From the Editors: Introducing Impact

Abstract

Introducing ImpactOccasionally, as editors we use this space to communicate with the readers of Business & Society and its stakeholders. Our communications take two forms: Editors' Insights, which are essays to guide our prospective authors or to speak about important issues concerning the field of business and society, and From the Editors, which are shorter notes to give an update, introduce a specific feature, or mark an occasion. In the latter series, through this note, we now formally introduce our new Commentary section, announced last year (de Bakker et al., 2021) and appearing in this issue with a first set of 10 Commentaries.Contributions to this new section address an important topic of interest to business and society scholars and the stakeholders of their scholarship. With pathbreaking new thoughts and observations on contemporary issues that concern the domain of business and society and management studies more broadly, these commentaries complement the peer-reviewed research in the journal.Commentaries aim to facilitate a dialogue between academics and the various stakeholders of academic research. So, they should be easy to read for both non-academic and academic readers, within business and management studies and its neighboring disciplines. This implies that the style requirements are different from those of an academic article published in Business & Society. They are short, written in the style of an op-ed of leading newspapers.Commentaries revolve around a key message in terms of a viewpoint, an insight, or a new direction on issues of consequence to both business and society. They serve to spark debate within classrooms, to contemplate on new developments, and perhaps to spur new research. They are novel and counterintuitive, perhaps controversial to some, and aim to stimulate a further exchange. Although we currently do not envisage a point-counterpoint series, different commentaries can be published together in a thematic set to showcase a variety of perspectives on a salient theme, as we do in this issue.In this first set of Commentaries, we highlight the topic of "impact" in business and society research. The issue of impact is taking a firm hold in our field, reflected in the discussions in universities and business schools, considerations in accreditations or rankings, or in the social media discourse on our role and purpose in society. So, we assembled a rich set of Commentaries covering this theme, some invited, and some inspired by the format and other commentaries published "online first." Through this, we wanted to generate