Sustainability in Times of Polycrisis: Rethinking Management under Systemic Turbulence

Éditeurs invités

• Surajit Bag, Excelia Business School
• Amélie Clauzel, Université Paris-Saclay
• Peter Naudé, Manchester Metropolitan University
• Rasem Qudaih, University of Suffolk

Synthèse

The polycrisis—a convergence of overlapping crises including climate change, pandemic disruptions, geopolitical conflicts, and economic volatility—challenges management practice and theory. This special issue argues that sustainability rooted in environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and economic resilience is not a luxury but essential for organizational survival and legitimacy when facing systemic turbulence.

Organizations must maintain legitimacy and adapt strategy amid multiple simultaneous crises. This issue seeks scholarship examining how sustainable management approaches enable resilience, how supply chains can be redesigned for both sustainability and continuity, and what governance structures support long-term commitment during short-term crises. Contributions should draw on diverse theoretical perspectives—systems theory, institutional theory, ethics, and resilience science—to illuminate how sustainability principles guide decision-making under radical uncertainty.

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Thèmes proposés

• Redefining Sustainability Under Volatility: What does 'sustainability' mean in an era of permanent crisis? How are definitions and scope of corporate sustainability evolving?
• Organizational Legitimacy in Polycrisis Conditions: How do organizations maintain trust and legitimacy when multiple crises unfold simultaneously?
• Narratives, Institutional Logics, and Culture Shifts: What new narratives and institutional logics are emerging to address polycrisis and how do they influence organizational behavior?
• Strategic Management and Corporate Governance: How should corporate strategy and governance adapt to radical uncertainty and frequent disruption?
• Supply Chains, Operations, and Technologies for Resilience: How are supply chains and operations management evolving to ensure sustainability and resilience under compounding crises?
• Cross-Sector Collaboration and Institutional Responses: What collaborative approaches are emerging to tackle interlinked crises and what role do businesses play alongside governments and civil society?
• Human and Leadership Dimensions: What types of leadership, organizational learning, and human resource approaches support sustainability in turbulent times?
• Metrics, Accountability, and Measurement: How do we measure success for sustainability in a polycrisis and what accountability mechanisms ensure sustainability commitments are maintained?
• Systems Theory and Complexity: How might systems thinking and complexity science guide managers in designing holistic interventions that account for system-wide consequences?
• Resilience and Adaptive Capacity: How do sustainable practices contribute to organizational and supply chain resilience and what does it mean to thrive amid disruption?
• Institutional Theory and Legitimacy: How do firms maintain or regain legitimacy by committing to sustainability when short-term temptations arise in crisis contexts?
• Moral Philosophy and Ethics: What ethical duties do businesses owe to stakeholders and future generations when managing trade-offs between survival and long-term sustainability?
• Power and Inequality: How do power dynamics influence whose interests are prioritized in crisis responses and what implications does this have for sustainable development?
• Temporality and Future Orientation: How do organizations balance urgent short-term crisis management with the long-term thinking that sustainability demands?
• Risk, Uncertainty, and Sensemaking: What new approaches to integrated risk assessment and scenario planning help organizations navigate interconnected crises?