Introduction to the Reflection Forum: Clouds in the business landscape—Reflections on the implications of major worldwide turmoil for management and organizations

• Published in: Business research quarterly 2021-07, Vol.24 (3), p.194-198
• Main Authors: Larrañeta, Bárbara, Naldi, Lucia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: H12; JEL CLASSIFICATION: M1
• ISSN: 2340-9444; 2340-9436; 2340-9444
• DOI: 10.1177/23409444211034870

Over a year ago, in light of the worldwide turmoil we were suddenly immersed in as a consequence of the COVID-19 global onset, we released a call for this special issue forum. We were intending to amplify the voice of management scholars into the public and academic debate around the extreme situation created by the pandemic, which at that time was being led by scholars and practitioners from epistemology, medicine, and public health. As time has passed, it has become evident that this crisis has a much larger magnitude than anticipated. Beyond the dramatic death toll, this critical juncture has pervasive implications for businesses and economic activities that are at the core of the well-being of our societies. It has become very clear that the broad field of management is uniquely qualified to make an intellectual contribution to better understand the consequences of the pandemic for our societies through its impact on business and economic activities. This special issue seeks to gather a selection of intellectual contributions in the form of short essays. The essays we received focused on different organizational aspects that were affected by the major shift in relational, working, and consuming behaviors we were experiencing in reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak that collectively created a ground-breaking scenario for organizational leaders. In this introduction, we summarize the key insights of the selection of essays included in the special issue. We also describe the themes that were revealed as predominantly consequential in the figurative collective conversations the essays engage in. We conclude with our own reflection on the new questions that these conversations raise for future theory and practice for management and organizations.