Disrupting Management Research? Critical Reflections on British Journal of Management COVID‐19 Research and an Agenda for the Future

Abstract

Research interest in extreme contextswas growing before the COVID-19 pandemic and has intensified since. The climate crisis, significant geo-political conflict, political polarization and upheaval, and economic/financial crises that present existential challenges to organizations have all contributed to rising interest in extreme-context research. COVID-19 itself has generated an enormous body of research across all sub-fields of management. However, the substantive, methodological and conceptual implications of this large volume of research remain unclear. In this introduction to the British Journal of Management COVID-19 Online Virtual Issue, we describe and analyse COVID-19 research so far published in the British Journal of Management. The Journal was proactive in seeing the profound implications of COVID-19 for management research and practice, issuing an early call for contributions, and publishing several exploratory commentaries as early as July 2020. In this paper, we situate COVID-19 research within the broader extremecontext research, analyse contributions made so far, and build upon an extended taxonomy of extreme contexts to suggest ways for future research to generate further impactful insights.

The relationship between extreme contexts, organizational change capacity, and firm product and process innovation

“…This current study highlights that the magnitude of the consequences demonstrates a risk perception of organizations and then plays a crucial role in their evaluations of future risks (Dunlop et al ., 2008). Here, risk perception is understood as an opportunity rather than a foe to benefit from extremity and improve innovation efforts to face unexpected events and conditions (Brammer et al ., 2023).…”

“…They further note that typical workplaces become extreme and greater extremities become inexorable. Indeed, for example, extreme events related to the COVID-19 pandemic make many workplaces and businesses more unusual and intolerable for organizations (McCombs and Williams, 2021;Brammer et al, 2023). In addition, COVID-19 has a devastating effect on organizations as manufacturing and services are globally connected, and the duration of these effects remains unclear for the near future (Akpan et al, 2022;Jahanshahi et al, 2021).…”

“…Significantly, the global political and economic crisis, environmental issues and the COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging the world, resulting in disruptions in organizational strategies and interruptions in the flow of corporate activities and routines (Akpan et al, 2022). As a result, organizations are required to perform in more extreme environments in general and extreme contexts, which is related to multiple, continuous, and repetitive views of extreme events and can have severe consequences, in particular (Hannah et al, 2009;Xie et al, 2022;Brammer et al, 2023). Here, organizations suffer from limitations concerning R&D budgets and innovation capacity and encounter the risk of escalating indecision about innovation efforts.…”

“…As a result, organizations are required to perform in more extreme environments in general and extreme contexts, which is related to multiple, continuous, and repetitive views of extreme events and can have severe consequences, in particular (Hannah et al ., 2009; Xie et al. , 2022; Brammer et al. , 2023).…”

Os impactos da pandemia de Covid-19 em pequenas e médias empresas do Rio de Janeiro

“…From a theoretical standpoint, the pandemic, given its substantial human and economic impacts, may be examined through the literature on extreme contexts (Brammer, Branicki, & Linnenluecke, 2023;Hällgren, Rouleau, & De Rond, 2018). Hällgren et al (2018) categorize extreme contexts into emergency, risky, or disrupted, with the latter being most applicable to the pandemic's reality.…”