SCOS is a global network of academics and practitioners, who hail from a hugely diverse range of disciplines and professional backgrounds. We were formed in 1981, originally as an autonomous working group of the European Group for Organizational Studies, but have been an independent academic venture for over 25 yearly conferences. Our central interest is in the interlinked issues of organizational symbolism, culture and change, articulated in the broadest possible sense and informed by our commitment to interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary understandings of organization and management. Thus our work draws, inter alia, from organization studies, social anthropology, cultural studies, media studies, philosophy, history, politics and social psychology.

The SCOS philosophy is ‘serious fun,’ which perfectly captures the experience of attending our annual international conferences or regular workshops. Serious, because we are dedicated to the development of unusual and groundbreaking ideas in the analysis of organization, organizing, management and managing. Fun, because the members of our network provide a continual source of enthu-siasm, support and inspiration for each other: for SCOS the social side of our activities is an essential – indeed indistinguishable – element of our intellectual and practical endeavours.

As well as our conferences and workshops, we also support our official journal, Culture and Organization (C&O). Published by Taylor and Francis, the journal was launched in 1995. C&O represents a unique platform for some of the most original and innovative scholarship in the broad field of qualitative management and organization studies. It exemplifies the SCOS tradition of a critical approach to qualitative research that crosses traditional disciplinary and functional boundaries as well as providing reflection on the forms this work takes, the methods it adopts and the voices it represents.

Overall, the SCOS network, which comprises of hundreds of members worldwide, aims to produce and progress theoretically and practically innovative views of organization and management, and in particular to encourage and foster new approaches in the study of culture and symbolism of everyday life in organizations. We encourage discussion of marginalized perspectives on the understanding of organized life, as well as consideration of the ethico-political promise of such perspectives. Our network has always provided an arena where the boundaries of conventional thinking about organized life can be challenged and blurred, and we are committed to sustaining both continuity and development in our ever-growing field of study. Finally, given our global reach, we also work to enable the continued exchange of information and the development of community amongst a highly dispersed group of researchers, scholars and practitioners.

We can think of nothing we would like more than to welcome you to SCOS. Come join us!