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Dynamic stability, the Nordic way
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Management S C A N D I N AV I A N J O U R N A L O F
Scand. J. Mgmt. 21 (2005) 1–3 www.elsevier.com/locate/scaman
Editorial
Dynamic stability, the Nordic way There’s news from the Scandinavian Journal of Management. Kristian Kreiner has decided to seize the moment and step down as Editor. Elsevier, our Publisher, has launched an electronic submission system for the journal. This has provided Kristian with an opportunity to reconsider his responsibilities and take up new challenges at his native Copenhagen Business School. The introduction of Elsevier Editorial System (EES) means that all submissions and review processes for the Scandinavian Journal of Management are now carried out electronically. I have agreed to become the new Editor for the journal. Kristian has kindly agreed to stay on as Associate Editor for the transition period to ensure continuity and a smooth transfer of responsibility. As some things change, some things need to stay constant. Dynamic stability is a term coined by Eric Abrahamson, Professor of Management at Columbia Business School. Dynamic stability refers to the common sense of interspersing major change initiatives among carefully paced periods of smaller, organic change. Dynamic stability involves the reconfiguration of existing practices instead of constantly creating new ones. Dynamic stability means that the Scandinavian Journal of Management continues to rely on a number of old, tested and successful principles laid down by Rolf A. Lundin, Sten Jo¨nsson and colleagues and developed further by Kristian Kreiner and his editorial team. The journal continues to aim to provide a forum for the publication of research on a range of different aspects of management in private and public sector organizations. It continues to focus on management as an intricate set of practices aimed at promoting collective effort and the attainment of organizational goals, embedded in society. The journal continues to promote an international dialogue between researchers, managers and other decision-makers and to encourage new thinking around management theory and practice. These enduring principles may in some ways be considered Scandinavian or Nordic. They are characterized by a passion for empirical inquiry driven by curiosity over the exotic nature of mundane organizational life, by conceptual creativity and by reasoned reflexivity. The key principles of the Scandinavian Journal of Management are grounded in openness, which is manifest in a number of ways. 0956-5221/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.scaman.2005.05.003
ARTICLE IN PRESS 2
Editorial / Scand. J. Mgmt. 21 (2005) 1–3
Although case studies and qualitative methods predominate, the journal remains open also to more classical approaches in the field of management. It is, however, the task of the proponents of these classical approaches to prove their worth, rather than vice versa. Openness is also manifest in the broad thematic profile of the journal. This profile means that management and organization are at times extended to fields such as marketing and finance, to name but two examples. This opens up for interdisciplinary innovation and for novel ways of conceptualizing managementrelated phenomena. The quality of the journal and its constructive feedback processes involving top class scholars around the world will not be compromised. There are, however, some new faces to carry the baton with Kristian and me at the Scandinavian Journal of Management. I am proud to welcome on board my team of Associate Editors. Andreas Werr from Stockholm School of Economics specializes his research on, for example, professional service organizations, their client interaction and interorganizational knowledge flows. Andreas is the Chair-Elect of the Management Consulting Division of the Academy of Management. Juha Laurila from the Helsinki School of Economics has concentrated in his research on various aspects in the organization theory domain, with specific attention on technological change. Inger Johanne Pettersen from Bodø University College Graduate School of Business specializes in management control, performance and accounting. My own competence areas include cross-cultural studies of organizing and gender, mergers and acquisitions, media discourse and the diffusion of management ideas and practices. Being Scandinavian and Nordic is also a state of mind. Our talent pool and audience is the world at large. As Kristian said in his editorial after taking over the editorship from Sten Jo¨nsson in 2002: the name of the journal is the Scandinavian Journal of Management, not the Journal of Scandinavian Management. After discussions with Kristian and others, I am convinced that a meaningful path for the journal can be paved if the international dimension in its profile is gradually given even more attention than before. The first visible sign of the enhanced international dimension is that the journal now has a British Associate Editor in addition to Nordic ones. I am proud to welcome Robyn Thomas from Cardiff Business School to our editorial team. Robyn specializes in, for example, critical studies on managerial identities and public sector management. Overall, in our team, we will maintain a decentralized editorial system where the associate editors will be assigned responsibility for individual papers, which fall in their particular areas of expertise. In the future, we may also want to welcome to our editorial team a scholar from North America. Beyond a constant regular inflow of quality manuscripts, special issues provide in many ways the extra spice for scientific journals. They have been a prominent feature of the Scandinavian Journal of Management, too. Special issues are often coherent collections of related articles and in this way they may attract relatively large numbers of readers. Our editorial team will maintain the policy of the journal in encouraging top class special issues on timely and relevant themes, which are of interest to wide audiences around the world.
ARTICLE IN PRESS Editorial / Scand. J. Mgmt. 21 (2005) 1–3
3
Based on Kristian Kreiner’s work, there are a number of interesting special issues organized by Guest Editors already in the pipeline for the journal: consumption of management ideas, transaction cost economics and organization theory a´ la James G. March are three examples of this. The call for papers for a special issue on processual approaches to management is out. At least two more calls for papers will be introduced by the new editorial team in the near future: a special issue on gender and diversity, which continues the Nordic gender eqalitarian tradition (see e.g. Scandinavian Journal of Management special issue June 1994) and a special issue on management and East Asia, which exemplifies the broad intellectual and geographical scope of the journal. Please keep an eye on the journal website for these and if you have ideas and suggestions for a new special issue, let us know. Finally, it is time to thank Kristian Kreiner for his excellent work as Editor. Kristian has nurtured the principles of the Scandinavian Journal of Management and developed its content further. Kristian has nurtured and developed an exciting journal with reliable review and editorial processes. With my team, I hope to follow in his footsteps and maintain dynamic stability. Meanwhile, we ask for your cooperation in making the introduction of the new electronic submission system a success. Janne Tienari Department of Business Administration, Lappeenranta University of Technology, PO Box 20, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland E-mail address: tienari@lut.fi
Management S C A N D I N AV I A N J O U R N A L O F
Scand. J. Mgmt. 21 (2005) 1–3 www.elsevier.com/locate/scaman
Editorial
Dynamic stability, the Nordic way There’s news from the Scandinavian Journal of Management. Kristian Kreiner has decided to seize the moment and step down as Editor. Elsevier, our Publisher, has launched an electronic submission system for the journal. This has provided Kristian with an opportunity to reconsider his responsibilities and take up new challenges at his native Copenhagen Business School. The introduction of Elsevier Editorial System (EES) means that all submissions and review processes for the Scandinavian Journal of Management are now carried out electronically. I have agreed to become the new Editor for the journal. Kristian has kindly agreed to stay on as Associate Editor for the transition period to ensure continuity and a smooth transfer of responsibility. As some things change, some things need to stay constant. Dynamic stability is a term coined by Eric Abrahamson, Professor of Management at Columbia Business School. Dynamic stability refers to the common sense of interspersing major change initiatives among carefully paced periods of smaller, organic change. Dynamic stability involves the reconfiguration of existing practices instead of constantly creating new ones. Dynamic stability means that the Scandinavian Journal of Management continues to rely on a number of old, tested and successful principles laid down by Rolf A. Lundin, Sten Jo¨nsson and colleagues and developed further by Kristian Kreiner and his editorial team. The journal continues to aim to provide a forum for the publication of research on a range of different aspects of management in private and public sector organizations. It continues to focus on management as an intricate set of practices aimed at promoting collective effort and the attainment of organizational goals, embedded in society. The journal continues to promote an international dialogue between researchers, managers and other decision-makers and to encourage new thinking around management theory and practice. These enduring principles may in some ways be considered Scandinavian or Nordic. They are characterized by a passion for empirical inquiry driven by curiosity over the exotic nature of mundane organizational life, by conceptual creativity and by reasoned reflexivity. The key principles of the Scandinavian Journal of Management are grounded in openness, which is manifest in a number of ways. 0956-5221/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.scaman.2005.05.003
ARTICLE IN PRESS 2
Editorial / Scand. J. Mgmt. 21 (2005) 1–3
Although case studies and qualitative methods predominate, the journal remains open also to more classical approaches in the field of management. It is, however, the task of the proponents of these classical approaches to prove their worth, rather than vice versa. Openness is also manifest in the broad thematic profile of the journal. This profile means that management and organization are at times extended to fields such as marketing and finance, to name but two examples. This opens up for interdisciplinary innovation and for novel ways of conceptualizing managementrelated phenomena. The quality of the journal and its constructive feedback processes involving top class scholars around the world will not be compromised. There are, however, some new faces to carry the baton with Kristian and me at the Scandinavian Journal of Management. I am proud to welcome on board my team of Associate Editors. Andreas Werr from Stockholm School of Economics specializes his research on, for example, professional service organizations, their client interaction and interorganizational knowledge flows. Andreas is the Chair-Elect of the Management Consulting Division of the Academy of Management. Juha Laurila from the Helsinki School of Economics has concentrated in his research on various aspects in the organization theory domain, with specific attention on technological change. Inger Johanne Pettersen from Bodø University College Graduate School of Business specializes in management control, performance and accounting. My own competence areas include cross-cultural studies of organizing and gender, mergers and acquisitions, media discourse and the diffusion of management ideas and practices. Being Scandinavian and Nordic is also a state of mind. Our talent pool and audience is the world at large. As Kristian said in his editorial after taking over the editorship from Sten Jo¨nsson in 2002: the name of the journal is the Scandinavian Journal of Management, not the Journal of Scandinavian Management. After discussions with Kristian and others, I am convinced that a meaningful path for the journal can be paved if the international dimension in its profile is gradually given even more attention than before. The first visible sign of the enhanced international dimension is that the journal now has a British Associate Editor in addition to Nordic ones. I am proud to welcome Robyn Thomas from Cardiff Business School to our editorial team. Robyn specializes in, for example, critical studies on managerial identities and public sector management. Overall, in our team, we will maintain a decentralized editorial system where the associate editors will be assigned responsibility for individual papers, which fall in their particular areas of expertise. In the future, we may also want to welcome to our editorial team a scholar from North America. Beyond a constant regular inflow of quality manuscripts, special issues provide in many ways the extra spice for scientific journals. They have been a prominent feature of the Scandinavian Journal of Management, too. Special issues are often coherent collections of related articles and in this way they may attract relatively large numbers of readers. Our editorial team will maintain the policy of the journal in encouraging top class special issues on timely and relevant themes, which are of interest to wide audiences around the world.
ARTICLE IN PRESS Editorial / Scand. J. Mgmt. 21 (2005) 1–3
3
Based on Kristian Kreiner’s work, there are a number of interesting special issues organized by Guest Editors already in the pipeline for the journal: consumption of management ideas, transaction cost economics and organization theory a´ la James G. March are three examples of this. The call for papers for a special issue on processual approaches to management is out. At least two more calls for papers will be introduced by the new editorial team in the near future: a special issue on gender and diversity, which continues the Nordic gender eqalitarian tradition (see e.g. Scandinavian Journal of Management special issue June 1994) and a special issue on management and East Asia, which exemplifies the broad intellectual and geographical scope of the journal. Please keep an eye on the journal website for these and if you have ideas and suggestions for a new special issue, let us know. Finally, it is time to thank Kristian Kreiner for his excellent work as Editor. Kristian has nurtured the principles of the Scandinavian Journal of Management and developed its content further. Kristian has nurtured and developed an exciting journal with reliable review and editorial processes. With my team, I hope to follow in his footsteps and maintain dynamic stability. Meanwhile, we ask for your cooperation in making the introduction of the new electronic submission system a success. Janne Tienari Department of Business Administration, Lappeenranta University of Technology, PO Box 20, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland E-mail address: tienari@lut.fi