From the Editors-in-Chief

Abstract

Journal of Management Inquiry (JMI) is in the midst of publishing its 25th volume-a milestone for a journal with the stated goal to be "Not just another journal!!!" 1 The "Not just another journal!!!" declaration is one of the many descriptors from the Self-Concept document (see Table 1) dated July 1990. Anyone familiar with JMI will immediately appreciate how much the Self-Concept informed the journal at its founding, and will be pleased with how much it continues to do so today. As documents, papers, and books sometimes inexplicably do, the Self-Concept document appeared at the most opportune moment after being hidden in the Western Academy of Management (WAM) files for at least 15 years.Embedded in the JMI DNA is a drive to remain "distinctive from other, mainstream journals" (Phillips & Trank, 2014, p. 3). Over the past 25 years, JMI has pushed the envelope in its continuing endeavor to be scholarly, catalytic, eclectic, and groundbreaking. As founding editors Tom Cummings and Alan Glassman (1992) have noted, there is a commitment to "inquisitive, provocative, and exploratory scholarship on a wide range of innovative research and practice" (p. 3) where it should be possible to embrace rigor and messiness simultaneously (Glassman & Cummings, 2011).If, in fact, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the founders and all who have sustained JMI should be thrilled as other journals have copied elements introduced or championed by JMI. Yet, the founders, past editors, and other friends of JMI would never expect JMI to rest on its laurels, which begs the following question: What next for JMI?

Escape From Abilene: The Developmental Opportunity of the Review Process

“…Macdonald (2015) recently argued that the ideal of an objective, constructive peer review process is a myth. Stackman and Phillips (2016) categorize the process as unnecessarily disempowering and dispiriting. Starbuck (2016) proposed editorial practices that could make published research reports more reliable and trustworthy.…”

“…In, (Stackman, 2017) (JMI Editor) outlines JMI's aspiration to be more than "just another journal" in the management research ecosystem (Stackman & Phillips, 2016). He relates the steps JMI has taken and will take to address the insights and recommendations in the essays included in this Dialogue.…”