The wicked problem of climate change and interdisciplinary research: Tracking management scholarship's contribution
- 10 August 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Journal of Management & Organization
- Vol. 26 (6), 1048-1072
- https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2020.14
Abstract
Taking urgent action to combat climate change is a pivotal Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). Since it is closely intertwined with the other 16 goals, it is frequently characterized as a ‘wicked problem par excellence.’ Interdisciplinary research, i.e., research crossing disciplinary boundaries, offers promise for grappling with wicked problems, but also entails significant challenges to researchers. In this study, we use bibliometric methods to understand how management scholars have, over the course of four decades, straddled disciplinary boundaries and what impact their efforts have had on top-tier climate change research appearing in Science and Nature. We find that management scholarship on climate change (1) has grown significantly since the mid-2000s, (2) features substantial engagement with an interdisciplinary knowledge base, and (3) fails to attract the attention of climate change research within top-tier interdisciplinary journals. We discuss these findings with reference to the ongoing discourse on raising management scholarship's relevance and impact.Keywords
This publication has 100 references indexed in Scilit:
- Evolution of natural and social science interactions in global change research programsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013
- Greening organizations through leaders' influence on employees' pro‐environmental behaviorsJournal of Organizational Behavior, 2012
- Rise of interdisciplinary research on climateProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012
- Validation and forecasting accuracy in models of climate changeInternational Journal of Forecasting, 2011
- The Role of the Board of Directors in Disseminating Relevant Information on Greenhouse GasesJournal of Business Ethics, 2010
- Civilizing markets: Carbon trading between in vitro and in vivo experimentsAccounting, Organizations and Society, 2009
- Why Have the Leading Journals in Management (and Other Social Sciences) Failed to Respond to Climate Change?Journal of Management Inquiry, 2008
- Towards strategic stakeholder management? Integrating perspectives on sustainability challenges such as corporate responses to climate changeCorporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, 2007
- Stylized facts, empirical research and theory development in managementStrategic Organization, 2007
- Interdisciplinary research: meaning, metrics and nurtureResearch Evaluation, 2006