Editors’ Introduction: Distinguished Scholar’s Corner, Paul Adler 2021

Abstract

For almost four decades, the OMT (Organization and Management Theory) division of the Academy of Management has been honoring scholars who have been “central to the intellectual development of the field of organization studies,” an area of obvious interest for readers of JMI. (See the list of distinguished scholars here: https://omt.aom.org/awards/distinguished-scholar-award). Upon accepting the honor, Distinguished Scholars are requested kindly to share their thoughts during a presentation that takes place at a breakfast during the Academy of Management annual meeting. Typically, these thoughts are a reflection on the work done, but also an invitation to use one’s curiosity to see things we know well for the first time again. In the past, JMI has asked the award winners to publish a version of their talk for the benefit of the larger academic community but also to give the honorees space to develop the powerful ideas they have shared with the AOM audience and also reflect on the questions and feedback received from the audience and other scholars. The manuscript that follows this introduction is part of that tradition, relaunched here in JMI after a few year’s hiatus with Langley (2021) paper and her thoughts on how to use our intellectual tools to understand reality and bridge theory and praxis, and the processes we use to do so. Paul Adler was the recipient of the 2021 award. During his talk, Paul challenged us to think of a world where democracy would be expanded from the political sphere to the economic one, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that the search for profit and material prosperity does not prevent the solution to the “grand challenges” (Howard-Grenville, 2021) that our world is facing. The urgent tone of Adler’s piece resonates with the comments made by Langley, even though the themes chosen are very dissimilar. Yet, both scholars show the shared desire to help ensure that the intellectual tools developed by OMT scholars are used to make our world a better place for all. In so doing, they provide a source of inspiration for the academic community at large and, let’s hope, for all those whose decisions have an impact on the way the world works. Indeed, organizations and organizing are a distinct feature of all modern societies and probably of any collective human activity, and it is not unreasonable to believe that different and better ways to organize can lead to different and better results, and especially a more humane and more sustainable world. From the Editorial Board of JMI, we thank Paul Adler and his predecessors for their curiosity, their hard work, and, ultimately, for their generosity, and the executive board of OMT for their work ensuring that these distinguished minds receive the recognition they deserve in our community and beyond.