Editorial

• Author: Yochanan Altman
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12350
• Date: 01 March 2019
• Published date: 01 March 2019

Editorial

YOCHANAN ALTMAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

In this first issue of volume 16, 2019, the European

Management Review brings you a wide range of studies

from all corners of the management and business domains.

For starters we have three contributions that challenge

our understandingof key issues and offer us fresh insights

into theory and practice. Aycan and Shelia proposea new

construct which they call worries about leadership.The

validated construct argues thatcontrary to common belief,

many hesitate assuming the mantle of leadership when

offered them, due to a variety of negative emotions

associated with this role. Anna Grandori revisits our

understanding of the nature of the firm.Shedeconstructs

the building block so f the firm and in the process debunks

some common ‘truisms’; then reconstructs it based on its

essential elements, thereby distinguishing the entity from

other forms of organising and providing us with insights

into improving its governance. Gilbert Giacomoni invites

us to an Archimedes thought experiment by reframing a

reference universe, formulating the properties of decision

making of yet unknown entities.

Two papers deal with the precarious nature of

knowledge. Renwick, Breslin and Price highligh t the risks

embedded in the formal and informal use of journal

rankings as a proxy for legitimacy and excellence in

academic life, thereby stalling innovation and progress

in knowledge creation. With knowledge becoming a

singular critical competitiveadvantage and strategic asset,

knowledge protection in turn becomes a key concern to

organizations. Karen Elliott and colleagues present a

model of knowledge protection and test it against the

extant practice of HP labs.

Ipsmiller, Boruthers and Dikova inform us on real

option logic empirical research in man agement, employed

in situations of uncertainty. Having conducted a

systematic review, they provide an up to date literature

overview of decision-making processes. Gianfranco

Rusconi takes us to the realm of Italian economic thought

–economia aziendale, exploring the relationships

between stakeholder management theory and a firm’s

ethical system, by e xamining their co mmon underlying

philosophies. He proposes an integrative model and

details its modus operandi. Applying an ethical lens to

the well-established conceptand body of practice of talent

management, Molie Painter-Moreland and colleagues

unravel the risks as well as opportunities inherent in its

discourse and practice. Crowley-Henry, Benson and Al

Ariss treat the same subject of talent management in a

career contextproviding a different lens,also emphasising

practical outcomes.

Nicolay Worren offers us a way forward with the

concept of conflicting functional dem ands that

organisations, particularly complex organisations, have

to broach. By operationalising the concept he opens the

way to handle other opposing institutional realities.

Wiewiora, Smidt and Chang, using a systematic literature

review, cast a critical eye on t he ‘how’of multilevel

learning dynamics with a stress on bridging mechanisms

that connect lea rning across l evels. Hernandez and

Nylund inform us as to when andhow innovation clusters

strengthen firms’innovation. Based on a literature review

they develop a theoretical model thatexplains the positive

effects of proximity in increasing the innovative capacity

of companies.

We end with two contributions to our dedicated forum

methodologymatters. Ming Li and colleagues’‘Statistical

and methodological myths and urban legends in strategic

management research: The case of moderation analysis”

and Cassel and Bishop’s“Qualitative dat a analysis:

Exploringthemes, metaphors and stories”.Lietal.’s paper

provides us with a timely alert to misguided statistical

practices concerning moderation effects, whereas Cassel

and Bishop address the an tipode pole of business an d

management research methodologies, demonstrating the

rich tapestry of three qualitative methods: template

analysis, sto ry analysis and m etaphor analy sis. Both

contributions are good representatives of the range of

interests that ‘methodology matters’engages with.

May I wish you an enjoyable and informative read.

European Management Review, Vol. 16, 3, (2019)

DOI: 10.1111/emre.12350

©2019 European Academy of Management