 |
 |
*** Apologies for cross-postings ***
REMINDER: Call for papers // Special Issue of the Journal of World Business on The Future of Global Work: What Next for International Human Resource Management?
The world of work is undergoing a period of profound changes, shaped by trends such as the digitization of work, the transformation of business models, the still-uncertain impact of generative AI, increased attention to (and long-simmering tensions around) diversity and inclusion, migration, and sustainability. The fundamentals of global work are being re-evaluated. Firstly, although severe mobility restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic are now in the rear-view mirror for most countries, they may have indelibly changed our thinking on where global work is done. Second, as an ever-expanding spectrum of new technologies are created and deployed in workplaces across industries, the digitization of work is unfolding at a fast pace. While this trend has increased the efficiency of many elements of work, organizations globally continue to struggle to meet their skills demands and continuous workforce up-skilling is needed. Taken together, digitization of work and the changing skills landscape are hastening changes in how global work is being done on a global scale. Third, who is doing global work is changing. This is precipitated by two ongoing demographic trends with immense social implications: namely, an increasingly diverse workforce and the related heightened attention to EDI in MNEs, and changes in migration patterns and related challenges of integrating migrant employees in the workplace. Finally, with increased recognition of the role and impact of MNEs on environmental sustainability and the health and safety of employees, there has been a collective re-examination of why global work is done.
This special issue invites papers that examine all aspects of global work and the management of global work as they evolve in response to current circumstances. Many of the classic management theories arose in economic, social, and geopolitical conditions that are “fundamentally different and increasingly distant” from the conditions describing the world today (Howard-Grenville, 2021), and assume (often hierarchically) structured organizations, staffed by (mostly) homogenous (and mostly permanent) workforce, operating in (mostly) stable environments, largely unaffected by developments in faraway countries. Few would disagree that new theorizing and innovative empirical research are needed to capture how contemporary phenomena affect global work.
This special issue invites research that examines the changes affecting global work and how those changes could, in turn, influence the field of international HRM. We are interested in both empirical and theoretical papers that investigate the ever-evolving context of global work, both from the perspective of individuals that engage in global work and from the perspective of organizations that deploy globally dispersed workforces, and those with supply chains heavily dependent on employing people across countries. We seek contributions that push beyond the traditional contours of topics and theories typically associated with IHRM research. We encourage studies that examine issues that are relevant to practitioners and do so while engaging in substantive theoretical work. Having said that, we welcome a critical examination of existing theory and envision several possible approaches to accomplishing this:
1. In applying existing theory, papers can revisit the theory’s fundamental assumptions and ask whether they still hold regarding the where, how, who, and why of global work (for example, what are the new “boundaries” in global work?).
2. Papers can scrutinize the boundary conditions of our field’s theories, and seek to develop new integrative theories (for example, what approaches are most effective for socializing employees who are working-from-home in a global context?; or when we speak of ‘context,’ what kind of context should we be accounting for in the case of ‘global’ work, which may now be entirely virtual?; Cook, 2018, Filatochev et al., 2022).
3. Papers can deepen our engagement with other disciplines and examine which of their theories we can borrow and apply to better understand contemporary global work. Truly engaging with the complexity of the questions we surface here requires insights from scholars in fields including inter alia, migration and economic geography, sociology, health, sustainability, EDI, and computing and artificial intelligence.
4. Papers that focus on important but underexamined outcomes such as inclusion, health and safety, and sustainability in the context of global work.
In line with JWB’s scope and aims, we also encourage phenomenon-based research – studies whose central objective is to examine current phenomena, including those for which may currently be outstripping researchers’ ability to investigate them in depth from the standpoint of an existing theory (Doh, 2015). Relatedly, in this Special Issue, we would like to see papers that inspire partnerships between academics and managers as both navigate the turbulent waters of the future of work.
The full call for papers is attached and can also be found here <https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-world-business/about/call-for-papers>
Deadline and submission process
Between August 1 and September 1, 2023, authors should submit their manuscripts online via the Journal of World Business submission system. To ensure that all manuscripts are correctly identified for consideration for this Special Issue, it is important that authors select “VSI: Future of Global Work” when they reach the “Article Type” step in the submission process. All submitted manuscripts will be subject to the Journal of World Business’s double-blind review process.
For more information about this Call for Papers, please contact the Special Issue Editors Mila Lazarova ([log in to unmask]), Paula Caligiuri ([log in to unmask]), David Collings ([log in to unmask]) and Helen De Cieri ([log in to unmask]). (We also attending upcoming the Academy of Management meeting in Boston so feel free to reach out if you want to connect over a question regarding the special issue!)