Uganda Management Institute (UMI) and Makerere University Business School (MUBS), in partnership with the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS), successfully held the third installment of their Paper Development Workshop (PDW). The two-day workshop, conducted from October 30–31, 2025 is part of an ongoing, six-year initiative dedicated to transforming Uganda’s research sector. The primary goal is to drive societal growth, innovation, and development by generating scientific knowledge to address major challenges. The partnership with EGOS, a leading international organization, is central to this shared mission.

The event commenced with brief opening remarks from Prof. Namara Rose, Head of the Institutional Research and Innovation Centre (IRIC). She highlighted the collaborative operations between UMI and its stakeholders, both locally and internationally, which include public policy dialogues, publications, and strategic connections like the one with EGOS. Prof. Rose emphasized that UMI’s research is largely applied and follows rigorous, regularly reviewed standard operating procedures. The workshop’s critical importance, she noted, lies in grooming young researchers and future scholars to take their work seriously.

Prof. James Nkata, the Director General of the Uganda Management Institute addressed the global need for new knowledge and the future necessity of redefining organizations in an increasingly automated world. He stressed that a greater human capacity is essential to drive progress, making EGOS’s input vital. Prof. Nkata therefore officially declared the workshop open and also concluded by pledging the UMI community’s full and unwavering support for the partnership to ensure continuous advancement.

Prof. Christine, the Chairperson of EGOS, provided a comprehensive background on the partner organization. She detailed that EGOS is a scholarly body founded in 1973 that aims to further the theoretical and empirical advancement of organizational knowledge. As the second-largest organization of its kind globally, it is represented in over 160 countries with activities, which include the annual Colloquium, pre-colloquium programs (such as PDWs), joint activities (like meetings for journal editors), and various standing working groups. She underscored EGOS’s commitment to sustainability and inclusivity, mentioning plans to stage future conferences online by 2026 and offer scholarships to those in need.

The discussion then narrowed to the two major EGOS journals, Organization Studies (OS) and Organization Theory (OT), introduced by their respective editors, Sigrid Quark and Tammar Ziber.

Organization Studies (OS): This journal is highly selective, with an extremely low acceptance rate. As it receives approximately 1500 scripts in a year 60% are best rejected, 80% of these manuscripts are rejected in the first round, and only about 5% of empirical papers are ultimately published. Some the reasons as to why scripts are rejected include flawed, poor fit with OS, weak contribution to theory development therefore encouraging researchers to ensure that their work has a strong fit with the journal’s scope and is meticulously written to avoid rejection.

Organization Theory (OT): OT focuses on publishing high-quality conceptual articles to enhance the societal understanding of organizations. It adopts a broader, more pluralistic perspective, welcoming papers that include philosophy, history, and thought-provoking essays. A unique feature of OT is its commitment to continuous publication and open access, ensuring wide availability of high-impact research, developmental review process that helps other authors to be in position to air out their voices and arguments.  

Prof. Daniel Geiger, the workshop moderator and EGOS representative, physically participated alongside Laura Orobia who was online led a crucial session on academic contribution. They provided in-depth guidance on finding and framing a contribution as an organization. The session covered various publication strategies and offered practical advice on the dos and don’ts of navigating the academic publishing landscape and selecting appropriate journals.

The successful hosting of the Third Paper Development Workshop underscores the deepened commitment of the Uganda Management Institute (UMI), Makerere University Business School (MUBS), and EGOS to transforming the national research landscape. By focusing on rigorous academic publishing as demonstrated through the insights provided on the Organization Studies and Organization Theory journals and the initiative is directly addressing the capacity gap in high-quality research output. This workshop therefore did not only provide essential guidance on publication strategies but, more importantly, served its core purpose: grooming the next generation of Ugandan scholars to produce impactful, globally recognized knowledge. Ultimately, this partnership is a critical step towards realizing the institutions’ shared vision of leveraging scientific inquiry to drive tangible societal growth and innovation. As UMI pledges its continued support, the groundwork is now firmly laid for these young researchers to transform their refined papers into published contributions that shape both local policy and global organizational theory.