The Pasmore-Woodman Award is presented annually and is sponsored by Emerald Group Publishing. The award has been established by the Organization Development and Change Division (ODC) of the Academy of Management in recognition of the contribution that William Pasmore and Richard Woodman have provided to the ODC field by creating the Research in Organizational Change and Development (ROCD) Annual series 30 years ago.
Through this series these inspirational colleagues have created and nurtured a platform for sharing work by scholars and practitioners that has resulted in some landmark breakthroughs and insights and the triggering of new directions and streams of ODC research and practice. The award is given to two or more colleagues who, over a sustained period of time, have managed to maintain a significant working relationship and have produced original and innovative ODC research.
Abraham B (Rami) Shani of California Polytechnical University and David Coghlan, Professor Emeritus of the Trinity Business School were presented with the award at the virtual Academy of Management meeting on 5th August. Shani and Coghlan have been working together for almost 20 years They’ve published 2 book, co-edited two sets of 4-volume collections and published 22 articles and book chapters.
They have conducted doctoral workshops in USA, Sweden and Italy and presented joint papers at numerous conferences, winning the best action research paper award at the Academy of Management in 2015. In the valedictory for the award, it was noted that while each of them has an illustrious profile and contribution to the field in his own right, as a team they embody the craft of scholarship in how their work combines a deep knowledge of social science and its methods with an experiential understanding of action and organizations. Especially notable were their writings on doing research—both its practical aspects and philosophical underpinnings.