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The great reset of management and organization theory. A European perspective

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  • Roth, Steffen

Abstract

In mid-2020, the World Economic Forum (WEF) announced the Great Reset, an initiative launched to assert, describe, and shape the direction of an epochal transition brought about by the global coronavirus crisis. Rooted in a European tradition of social theory, this article aims to articulate the broader social context of this scenario and pinpoint its implications for management and organization theory. One of these implications is that our fields face a significant risk of co-performing rather than studying the looming “great transformation” from an economy-to a health-dominated society, thus merely replacing one reductionism with another. It follows that what is required are management and organization theories that analyze rather than ride the macro social trends that shape organizations and their environments. The article concludes that if crises are the golden moments of alternative mainstreams, then for those interested in alternatives to the emerging “new normality” the golden moment to develop the next alternative mainstream theories is now.

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  • Roth, Steffen, 2021. "The great reset of management and organization theory. A European perspective," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 538-544.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eurman:v:39:y:2021:i:5:p:538-544
    DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2021.05.005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jens O. Zinn, 2020. "‘A monstrous threat’: how a state of exception turns into a ‘new normal’," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(7-8), pages 1083-1091, August.
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    5. Poulis, Konstantinos & Kastanakis, Minas, 2020. "On theorizing and methodological fetishism," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 676-683.
    6. Roth, Steffen & Schwede, Peter & Valentinov, Vladislav & Žažar, Krešimir & Kaivo-oja, Jari, 2019. "Big data insights into social macro trends (1800–2000): A replication study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
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    8. Dean A. Shepherd, 2020. "COVID 19 and Entrepreneurship: Time to Pivot?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(8), pages 1750-1753, December.
    9. Roth, Steffen & Clark, Carlton & Trofimov, Nikolay & Mkrtichyan, Artur & Heidingsfelder, Markus & Appignanesi, Laura & Pérez-Valls, Miguel & Berkel, Jan & Kaivo-oja, Jari, 2017. "Futures of a distributed memory. A global brain wave measurement (1800–2000)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 307-323.
    10. Roth, Steffen, 2019. "Digital transformation of social theory. A research update," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 88-93.
    11. Etzkowitz, Henry & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2000. "The dynamics of innovation: from National Systems and "Mode 2" to a Triple Helix of university-industry-government relations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 109-123, February.
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    13. Steffen Roth & Vladislav Valentinov & Markus Heidingsfelder & Miguel Pérez-Valls, 2020. "CSR Beyond Economy and Society: A Post-capitalist Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 411-423, September.
    14. Apelt, Maja & Besio, Cristina & Corsi, Giancarlo & von Groddeck, Victoria & Grothe-Hammer, Michael & Tacke, Veronika, 2017. "Resurrecting organization without renouncing society: A response to Ahrne, Brunsson and Seidl," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 8-14.
    15. Mats Alvesson & Cynthia Hardy & Bill Harley, 2008. "Reflecting on Reflexivity: Reflexive Textual Practices in Organization and Management Theory," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 480-501, May.
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    1. Caputo, Francesco & Cillo, Valentina & Fiano, Fabio & Pironti, Marco & Romano, Marco, 2023. "Building T-shaped professionals for mastering digital transformation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).

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