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Organizational sociology and organization studies have a long history together, while also sharing a proclivity to self-diagnose crises. Instead of taking these assessments at face value, this paper treats them as an object of study, asking what conditions have fueled them. In the case of organizational sociology, there are indications of a connection between rising levels of discontent and community building: self-identified organizational sociologists have progressively withdrawn from general debates in the discipline and turned their attention to organization studies, which, they suspect, has seen dramatic levels of growth at their expense. Organization studies, on the other hand, are still haunted by “a Faustian bargain”: leaning heavily on the authority of the social sciences, business school faculty were able to facilitate the emergence of a scholarly field of practice dedicated to the study of organizations, which they control. However, in doing so, they also set organization studies on a path of continued dependence on knowledge produced elsewhere: notably, by university disciplines such as sociology.

Organizations are confronted with problems and political risks to which they have to respond, presenting a need to develop tools and frames of understanding requisite to do so. In this article, we argue for the necessity of cultivating “political judgment” with a “sense of reality,” especially in the upper echelons of organizations. This article has two objectives: First to highlight how a number of recent interlinked developments within organizational analysis and practice have contributed to weakening judgment and its accompanying “sense of reality.” Second, to (re)introduce some canonical works that, although less in vogue recently, provide both a source of wisdom and frames of understanding that are key to tackling today’s problems. We begin by mapping the context in which the need for the cultivation of political judgment within organizations has arisen: (i) increasing proliferation of political risks and “wicked problems” to which it is expected that organizations adapt and respond; (ii) a wider historical and contemporary context in which the exercise of judgment has been undermined – a result of a combination of economics-inspired styles of theorizing and an associated obsession with metrics. We also explore the nature of “political judgment” and its accompanying “sense of reality” through the work of authors such as Philip Selznick, Max Weber, Chester Barnard, and Isaiah Berlin. We suggest that these authors have a weighty “sense of reality”; are antithetical to “high,” “abstract,” or “axiomatic” theorizing; and have a profound sense of the burden from exercising political judgment in difficult organizational circumstances.

Industrial heritage works within a world of contradictions, contentions and scalar liminality. Archaeologists and historians focus upon oral histories and discourses of tangible and intangible memory and heritage while planners and economists see industrial World Heritage, in particular, as a marketing ploy to redevelop deindustrialized spaces. Within this liminality, we explore the potential for geographical perspectives to solder such contradictions into transdisciplinary heritage assessments and tourism contexts. How might the spatial tools of landscape and scalar analyses expose alternative and sustainable futures within broader patterns of industrial heritage management and consumption?

Using three comparative cases, interview and landscape methods and conducting discourse analysis within a spatial and scalar framework, we explore the increasing presence of industrial World Heritage.

We present both an institutional reflection upon the complexities of heritage discourse across complex spatial configurations and the intersectional historical, cultural, political, environmental and economic geographies that guide and emerge out of World Heritage Designations. Framed scalarly and spatially, we highlight common interpretation, tourism and heritage management styles and concerns found across industrial World Heritage. We point out trans-scalar considerations for future municipalities and regions looking to utilize their industrial landscapes and narratives.

We believe that more theoretical groundings in space and scale may lead to both the flexibility and the applicability needed to assess and, in turn, manage trans-scalar and trans-spatial complex heritage sites. These perspectives may be uniquely poised to assess the complex geographies of industrial, particularly mining, World Heritage Sites.

Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914), recognized as the father of philosophical pragmatism, has been described as a philosopher’s philosopher. Eliyahu Moshe Goldratt (1947–2011), considered the father of the management philosophy theory of constraints (TOC), has been described as being, first and foremost, a philosopher. The TOC body of knowledge is mainly preserved as concrete methodologies used in the management discipline. By examining the foundational elements of synechism and the TOC, the purpose of this study is to investigate the intellectual connections between the arguments and legacies of Goldratt and Peirce. Although this connection is worthy of much further investigation, the research emphasizes the possible implications from a management philosophy perspective.

Based on a “review with an attitude,” the authors first examined the foundations of Goldratt’s TOC through the lens of Peirce’s synechism. Next, the authors then examined how the study of Peirce combined with a selection of contemporary research in the management and organizational studies domain could point out a direction toward completing Goldratt’s unfinished intellectual work to establish a unified science management while addressing some of the current gaps in the TOC body of knowledge.

Major findings show that synechism’s growth may extend TOC knowledge, improving managerial practice in organizations. Findings on the convergent ideas of both also reveal that Goldratt valued all synechism categories, emphasizing the importance of not overlooking Firstness. Furthermore, the study analyzes the abductive inference demonstrated in the two use cases, introducing an additional metaphor to the management of organizational systems inspired by Peirce’s philosophical concepts. The research concludes that incorporating TOC and synechism principles can enhance management and organizational practices and enrich management philosophy and theories.

This pioneering research opens promising opportunities to draw parallels between Peirce and Goldratt. Interdisciplinary collaboration will enhance the rigor and validity of integrating synechism and TOC. Experts in organizational behavior, systems theory and complexity science can provide valuable insights into this debate, while practitioners and consultants could help identify barriers and opportunities for integrating synechistic principles.

The study proposes a novel abductive approach using Peirce’s cable metaphor as an initial framework to build a unified science of management based on evolutionary stages: TOC, common sense and connectedness.

This research reinforces the argument that contemporary management practices need philosophical thinking. The authors argue that re-evaluating the foundations of management thought enriches the decision-making process in organizations and the understanding of contemporary theories in management and organizational studies.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine and address the historical gender biases within heritage tourism, particularly focusing on the marginalisation of women’s narratives, and subsequently, to advocate for a more inclusive and gender-neutral approach in both the interpretation and management of cultural and heritage tourism.

Rather than adhering strictly to one methodological tradition, the pragmatist framework for this study involves a cursory review of extant academic literature pertaining to the historical representation of women in heritage tourism. Since pragmatism acknowledges that theories are context-dependent, the review is coupled with a discerning reflection on our own extensive body of work spanning the last 15 years, particularly focusing on gender dynamics and women’s roles within the broader context of tourism studies.

Findings advocate for investigating the use of women’s histories to foster diversity in cultural heritage and heritage tourism; highlighting marginalised indigenous and migrant women; examining the impact of inclusivity changes on urban spatial practices; and advancing historical methodologies for non-Anglo women’s histories in heritage tourism.

The paper underscores a positive shift in the tourism academy towards recognising diversity in research and, in line with this, contributes to a prospective research agenda that advocates for the nuanced exploration of women’s histories in the promotion of diversity and inclusivity in cultural heritage and heritage tourism management.

本文旨在批判性地审视和解决遗产旅游中的历史性性别偏见, 尤其关注女性叙事的边缘化, 进而倡导在文化和遗产旅游的解释和管理中采用更具包容性和性别中立的方法。

本研究没有严格遵循一种方法论传统。本研究的实用主义框架涉及对现有学术文献的简要回顾, 这些文献与女性在遗产旅游中的历史表现有关。由于实用主义承认理论是依赖于具体情境的, 因此该综述结合了对我们过去15年广泛研究成果的敏锐反思, 特别关注旅游研究大背景下的性别动态和女性角色。

研究结果倡导利用女性历史来促进文化遗产和遗产旅游中的多样性; 强调被边缘化的土著和移民女性; 研究包容性变化对城市空间实践的影响; 并推进在遗产旅游中对非英裔女性历史的历史研究方法。

本文强调了旅游学术界在研究中逐渐认可多样性的积极转变, 并据此为未来的研究议程做出贡献, 提倡在文化遗产和遗产旅游管理中通过详细探讨女性历史来促进多样性和包容性。

El objetivo de este artículo es examinar y abordar críticamente los sesgos históricos de género en el turismo patrimonial, en particular centrándose en la marginación de las narrativas de las mujeres y, posteriormente, abogando por un enfoque más inclusivo y neutro desde el punto de vista del género, tanto en la interpretación como en la gestión del turismo cultural y patrimonial.

En lugar de adherirse estrictamente a una tradición metodológica, el marco pragmatista de este estudio implica una revisión somera de la literatura académica existente sobre la representación histórica de las mujeres en el turismo patrimonial. Dado que el pragmatismo reconoce que las teorías dependen del contexto, la revisión se complementa con una reflexión perspicaz sobre nuestro extenso corpus de trabajo de los últimos 15 años, centrándose particularmente en la dinámica de género y en los roles de las mujeres en el contexto más amplio de los estudios de turismo.

Las conclusiones abogan por investigar el uso de las historias de mujeres para fomentar la diversidad en el patrimonio cultural y el turismo patrimonial; poner de relieve a las mujeres indígenas y migrantes marginadas; examinar el impacto de los cambios inclusivos en las prácticas espaciales urbanas; y avanzar en las metodologías históricas para las historias de mujeres no anglosajonas en el turismo patrimonial.

Este artículo subraya un cambio positivo en la academia de turismo hacia el reconocimiento de la diversidad en la investigación y, en consonancia con ello, contribuye a una agenda de investigación prospectiva que aboga por la exploración matizada de las historias de las mujeres en la promoción de la diversidad y la inclusión en la gestión del patrimonio cultural y del turismo patrimonial.

This study aims to explore how management accounting practices act as drivers of organizational change in situations of institutional complexity.

A case study was carried out in a small company with a strongly rooted social culture, which was acquired by a large conglomerate and underwent a process of strategic change as part of a new control logic. Based on this, the study analyzes the evolution of this change, with a particular focus on the efforts to construct the meaning of the performance through the inscription of objects from the cultural system to which it is attached and the “situated rationality” of the managers who are involved in its production.

The authors show how managers link their own concepts of performance to accounting practices. At the same time, the authors show how accounting practices unfold through representational gaps that their production generates.

This study acknowledges that bias may arise from reliance on retrospective views of past processes and events, gathered primarily through interviews, documentation and observations.

This study highlights that the way in which the performance concept is presented by accounting practices can have a constructive effect on the organization through the aspirations that its representations entail, thus having the potential to stimulate change in organizations.

This study contributes to the organizational literature by clarifying that accounting practices drive change by providing spaces for debates and questions that affect the way organizations understand and report their performance.

To cope successfully with the pressures imposed by a devastating pandemic and other challenges, companies and policymakers need to look at how they conceptualize, define, measure and operationalize “value”. This paper aims to support this conversation.

This study presents a historical review of how the value construct has been conceptualized over time, demonstrating that its history is one of tension and debate with conceptualizations swinging between objective (i.e. the value of something exists independent of the observers) and subjective (i.e. the value of something depends on the personal response of the observer to what is being considered) views over time.

This paper outlines the implications to researchers of value’s low construct clarity, offering suggestions designed to exploit rather than ignore the duality of the value construct. Instead of thinking of the value construct as being subjective or objective, this study recommends that scholars consider value’s objectivity and subjectivity as being interrelated and complementary. The paper recommends that researchers use both quantitative and qualitative methodologies in studying this construct.

A major limitation of this paper is the word count limitation restricting the extent to which this paper could explore a more comprehensive list of the conceptualizations of value throughout history.

This paper presents practitioners with a nuanced understanding of value that should assist those interested in examining the worth of investments with observable expenses but less quantifiable outputs.

The authors have not found a similar analysis of the various conceptualizations of value.

This study aims to explore the ways in which management scholars affiliated with Peruvian universities navigate the tensions between global expectations and local realities in their research practices, drawing on their capitals and habitus.

Drawing on Bourdieu’s field theory, the authors analyse 25 in-depth interviews and a unique database of academic publications in the business and management field from 2000 to 2022. The analysis identifies the positions scholars occupy within the Peruvian management field and examines the factors influencing their research practices.

The authors find that the Peruvian management field is complex and unequal, where actors have different positions and interests, but are all influenced by a logic of academic dependency on the Global North. The authors identify three main positions held by scholars: transnational dominators, who accumulate greater resources and ignore local debates; dominated adaptors, who unsuccessfully try to imitate the dominant logic; and isolated innovators, who critique the dominant model but lack institutional support to develop alternatives.

This research presents an analysis of the Peruvian management field, a site often overlooked in international business studies. By examining scholarly practices, the authors reveal how academic inequalities are reproduced by the forces of globalization. The study underscores the urgent need for greater acknowledgement of regionally informed research, advocating for a more inclusive and diverse understanding in the field of management research.

Patriotism is often described as the “love of country” that individuals display in the acclamation of their national community. Despite the prominence of this sentiment in various societies around the world, organizational research on patriotism is largely absent. This omission is surprising because entrepreneurs, human resource (HR) divisions, and firms frequently embrace both patriotism and patriotic organizational practices. These procedures include (among other interventions) national symbol embracing, HR practices targeted toward military members and first responders, the adulation of patriots and celebration of patriotic events, and patriotic-oriented corporate social responsibility (CSR). Here, the authors argue that research on HR management and organization studies will likely be further enhanced with a deeper understanding of the national obligation that can spur employee productivity and loyalty. In an attempt to jumpstart the collective understanding of this phenomenon, the authors explore the antecedents of patriotic organizational practices, namely, the effects of founder orientation, employee dispersion, and firm strategy. It is suggested that HR practices such as these lead to a patriotic organizational image, which in turn impacts investor, customer, and employee responses. Notably, the effect of a patriotic organizational image on firm-related outcomes is largely contingent on how it fits with the patriotic views of other stakeholders, such as investors, customers, and employees. After outlining this model, the authors then present a thought experiment of how this model may appear in action. The authors then discuss ways the field can move forward in studying patriotism in HR management and organizational contexts by outlining several future directions that span multiple levels (i.e., micro and macro). Taken together, in this chapter, the authors introduce a conversation of something quite prevalent and largely unheeded – the patriotic organization.

This study aims to critically discuss and reorient the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) debate toward the idea of addressing and rectifying the pervasive structural inequalities that DEI, in its undiluted form rooted in social justice (SJ), aims to combat. Drawing on Bourdieu, the study first examines the diffusion and contestation of DEI into international business (IB). It then proposes a Bourdieu-inspired agenda to advance the transposition of SJ principles into IB.

The study interpretively reconstructs the process of DEI’s ideational diffusion. It examines how the interplay between ideas and field dynamics in IB shapes ideational processes and outcomes.

In response to rising global inequalities – to which multinational enterprises (MNEs) have significantly contributed – SJ movements have propelled DEI into the wider social and political arena, including corporate boardrooms. Within IB, a diluted version of DEI – IB-DEI – emerged as a paradigm to improve MNEs’ performance, but failed to address underlying structural inequalities. As the social impacts, utility and legitimacy of DEI have been challenged, the DEI debate has come to a flux. The study proposes conceptual and contextual extension of DEI within IB and advancing socially engaged research and practice that help reinforce DEI’s core SJ purpose – tackling structural inequalities.

The study is one of the few to openly tackle SJ-IB contradictions on DEI, while advancing the application of Bourdieu to critical studies of IB.