasize both the complexity of addiction-related topics and the potential of this phenomenon for theorizing in organization studies, thereby providing insights to address an urgent grand challenge. The symposium also seeks to promote reflection on research processes and the associated challenges, such as ethical issues when engaging with a phenomenon connected to the sensitive and often stigmatized nature of addiction, and the vulnerability of the affected population.
Trish Reay (University of Alberta) will discuss and compare the three different perspectives to suggest a way forward when theorizing from the phenomenon of addiction.
We hope you'll join us in this discussion:
📍 Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2025, Copenhagen
#️ Session # 12767 - Theorizing from the Phenomenon of Addiction
📅 Monday, July 28 | 17:15–18:45 CEST (GMT+2)
🗺️ Bella Center, Hall B- B4-m1
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Magdalena Waeber
PhD Candidate
University of Bern
Switzerland
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