We asked the Editors of five Cambridge Management journals to select recently published articles covering topics they felt will be hotly debated, discussed and researched in 2021.

Settle down with a coffee and discover each Editors article selection and justification below.

Tim Marple, Managing Editor, Business and Politics
“These articles offer the most recent coverage of major, contemporary issues in trade, banking, and global investment. They tackle important and still-unresolved issues at the intersection of business and politics which will remain relevant throughout 2021, including trade policy in a fragmented world, the complexity of banking regulation, and the transnational dynamics of cross-border investment flows as mediated by domestic conditions.”

Article: Trade policy in a “GVC World”: Multinational corporations and trade liberalization

Article: Bank power and public policy since the financial crisis

Bruce Barry, Editor-in-Chief, Business Ethics Quarterly
“Following the political doings of 2020 in the US and elsewhere, social media platforms are under increasing scrutiny with respect to the ethics of their operations. One important aspect is the design of these platforms as ways to foster compulsive behavior. In this article the authors shows why scholars, policy makers, and the managers of these platforms should treat social media addiction as a significant moral problem.”

Article: Ethics of the Attention Economy: The Problem of Social Media Addiction

“Consumers are increasingly faced with information that lets them make choices about who they do business with. This article looks at the concept of “conscientious consumption” with respect to global supply chains and the uncertainties consumers experience in understanding what products are morally tainted.”

Article: Shopping with a Conscience? The Epistemic Case for Relinquishment over Conscientious Consumption

Kevin Murphy, Editor, Industrial and Organizational Psychology
“This paper asks important questions about whether lean management, an idea that has dominated thinking in our field and applications of I/O psych in organizations, is still a viable concept and whether this represents a sensible way to manage organizations”

Article: Revolution or 30-year fad? A role for I-O psychology in Lean management

Arie Y. Lewin, Editor-in-Chief, Management and Organization Review
“The outpouring of adaptive responses to the pandemic is evidence of embedded incremental adaptive capabilities rooted in organizational “problemistic search” capabilities (Cyert and March 1963). However, as discussed by Peter Li more drastic solutions are predicted for the redesign of global supply chains that also reinforce de-globalization and new generative solution as discussed by Anna Grandori. For example, the push/pull for working from home is driving rethinking of entrenched practices of employees coming to a central location for work. “

Article: The Resilience Forum: A Lingering Conclusion

Article: Organizational Resilience for a New Normal: Balancing the Paradox of Global Interdependence

Article: Black Swans and Generative Resilience

Remi Ayoko, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Management & Organization
“for more than 50 years, researchers have always been intrigued by leadership. Especially, research on team leadership now appears to be gaining momentum. With regards to gender, researchers continue to interrogate gender at multiple organisational contexts”

Article: Teamwork, Leadership and Gender in Organizations

Article: Emotional foundations of capability development: an exploration in the SME context

Browse the full collection on Cambridge Core here