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5-6 Nov 2026 Madrid (Spain)
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Academic Background & Scientific PositioningInnoVision is positioned as an interdisciplinary academic forum responding to a fundamental transformation in how business, organizations, and societies must be conceptualized in the twenty-first century. Increasing environmental volatility, technological acceleration, geopolitical instability, and social fragmentation have exposed the limitations of linear, equilibrium-based models that have traditionally dominated management and economic research. In response, InnoVision draws on complexity theory, systems thinking, and organizational research that conceptualize firms and institutions as complex adaptive systems embedded in dynamic and interdependent environments (Anderson, 1999; Holland, 2006; McKinley & Scherer, 2022). This perspective underpins the conference’s overarching theme and frames business not as a controllable mechanism but as an evolving system shaped by uncertainty, emergence, and feedback effects. Central to InnoVision’s scientific positioning is the recognition that uncertainty and ambiguity are no longer exceptional conditions but structural features of contemporary organizational life. Research on volatility and complexity, often captured under the notion of VUCA environments, highlights the growing gap between traditional planning tools and real-world decision-making demands (Bennett & Lemoine, 2020). Strategic foresight, scenario planning, and futures literacy therefore occupy a core role within the conference, building on established futures studies and recent empirical work demonstrating their contribution to organizational adaptability and performance (Godet, 2000; Rohrbeck & Kum, 2018; Kronke et al., 2020). InnoVision positions foresight not as a forecasting exercise but as a dynamic organizational capability supporting strategic anticipation, resilience, and long-term value creation. Leadership and governance form a second foundational pillar of InnoVision’s academic identity. As complexity increases, leadership research has shifted from heroic and instrumental models toward sensemaking, ethical judgment, and relational accountability (Weick, 1995; Maak & Pless, 2006). Recent scholarship further emphasizes the role of leaders in navigating paradoxes, aligning purpose with performance, and managing competing stakeholder expectations in complex systems (Hoffmann & Waddock, 2022). In this context, governance is viewed not as a static control mechanism but as a socially embedded process shaped by institutional pressures, power dynamics, and legitimacy concerns. This perspective is particularly salient for boards, multinational corporations, and family enterprises operating across regulatory and cultural boundaries. Innovation and digital transformation constitute another central dimension of InnoVision’s positioning. While digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, analytics, and platform-based business models offer unprecedented opportunities for value creation, they also introduce new forms of risk, opacity, and ethical tension (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2014; Zuboff, 2019). Recent research highlights that successful digital transformation depends less on technology adoption alone and more on organizational capabilities, governance structures, and leadership alignment (Hanelt et al., 2021; Cao et al., 2021). InnoVision therefore promotes a socio-technical understanding of innovation that integrates technological change with human-centered design, ethical reflection, and institutional context (Stigliani & Ravasi, 2021). Sustainability and ESG research further anchor InnoVision within contemporary debates on long-term value creation and corporate purpose. The conference aligns with stakeholder theory and institutional approaches that conceptualize sustainability as a strategic and systemic challenge rather than a compliance exercise (Freeman et al., 2010; Bansal et al., 2021). Recent work on purpose-driven organizations and sustainable finance underscores the importance of integrating foresight, governance, and innovation to address climate risk, social inequality, and legitimacy concerns (Hoffmann & Waddock, 2022; George et al., 2021). InnoVision adopts this integrative perspective, encouraging research that examines ESG as a driver of organizational resilience and transformation. Entrepreneurship, including start-ups, innovation ecosystems, and family entrepreneurship, occupies a distinctive position within InnoVision’s scientific framework. Entrepreneurship research increasingly emphasizes how founders and firms respond to adversity, institutional complexity, and systemic shocks (Shepherd & Williams, 2020; Williams et al., 2021). Family enterprises, in particular, are recognized as long-term oriented organizational forms shaped by socio-emotional wealth, governance structures, and transgenerational logic (Gómez-Mejía et al., 2007). Recent empirical studies demonstrate how family firms navigate innovation and strategic renewal under institutional and environmental complexity (Li et al., 2023). By explicitly incorporating family business and transgenerational entrepreneurship into its tracks, InnoVision bridges entrepreneurship, governance, and sustainability research. Finally, InnoVision situates global business within a broader geopolitical and societal context. Disruptions to global value chains, regulatory fragmentation, and geopolitical tensions have heightened the need for research that integrates international business with political economy and institutional theory (Danneels & Vestal, 2020). Cultural diversity, inclusion, and public policy are examined through the lens of systemic risk and societal transformation, reinforcing the view that business is both shaped by and shaping broader social systems. This positioning reflects InnoVision’s commitment to socially embedded and globally relevant scholarship. Hosted by GBSB Global Business School, InnoVision positions itself as a permanent intellectual platform for advancing theory-driven yet practice-relevant research. Its scientific ambition lies in fostering dialogue across disciplines, methodologies, and geographies, contributing to more resilient, ethical, and future-oriented forms of business and organization.
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