Abstract
Answering Stephen Barley’s call for academic research on the role of corporations in democratic societies, the authors convened a Professional Development Workshop at the 2007 Academy of Management annual meeting in Philadelphia. The ideas presented in this workshop are summarized in the following articles. In this introduction, the authors review some key points from the presentations delivered and highlight some theoretical orientations and questions that can guide future empirical analysis in this important and exciting domain. Keywords: organization theory; business and society; corporations and democracy; public good