Call for Papers -- BHC 2026 in London
Theme - Co-Creation
Business History Conference, Call for Papers
March 26-28, 2026, Imperial College London
CO-CREATION
Business is a source of creativity, but how exactly does creation occur? And just as important - who does it?
This year’s theme posits that nearly everything businesses create is in fact co-created. In management literature, co-creation refers to the way companies and their customers interact to create innovative or improved products and services. One prominent example is the software industry, which pre-releases new products in the expectation that insights provided by customers will inspire changes in design. Software is co-created; but to some extent, all products and services are the result of interactions between producers and consumers.
This call for papers aims to expand the concept of co-creation by exploring how it has occurred among firms and entrepreneurs, and between firms and their stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, investors, lenders, advisors, regulators, and local communities. Unlike the concepts of collaboration, co-creation does not assume that parties necessarily consent to work together or that relationships are equal or harmonious. Indeed, co-creation can occur as the result of antagonistic relationships and rivalries. For example, friction among firms, regulators, funders, and end-users have often forced the co-creation of new regulatory and legal frameworks for business. Co-creation can also happen unintentionally, and where we may not expect it, including in situations where power was unequally distributed among members of a network, partnership, joint venture, or supply chain.
The concept of co-creation can be used as an analytical lens to discover previously hidden dynamics, such as the role of actors in the periphery of a firm or market. It may uncover how the actions of non-elites, such as employees on the shop floor and behind retail counters, influenced the evolution of a product, service, or process. By using co-creation as a lens, we hope to identify previously hidden actors and their relationships, and in doing so provide more accurate accounts of how ‘the market’ brings about innovation and change.
Proposals and Submissions
The deadline for receipt of all paper and session proposals is October 17, 2025. Further information about the format and submission process is forthcoming.
The Program Committee
Shane Hamilton, Chair, University of York
Jennifer Black, Misericordia University
David Chan Smith, Wilfrid Laurier University
Ghassan Moazzin, University of Hong Kong
Rowena Olegario, President of the BHC, Oxford University
Venue
The Business History Conference will take place March 26-28, 2026 at Imperial College London.
Dissertation Colloquium
The BHC Doctoral Colloquium (DC) in Business History will be held on Thursday, March 26th, 2026. The participants will be invited for a welcome dinner on Wednesday, March 25th in London. During the DC, there will also be professional development sessions scheduled.
Typically limited to ten students, the colloquium is open to doctoral candidates who are pursuing dissertation research within the broad field of business history from any relevant discipline (e.g., from economic sociology, political science, cultural anthropology, or management, as well as history). Most participants are in year 3 or 4 or their degree program, though in some instances applicants at a later stage make a compelling case that their thesis research had evolved in ways that led them to see the advantages of an intensive engagement with business history.
We welcome proposals from students working within any thematic area of business history. Topics (see link for past examples) may range from the early modern era to the present, and explore societies across the globe. Participants work intensively with a distinguished group of BHC-affiliated scholars (including the incoming BHC president), discussing dissertation proposals, relevant literatures and research strategies, and career trajectories.
Applications (a statement of interest; CV; and a letter of support from the dissertation supervisor (or prospective supervisor)), and a three to five page presentation of the PhD project are due by Friday December 12th, 2025, via email to Carol Lockman (clockman@Hagley.org). Questions about the colloquium should be sent to its director, Prof. Eric Godelier (eric.godelier@polytechnique.edu). Applicants will receive notification of the selection committee's decisions by mid-January 2026. If they travel to London, all participants will receive a stipend that partially defrays travel costs to the annual meeting.
If accepted, Colloquium participants have a choice of pre-circulating one of the following:
· a 15-page dissertation prospectus or updated overview of the dissertation research plan; or
· a draft dissertation chapter, along with a one-page dissertation outline/description.
Prizes
The BHC offers a number of prizes tied to the conference. Please review the following requirements to see if your paper can be considered and indicate that during the submission process.
K. Austin Kerr Prize: Awarded for the best first paper delivered by a new scholar at the annual meeting. A "new scholar" is defined as a doctoral candidate or a Ph.D. whose degree is less than three years old. You must nominate your paper for this prize on the proposal submission page where indicated.
Herman E. Krooss Prize: Awarded for the best English-language dissertation in business history by a recent Ph.D. in history, economics, business administration, history of science and technology, sociology, law, communications, and related fields. Dissertations must be completed in the three calendar years immediately prior to the 2026 annual meeting and may only be submitted once for the Krooss prize. The Krooss Prizedeadline for proposals is November 13, 2025. Finalists will present summaries of their dissertations at a plenary session and receive partial travel subsidies.
Martha Moore Trescott Award: Awarded to the best paper at the intersection of business history and the history of technology presented at the Business History Conference's annual meeting. The prize will be awarded on the basis of the written version of a paper to be presented at the annual meeting. The Trescott Award is based on the written version of the paper presented at the meeting. Candidates must submit their papers to the Chair of the committee at least one month before the annual meeting. Written papers should be no longer than 4,000 words.