This issue of the Journal of Organizational Behavior is somewhat unusual. It comprises two parts: (1) a controversial essay by William Glick and his associates, accompanied by three brief commentaries by leading scholars; and (2) a Special Issue on the topic, 'Specifying Organizational Contexts: Systematic Links Between Contexts and Processes in Organizational Behavior,' edited by Mark Griffin. I will leave it to Mark to introduce the Special Issue section, but I thought it would be appropriate for me to briefly introduce the essays in the first part, which I have titled, 'Careers in Organization Science: An Essay and Commentaries.'
Commissioned by my predecessor, Denise M. Rousseau, the remarkable lead essay, titled 'Making a Life in the Field of Organization Science,' authored by William H. Glick, C. Chet Miller and Laura B. Cardinal, makes the powerful but controversial case that organizational science (including, of course, organizational behavior) is characterized by 'weak paradigms' that pose a threat to aspiring scholars' career aspirations. The authors finish up with some 'tough advice' for junior scholars who need to 'make a life' within this difficult universe and suggestions for how senior scholars can act to ease their junior colleagues' burden. The essay is accompanied by three brief but excellent commentaries by Jeffrey Pfeffer ('Truth's Consequences'), Denise M. Rousseau ('Standing Out in the Fields of Organization Science') and Sim B. Sitkin ('Promoting a More Generative and Sustainable Organizational Science'). I have no doubt that JOB readers will find reading these contributions to be stimulating and thought-provoking.
Future issues of the Journal of Organizational Behavior will continue to pursue this theme, with further planned commentaries and replies, and a forthcoming 'Point-Counterpoint' issue, to be edited by Paul Spector, which will debate this and related issues. My hope is that this series of articles will stimulate continuing debate on the state of the organizational disciplines, and encourage readers to think about the future of scholarship in our sphere of interest.