BJM and the Discipline
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12100 |
| Author | Geoffrey Wood,Pawan Budhwar |
| Published date | 01 April 2015 |
| Date | 01 April 2015 |
British Journal of Management, Vol. 26, 143–145 (2015)
DOI: 10.1111/1467-8551.12100
Editorial
BJM and the Discipline
Georey Wood and Pawan Budhwar
It has been just over a year since the present edi-
torial team took over the journal. We would like
first to take the opportunity to express our thanks
to the outgoing editorial board members and as-
sociate editors for all their work and support for
the journal. This is also an opportunity to reflect
on and explain the direction of the journal, and
emerging issues and opportunities. As with many
journals, there has been a long pipeline of accepted
articles, which has given the new editors a little
more time to reflect on the shape of the journal
and the level of work we would like to carry in the
future.
What is the journal really about?
The British Journal of Management is an ocial
journal of the British Academy of Management,
and seeks to advance research in the field of gen-
eral management. Hence, the journal is general in
its scope, and open to authors working in any sub-
field of business and management. At the same
time, this means that the bulk of papers pub-
lished should be of interest to scholars working
across business and management. Prospective au-
thors should not lose sight of the latter; highly spe-
cialized work that is aimed at or only accessible to
a tiny proportion of readers is better homed atone
of the many excellent specialist journals encom-
passing sub-fields of business and management. In
other words, prospective authors need to distin-
guish between work that may indeed fall within
business and management but aimed ata very spe-
cialized audience and work that would be of inter-
est to the community of business and management
scholars at large. This, after all, is a key reason
why there are both generalist and highly specialist
journals in our field. But, by the same manner,fine
work may be encountered in any area; yet, it takes
more than the author’s opinion and that of her/his
immediate circle for it to be recognized as fine.
One of the major problems with contemporary
art is that it is dicult, without the due reflection
that comes with time, to distinguish the greatfrom
the dross. Despite the natural attrition of vandal-
ism and theft, the art treasures of the past that have
survived have done so often on account of their
special merit and excellent materials. Contempo-
rary art is not necessarily worse than the art of any
other period of time but has not yet undergone this
natural process of selection.1As with art, it is not
always and immediately clear what is a great arti-
cle and which article will stand the test of time; this
makes the task of editors and reviewers very di-
cult. However, by the same measure, as with art,
being guided by what is unique, original, and em-
bodies some or other feature that is interestingand
memorable, is a good starting point.
‘Their name is legion, for they are many’
An extraordinarily large proportion of articles
submitted to BJM are studies by scholars of their
own students. Of course, the views, perceptions,
thought processes and feelings of students and how
they are reflected by lecture evaluation question-
naires and the British National Student Survey
1Of course, a significant strand of contemporary art –
most notably specific types of installation, is deliberately
designed to be transitory.This could be taken as a reflec-
tion of the fluid nature of the contemporary condition or
an admission of defeat on the artist’sbehalf.
© 2015 British Academy of Management. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4
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