• Arrival
• Day 1. 
• Day 2.
• Day 3.
• Day 4.
• Reflections on X-Culture’s experiments with alternative ways of doing research (hackathons, etc.)
• The idea behind the Research Xachathon

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SUMMARY:

• X-Culture Research Conference (a.k.a Paper Development Hackathon) right before the Academy of International Business (AIB) conference in Minneapolis.
• Organized as a conference, so you can apply for funding from your university.
• X-Culture provides the data and support.
• Researchers intensively work on developing research papers 4 days before AIB and more meetings during AIB
• Researchers go home with a paper idea, a co-author(s), initial results, and first the first very rough paper draft.
• Registration cost $425, covers everything (transportation from Minneapolis to the UWL and back to Minneapolis for the AIB meeting, lodging 3 nights, food, social program, transportation to social events, all conference materials).

BACKGROUND

X-Culture is collecting huge amounts of data. We are tracking over 2,000 variables: longitudinal, multi-level, multi-source, multi-method. Just about anything related to international teams and virtual collaboration – we measure it.

We have dozens of papers in development based on the data, but there are many more good publications hidden in our database.

Traditionally, the researchers have been working alone or in small co-author teams. They would collect (or buy) they own data, analyze them, and write papers. This model is very limited. A person can have only so many ideas and has only so many hours a day to write papers based on those data.

As a result, most data sets are never fully utilized. Many great discoveries remain undiscovered.

X-Culture does things differently.

We are happy to share our data with researchers interested in developing and publishing high-quality research papers based on the data.

To aid them in this effort, we are organizing our annual X-Culture Research Conference (a.k.a. Paper Development Hackathon).

THE X-CULTURE RESEARCH CONFERENCE (HACKATHON) IN A NUTSHELL

• X-Culture data are made available to the general public.
• Researchers interested in international HR/OB come to the conference,
• intensively brainstorm ideas for papers based on the data,
• get feedback on the ideas,
• select the most promising ones,
• present and critique them,
• debate research designs and share suggestions,
• form co-author teams,
• run preliminary tests,
• present preliminary results and get more feedback and suggestions,
• finalize the story to be told in the paper,
• put together a detailed paper outline or even the first very rough draft,
• all while devoting enough time for socializing and forming strong personal and professional connections,
• go home with a paper idea, co-author(s), initial results, and main points.

• Then spend the next few months finishing up the paper in time for the AIB or AOM conference, and then to a journal shortly after.

GOAL:

• A fully a developed paper idea(s) and outline of the first draft;
• Co-authors, fully acquainted professionally and personally;
• Completed initial tests and results;
• Honest feedback and suggestions for further improvement;
• A detailed plan, to finish up the paper and submit it shortly after the meeting.

THE PROCESS:

• Submissions due January 1, 2018
  • Including
    • Professional details and contacts
    • An abstract of a recent study that illustrates your research stream.
      You will be asked to give a short presentation of this study on the first day of the X-Culture Research Conference so that other attendees can better understand what you are working on and assess you as a potential co-author.
    • A well-developed abstract outlining one unique idea that can be tested (and eventually published) using the X-Culture data (see Codebook).
      Please review the list of the variables and experimental conditions in the X-Culture Database and the list of already published and ongoing studies based on the data.

      You will be asked to give a short presentation of this proposed study on the first day of the event. This will be your second conference paper presentation.

      You will not have to pursue this particular study. Your presentation will be used to boost the initial brainstorming of possible studies, but the ideas are expected to evolve and the hackathon participants interact, exchange their ideas, and start working with the data.
• Email confirming acceptance sent February 1, 2018
  • Abstracts will be reviewed
  • Best contributions will be accepted
• Early bird registration ($425), on or before April 1, 2018
• Regular registration ($475), after April 1, 2018

PROGRAM:

Day 1 (Thursday, June 21, 2018)

• Arrival: transportation to La Crosse (WI) and check-in (see below)

• Welcome Reception
• Introduction to the X-Culture database and overview of the research already in progress
• Homework: Think about possible new paper ideas based on the available data

Day 2 (Friday, June 22, 2018)

• Breakfast
• Session 1: Ideation and Team Formation
  • Brief review of on-going X-Culture research projects
  • Presentations of submitted ideas from applications
  • Team formation
• Lunch
• Session 2: Building a Foundation
  • Create specific research questions
  • Craft Theory/Hypotheses/Narrative
  • Identify Measures

• Dinner: Socializing and informal discussion
• Homework: Think about data analysis

Day 3 (Saturday, June 23)

• Breakfast
• Session 3: Initial Presentations
  • Present foundation
  • Receive feedback
  • Data-intensive discussions

• Lunch
• Session 4: Further data analysis
  • Run focused tests
  • Get clarification (on data and statistical tests)

• Free-form Dinner: Meet with your co-author teams
• Homework: Prepare presentation of preliminary results

Day 4 (Sunday, June 24)

• Session 5: Results
  • Present initial results
  • Receive feedback
• Working Lunch
  • Incorporate feedback
  • Most promising paper award
• To AIB: Collectively transported to Minneapolis
  • More socializing on the way

• Homework: Develop a detailed plan with deadlines for working toward a conference submission (to AOM/AIB in late Fall) and a good journal shortly after.

LODGING

Due to both cost, convenience and the opportunity to further shape our X-Culture community, we have made arrangements to house participants of the X-Culture Research Symposium in Reuter Hall (a dormitory at UWL).

For more information about Reuter Hall, please visit:

https://www.uwlax.edu/reslife/the-residence-halls/reuter-hall/#tm-hans-reuter.

This cost is included in your registration fee.

Transportation to and from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse (UWL) campus:

If you plan to fly into Minneapolis for the AIB conference, there is a shuttle service which offers ground transportation from MSP to UWL (the “Whitney Center”. There are 8 daily scheduled runs from MSP to UWL. This cost is included in your registration fee.

If you plan to fly into La Crosse regional airport or drive to the UWL campus, we can work with you regarding parking and local transportation to UWL.

REGISTRATION FEE:

To make the event more productive and allow the participants to spend all their time on paper development and professional networking, the Research Conference is organized as a “all inclusive” event. The registration fee covers all your expenses from the moment we meet in Minneapolis to the moment we return to Minneapolis for the AIB conference.

• Early bird registration ($425) on or before April 1, 2018
• Regular registration ($475) after April 1, 2018
  

The registration fee includes:

• Transportation from Minneapolis to the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse campus and then back to Minneapolis
• Lodging at La Crosse (3 nights)
• All breakfasts, lunches and dinners (except dinner on Saturday, June 23-“unstructured co-author time”).

FUNDING:

So you can apply for funding from your university, the event is
organized as a conference:

• The application requires a paper/summary of your research ideas that you would like to pursue using the X-Culture data;
• The submission will be peer-reviewed;
• The accept/reject decisions will be made based on the peer-reviews of your submission;
• You will be asked to present your work on the first day of the conference (study proposal, your submission) and then again on the second (study outline, developed at the conference) and on the last day (final version of the study, developed at the conference);
• The study proposals will be included in the conference proceedings and published at the conference web page.

 icon-question-circle QUESTIONS:

Dr. Justin Kramer
icon-phone 608.785.6666
icon-envelope-o ResearchConference@x-culture.org