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This research sought to understand better how readily managers choose action to change the status quo. Specifically, in experimentally manipulated ambiguous situations, I examined the effect of managers’ promotion and prevention focus on how much information they wish to review to help them choose.

I developed a novel experimental paradigm and applied it in a sample of 157 managers. Managers faced choosing action (change the status quo) versus non-action (keep the status quo), and I test under which circumstances they want to review more information that they believe will help them choose effectively.

The experiment showed evidence that (1) managers with a prevention focus want to review more information when they are trying to assure that they do not choose action erroneously; (2) managers with a promotion focus want to review more information when they are trying to assure that they do not choose non-action erroneously.

This research provides an original perspective on a managerial decision-making phenomenon. It goes beyond managers’ choice preferences to examine a practically relevant outcome of the process of deliberating about taking action to change the status quo.

Despite the competitive internationalization of higher education, international students' responses to dissatisfaction (consumer complaining behavior or CCB) are not well understood in New Zealand. While studies show that many factors, including culture, influence CCB, the None‐Action mode in particular has been largely overlooked by researchers. The purpose of this paper is to examine Chinese student's CCB.

The study employed a qualitative exploratory focus group design examining Chinese students' CCB. Data were analyzed in two stages. First, data were coded into various CCB modes. Next, data relating to the specific mode of None‐Action were thematically analyzed. Five key themes for None‐Action were revealed: Futility, Inadequate Information, Fear of Consequences, Complexity, and Internalization.

This exploratory research found a high level of None‐Action responses. It was apparent that culture was highly influential in participants' CCB responses and that these None‐Action responses had an affective dimension.

Understanding None‐Action responses to dissatisfaction among international students in higher education is critical if universities are to avoid adverse funding consequences. There are cultural and personal implications for students and strategic implications for higher education institutions in understanding Chinese students' Non‐Action. The exploratory nature of the research means that it is designed to stimulate thought and debate on how to expand the body of knowledge on this mode of CCB.

The research highlights the importance to higher education institutions of understanding the cultural and service‐specific explanations for Non‐Action as a response to student‐consumer dissatisfaction.

While many approaches in the field of unlearning aim at describing, understanding or explaining the “what” and/or “how” of unlearning, this paper aims to focus on the “where-to” and the goal of unlearning. In many cases, unlearning starts off with a specific result or goal in mind. This paper suggests that such an approach has to be challenged in the context of a highly complex and uncertain world and to introduce a mode of unlearning following a strategy of future-oriented open-endedness.

This conceptual paper draws on (both theoretical/philosophical and empirical) interdisciplinary evidence from a wide variety of fields, such as organization studies, organizational (un)learning, systems theory, cognitive science and innovation studies.

It turns out that open-endedness in unlearning processes plays a central role, especially if we are confronted with high levels of uncertainty and complexity. In such an environment, following a strategy of co-becoming with an unfolding environment and with an emergent goal seems to be more promising than aiming at a preconceived (un-)learning goal.

The unlearning literature provides various approaches to what unlearning is and how it can be executed. However, understanding the actual goals and outcomes of unlearning and how these goals are identified and determined is a rather under-researched field. In many cases, they are preconceived in advance finding their realization in new forms of knowledge, assumptions, belief systems, values or routines. This paper challenges this strategy and addresses the gap of how it is possible to unlearn toward an uncertain future. This has an impact on the process of unlearning itself; it has to be reframed and understood as an open-ended strategy for identifying emerging future potentials, purposes and goals in a process of co-becoming with an unfolding future.

Although the Daodejing is a text that is more than 2,400 years old, its concepts regarding leadership nevertheless fit well into current discussions on sustainability and responsibility. This paper aims to explore these concepts.

The paper focuses on the strategic aspects that can be found in the Daodejing's approach to leadership.

The Daodejing offers interesting perspectives on the relationship between personal development and sustainability. Because of their topicality these concepts are moreover particularly interesting within the context of corporate culture and glocalization for multinational companies operating in China.

The paper explores aspects of the philosophy of the Daodejing that often get neglected, but which offer interesting perspectives on current issues in management.

Questionable ethical decisions and morally reprehensible practices are often motivated by pressures, the product of circumstances surrounding the socio-political and socio-economic world we inhabit. Having an awareness of the interacting connection between propagated actions of agents and the consequent effects on others (even non-actions can perpetuate effects), more often than not come down to the judgements made that consequently impact the lives, property, and/or environment. Therefore, good ethical decision-making requires distinguishing between different associated thinking processes with attendant consideration given to impact influences. In this reflective piece, the author argues that knowing first requires the knower – the embodied agent – having an understanding of that said to be known. The author recognises and accepts that the application of what constitutes ethics is a dynamic process which one can learn, that can be understood and practiced, but which requires internalising what constitutes ethical conduct through an embodying process involving critical broad range agential reflective thinking and indeed praxis.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the Western roots of the gap between practice and theory in HRM to underline the relevance of a flexible HR support. This support deserves to be nurtured by an insightful consideration of traditional Chinese thought, especially “vital nourishments” and “non-action.”

Following the methodology of deconstruction provided by French Sinologist and Philosopher François Jullien, this paper brings forward the implicit tenets of Western thought that feed HRD. The work of deconstruction relies here on an “heterotopia” (which literally means “a thought coming from elsewhere”) while making use of the founding tenets of traditional Chinese thought.

A flexible support, echoing some existing practices of coaching, mentoring and other developmental interactions, acts as an efficient and natural “non-active” development of HR especially relevant when facing stress at work.

If it is worth recalling the already existing bridges between theory and practice in HRM, it is also important to imagine new ones favorable to HRD.

The paper provides a critical reference for managers in charge of HRD.

The paper provides a critical reference for academics who wish to be more scholarly engaged in supporting executives and managers.

The paper challenges the Western ethnocentric reading of management in order to welcome another millenary way of thinking built in China. It escapes the fundamentals of managerial thought which have durably ruled over Western management studies.

This chapter examines the influence of Taoism's wisdom on the realization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This chapter emphasizes the critical connection between Taoism's wisdom and the SDGs, which is rooted in the principle of living in harmony with nature. Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophy that places great importance on living in balance with the natural world and the natural flow of life. This philosophy can offer valuable insights and guidance on how to achieve the SDGs in a sustainable and holistic manner. This chapter explores how the principles of Taoism can be applied to the SDGs. Particularly, the principle of non-action, or Wu Wei, can be used to promote sustainable development by encouraging individuals and organizations to work with nature rather than against it. Similarly, the concept of Yin and Yang can help promote balance and harmony in economic and social systems, which is crucial for achieving the SDGs. This chapter highlights the important role that Taoism's wisdom can play in realizing the SDGs. By promoting sustainable and harmonious development, Taoism can offer valuable insights and guidance on how to build a better future for all.

In this chapter, the author explores and discusses the transformation of management from the perspective of complex systems, systems change and the Taoist yin-yang theory. Modern complex organizations require innovative management practices that move beyond traditional approaches. Consequently, many organizations are experiencing a management shift towards more holistic and sustainable methods. This shift encompasses changes in organizational structures and modes of inquiry. Organizations are transitioning from rigid hierarchies to more collaborative and agile configurations while adopting a systemic approach to management that acknowledges the interconnectedness and interdependence of all organizational aspects. Simultaneously, there is a paradigm shift in management thinking, replacing the conventional focus on ego-action with eco-action, which emphasizes the integration of diverse perspectives and the cultivation of self-awareness and introspection. This shift in mindset is embodied in the yin-yang paradigm, highlighting the importance of balance and harmony between contrasting forces.

The purpose of this paper is to revisit the scholarly impact agenda in the context of work-based and workplace research, and to propose new directions for research and practice.

This paper combines a contemporary literature review with case vignettes and reflections from practice to develop more nuanced understandings, and highlights future directions for making sense of impact in the context of work-based learning research approaches.

This paper argues that three dimensions to making sense of impact need to be more nuanced in relation to workplace research: interactional elements of workplace research processes have the potential for discursive pathways to impact, presence (and perhaps non-action) can act as a pathway to impact, and the narrative nature of time means that there is instability in making sense of impact over time.

The paper proposes a number of implications for practitioner-researchers, universities/research organisations, and focusses on three key areas: the amplification of research ethics in workplace research, the need for axiological shifts towards sustainability and the need to explicate axiological orientation in research.

This paper offers a contemporary review of the international impact debate in the specific context of work-based and workplace research approaches.

This article examines the influence of Daoist nothingness on leadership in growing Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Daoism is based on a “letting-go” approach through maintaining inherent openness, which challenges goal-oriented and hierarchical approaches typical of Western and Confucian leadership theories. This facilitates the cross-fertilization of ideas related to the effective management of smaller firms.

This study focuses on SME leaders in a group of 12 growing SMEs in the Shanghai logistics industry in China. Narrative and semi-structured interviews explored emerging aspects beyond the established model of leadership associated with reputation-building. This led to in-depth, thick descriptions, broadening our understanding of leadership and reputation-building.

SME leaders follow nothingness by continuously adopting a letting-go approach which spontaneously fosters reputation-building. By maintaining inherent openness, nothingness functions as an enabling principle that mobilizes multi-beings leading to reputation-building in unintended ways.

A greater plurality of empirical and methodological contexts in Western and non-Western countries helps to understand the dynamics and intersection of Daoist nothingness, leadership and reputation-building.

SME leaders recounted how they discursively practised nothingness for extended periods in their everyday practice. The study shows the significance of nothingness for SME leaders who aspire to grow their businesses by reputation-building among salient stakeholders.

Daoist nothingness provides insights into the distinctive approach of Chinese SME leaders and their relationships with local and distant stakeholders. By engaging in active non-action they relax pre-determined intentions and immerse themselves in the process of leading, where the connections between goals and processes are automatically animated. Such an approach differs from the top-down and goal-oriented approach to leadership adopted in many Western SMEs.

This paper makes two theoretical contributions. First, it indicates the powerful influence of Daoist nothingness on leadership by drawing on the broader context of entrepreneurship in Chinese SMEs. Secondly, it enriches existing concepts such as reputation by endowment and reputation borrowing by demonstrating how Daoist nothingness silently fosters both local reputation and generalized reputation.