Professor joins board of top journal

Michael Mol. Photo: Kia Hartelius

A recognition for the research strength of CBS in general and of the Department of Strategic Management and Globalization in particular. This is how Professor and head of the Department of Strategic Management and Globalization, Michael Mol, speaks of the appointment to the editorial board of Academy of Management Journal – a leading journal for business and management.

“It is seen as a top journal that leading people working with management and business want to publish in and be associated with,” he says.

The members of the editorial board are according to him to be looked at as "guardians of the quality of the research in the journal". The Academy of Management Journal is an empirical journal in management and the articles test, extend or build theory and contribute to management practice using a variety of empirical methods.

 “The Academy of Management Journal’s editors have been pushing for years to publish more research on topics that matter to the world today. For instance this month’s editorial addresses the emerging digital workplace and how it ought to be managed. I would like this development to continue,” says Michael Mol.

One area of research he points to as interesting is management in Africa, which is a continent of great opportunity but that also still faces challenges. Another major challenge is how to better bridge the micro (individual) - and macro (organizational) perspectives in management research.

Prospective autors send their research papers to the journal - for a journal like Academy of Management Journal there are well over 1,000 submissions a year - and an editor then distributes the contributions to a number of reviewers. At least one of them is from the editorial board. They give their views regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript, and there are several resubmission rounds which can take a few years before the article will be printed in the journal.

According to Michael Mol the appointment and others like it strengthen the academic reputation of CBS globally:

“And eventually this is of course not just about research, because CBS operates a model of research-based teaching, meaning that high level research knowledge directly makes its way into the curriculum at CBS. So students and eventually also society-at-large benefit from our involvement with leading journals.”

He adds:

“The closer lecturers at CBS are to cutting-edge research, the more they will be able to educate students for today’s challenge with today’s knowledge, instead of rehearsing the same old knowledge over and over again. One of my strategy classes for instance deals with strategy challenges in Africa.”

He has one wish related to the appointment.

“It would be that this kind of development helps a little bit in convincing public funding organizations in Denmark and other stakeholders that high-quality social science research and especially research in management is a serious form of research that deserves more funding than it has been receiving.”

Michael Mol starts on the 1st of July and then he will be on the board for an initial three-year time period. This can then be renewed.

Read more about the The Academy of Management Journal, and contact Michael Mol for questions.