Introduction: Scaling perspectives on grand challenges in management and organization studies

Héloïse  Berkowitz; Rachel  Bocquet; Hélène  Delacour; Benoît  Demil

doi:10.37725/mgmt.2024.10797

Héloïse Berkowitz LEST, CNRS, Aix Marseille Univ, Aix-en-Provence, France https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9652-0841
Rachel Bocquet Institut de recherche en gestion et en économie (Irege), Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Annecy-le-Vieux, France https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5729-6397
Hélène Delacour Centre européen de recherche en économie financière et gestion des entreprises (CEREFIGE), Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1901-7438
Benoît Demil Lille University Management (LUMEN), University of Lille, Lille, France https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1927-6691

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37725/mgmt.2024.10797

Keywords: grand challenges, complex problems, sustainability, scale, non-scalability, social orders

Abstract

In this introduction to the special issue of M@n@gement for the 30th anniversary of the AIMS, dedicated to complex societal problems, we examine issues of scale and non-scalability, inspired by Tsing’s work and recent calls for an ethics of care and responsiveness, thus highlighting the need to develop more care and relationality in the study of complex problems and grand challenges. This means questioning scale, recognizing the agency and value of human and nonhuman beings, prioritizing local knowledge, mutual respect, solidarity and coexistence.

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Author Biographies

Héloïse Berkowitz, LEST, CNRS, Aix Marseille Univ, Aix-en-Provence, France

Héloïse Berkowitz is a research fellow at CNRS (LEST, Aix Marseille University), France, and senior researcher at IBEI, Spain. She holds a PhD in management science from École polytechnique. Her research deals with transitions to sustainability, with a focus on sectoral governance and collective action among organizations (meta-organizations), in various empirical settings from natural resources to collaborative economy or ocean sustainability. She co-founded the Peer Community in Organization Studies. In 2022, she received the CNRS bronze medal for her work on meta-organization and socio-ecological transitions.

Rachel Bocquet, Institut de recherche en gestion et en économie (Irege), Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Annecy-le-Vieux, France

Rachel Bocquet is a full professor of strategy and innovation management at Université Savoie Mont Blanc in France. As a researcher at the IREGE institute, her research focuses on corporate social responsibility and its relationship with innovation and value creation. She has published articles in books and international journals, including Journal of British Management, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Long Range Planning, Journal of Business Ethics, and Research Policy.

Hélène Delacour, Centre européen de recherche en économie financière et gestion des entreprises (CEREFIGE), Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France

Hélène Delacour is a professor of strategy and innovation at the Université de Lorraine, IAE Management School, CEREFIGE research center. Her research focuses on the creative industries and institutions. She was previously co-editor-in-chief of M@n@gement. She has published articles in academic journals such as Organization Studies, Journal of Business Research or Journal of Management Inquiry.

Benoît Demil, Lille University Management (LUMEN), University of Lille, Lille, France

Benoît Demil is professor of management sciences at the IAE of Lille, University School of Management. He obtained his doctorate in 1998 from University Paris Nanterre and ESSEC Business School on organizational behavior in the face of regulation. He is the author of some fifty publications in the fields of organization theories, entrepreneurship and strategy, mainly using qualitative methods. His work contributes to the literature on business model as a renewed approach to strategy.

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