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Mikko Rönkkö’s and co-authors' research received the Organizational Research Methods, 2022 Best Quantitative Article of the Year award. The study, published last year, focuses on the use of statistical regression models in business economics, and on how this model can be used to describe non-linear correlations.

- The need for my research arose out of teaching. Non-linear models are often explained incorrectly, and I needed material for teaching references. I got a couple of students to help me find out how non-linear models are used in business economics, explaining his research Mikko Rönkkö.

Valtteri Aaltonen was awarded the Best Doctoral Student Paper award for his phase of research on dialogical organization.

- In the paper I discussed Mary Parker Follett's ideas on linear and circular modes of operation. My suggestion is that a combination of the persistent (linear) and the interactive (circular) can be used to achieve dialogical organization over time, says Valtteri Aaltonen, explaining his research.
- In addition to organizational change, learning and education must also be dialogical to achieve planetary well-being in the future.
- I am delighted to have won the award for this manuscript. The international community was warmly receptive to my topic, says Aaltonen, who has his dissertation in management and leadership at the end of the year.

Awards give you confidence in your own work

The Best Paper award winners are selected by the editorial board of the journal or conference. At the beginning of the selection process, the editor of the journal collects submissions, and the editorial board of the journal votes for the winners from the top few papers. Rönkkö got information of his award a week before the conference.

- I had two articles among the four finalists. One of my papers was the most cited paper of the year and the other was the best and was also among the 10 most cited, says Rönkkö, who also won the Best Doctoral Student Paper award in 2014.
- I have already won a few awards and they feel good, he continues.
- For a younger researcher, winning an award gives you confidence, says Aaltonen, who won his first academic award.

Awards benefit researchers in many ways

The Best Paper awards are useful for researchers, whether they are at the beginning of their careers or have longer careers behind.

- Such awards can help in career development, for example when applying for research funding from the Academy of Finland or the European Research Council. They are also useful when looking for a job. It's good to have publications, but it's even better if you have award-winning publications, says Rönkkö.
- At conferences, for example, it's also easier for people to come and talk to you based on these, he adds.
- The award has opened avenues into the research community. At the AOM conference in the Organization Development and Change Division, key people in the field were interested in my research, says Aaltonen.
- No one forced me to write on this topic. The award also tells me that intuition is worth listening to, inspiration drives you forward and hard work pays off, he concludes.

What was the experience of the AOM annual meeting like for our researchers?

- The AOM conference was an intense experience. There were a lot of people who wanted to come and talk to me, says Rönkkö.
- At conferences like this, the encounters are impressive and meaningful. I participated in a couple of social events, Aaltonen opens about his experience and continues:
- Times like these we need joy and celebration, and the awards are full of this symbolism.
- The awards are great milestones for all researchers. For a younger researcher, they show that you are on the right track and for an older researcher, that you are still on the right track, concludes Rönkkö.