Sustainability in Times of Polycrisis: Rethinking Management under Systemic Turbulence

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 11:29:31 GMT

Surajit Bag, Excelia Business School

Amélie Clauzel, Université Paris-Saclay

Peter Naudé, Manchester Metropolitan University

Rasem Qudaih, University of Suffolk

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.

Appel publié par Thunderbird International Business Review. Lire l'appel complet sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

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?

Timeline

August 30, 2026: Call for Papers Released
March 30, 2027: Final Revisions Deadline
April 28, 2027: Manuscript Submission Deadline
October 30, 2027: Review Process Completion

Extremity in Organisations: Conceptualising and Managing the Spectrum of Extreme Conditions

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 23:47:12 GMT

Xi Wen (Carys) Chan, Griffith University

Shea Fan, Deakin University

Graham Dwyer, The University of Dublin

Margaret A. Shaffer, University of Oklahoma

Contemporary organisations increasingly face conditions of extremity, from acute crises and disasters to the mundane extremity embedded in everyday operations. While existing research examines extreme events in specific contexts, there is a lack of conceptual foundations understanding how extremity manifests, evolves, and impacts organisations holistically beyond extreme contexts research.

This special issue aims to consolidate knowledge across human resource management, psychology, organisational behaviour and other fields to develop frameworks for understanding extremity from different standpoints with different disciplines. The issue will establish extremity as an emerging domain of inquiry to provide conceptual foundations with practical implications for managing high-stakes environments.

Appel publié par Personnel Review. Lire l'appel complet sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

Conceptualising extremity in an organisational context - theoretical clarity to the construct of extremity, attributes that render phenomena extreme, boundaries of extremity, diverse theoretical perspectives, equivocality and its effects on individuals and groups, ambiguity and improvisation, sensemaking in breached or disrupted circumstances
Processes or mechanisms that organisations use to cope with extremity - individual and group responses, adaptation in the moment, improvisation as catalyst for transformation, theoretical understanding of coping, adjustment and organisational transformation in face of extremity
The impact of extremity on individuals - cognition, behaviour, embodied reactions, wellbeing and performance under extremity, individual coping mechanisms, novel sensemaking and leverage of challenges
Conceptualising extremity in occupational contexts - distinctive manifestations across occupational domains, extremity as part of everyday and mundane contexts, occupational-specific theoretical understanding
Extremity caused by advanced technologies - relationship between technology and extremity, technological change reshaping work intensity and performance, AI and innovation effects, blurred boundaries between extreme and normal

Timeline

January 30, 2026: Closing date for abstract submission
September 30, 2026: Closing date for manuscripts submission

kerostig | Tag : crisis management

Sustainability in Times of Polycrisis: Rethinking Management under Systemic Turbulence

Potential topics

Timeline

Extremity in Organisations: Conceptualising and Managing the Spectrum of Extreme Conditions

Potential topics

Timeline