We give the award annually for the most significant paper published in ASQ five years earlier. A committee composed of members of our editorial board selects the paper to received the award, after considering citation counts as well as qualitative evidence of a paper's impact on subsequent scholarship. Recipients receive a plaque commemorating the award and a free five-year subscription to ASQ. The award has been presented to the authors of the following papers:

• Klaus Weber, Kathryn L. Heinze, and Michaela DeSoucey
  "Forage for Thought: Mobilizing Codes in the Movement for Grass-fed Meat and Dairy Products”
  Administrative Science Quarterly, September 2008
  

• Luis R. Gómez-Mejia, Katalin Takács Haynes, Manuel Núñez-Nickel, Kathyrn J. L. Jacobson, and José Moyano-Fuentes
  "Socioemotional Wealth and Business Risks in Family-controlled Firms: Evidence from Spanish Olive Oil Mills”
  Administrative Science Quarterly, March 2007
  

• Katherine J. Klein, Jonathan C. Ziegert, Andrew P. Knight, and Yan Xiao
  "Dynamic Delegation: Shared, Hierarchical, and Deindividualized Leadership in Extreme Action Teams"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, December 2006
  

• Roy Suddaby and Royston Greenwood
  "Rhetorical Strategies of Legitimacy"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, March 2005
  

• Kevin G. Corley and Dennis A. Gioia
  "Identity Ambiguity and Change in the Wake of a Corporate Spin-Off"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, June 2004
  

• Martha S. Feldman and Brian T. Pentland
  "Reconceptualizing Organizational Routines as a Source of Flexibility and Change"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, March 2003
  2009 ASQ Award Acceptance Remarks
  

• Nicolaj Siggelkow
  "Evolution toward Fit"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, March 2002
  

• Robin J. Ely and David A. Thomas
  "Cultural Diversity at Work: The Effects of Diversity Perspectives on Work Group Processes and Outcomes"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, June 2001
  

• Jesper B. Sørensen and Toby E. Stuart
  "Aging, Obsolescence, and Organizational Innovation"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, March 2000
  

• Morten T. Hansen
  "The Search-Transfer Problem: The Role of Weak Ties in Sharing Knowledge across Organization Subunits"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, March 1999
  

• Mark J. Zbaracki
  "The Rhetoric and Reality of Total Quality Management"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, September 1998
  

• Brian Uzzi
  "Social Structure and Competition in Interfirm Networks: The Paradox of Embeddedness"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, March 1997
  

• Walter W. Powell, Kenneth W. Koput, and Laurel Smith-Doerr
  "Interorganizational Collaboration and the Locus of Innovation: Networks of Learning in Biotechnology"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, March 1996
  

• Kathleen M. Eisenhardt and Behnam N. Tabrizi
  "Accelerating Adaptive Processes: Product Innovation in the Global Computer Industry"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, March 1995
  

• Jane E. Dutton, Janet M. Dukerich, and Celia V. Harquail
  "Organizational Images and Member Identification"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, June 1994
  

• James R. Barker
  "Tightening the Iron Cage: Concertive Control in Self-Managing Teams"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, September 1993
  

• Anne S. Tsui, Terri D. Egan, and Charles A. O'Reilly III
  "Being Different: Relational Demography and Organizational Attachment"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, December 1992
  

• Jennifer A. Chatman
  "Matching People and Organizations: Selection and Socialization in Public Accounting Firms"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, September 1991
  

• Rebecca Henderson and Kim B. Clark
  "Architectural Innovation: The Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, March 1990
  

• Charles A. O'Reilly III, David F. Caldwell, and William P. Barnett
  "Work Group Demography, Social Integration, and Turnover"
  Administrative Science Quarterly, March 1989