Cleaning out the cobwebs and getting caught up

Citation

Pate, L. (2006), "Cleaning out the cobwebs and getting caught up", International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 14 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijoa.2006.34514caa.001

Cleaning out the cobwebs and getting caught up

The International Journal of Organizational Analysis has experienced a lot of growing pains over the past 14 years. Initially launched as part of an elaborate family business by a previous Editor, the journal quickly gained a following in the international community, largely because its broad focus on “organizational analysis” provided a common outlet for researchers and theorists from around the world to publish their work. It also enabled subscribers – primarily researchers, managers, consultants, students, and human resource management professionals – to learn about the latest research and writing on organizations coming out of the United States, Europe, China, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Middle East, the United Kingdom, and other international contexts.

However, the journal also gained an unsettling reputation for being months overdue and for taking unnecessarily long periods of time to review manuscripts submitted for publication consideration. Also, the quality of the articles often was inconsistent, with some studies very well done and others lacking in conceptual and/or methodological rigor. By late 2002, the journal was sold to Information Age Publishing in the USA, and a new Editor and Editorial Board were appointed. Under the new publisher, both the size and format of the journal were changed, and in 2004 the words “International Journal of” were dropped from the title. At that point, the journal was simply Organizational Analysis. Barely a year later, in 2005, the journal was back in the hands of the original publisher and Editor under the original title. And then in late 2006 – yes, late 2006 – the journal was sold again, this time to Emerald in the UK, and again a new Editor was appointed. At that time, the journal was a full year behind on issues and had very few manuscript submissions in the pipeline.

This is where in the distance we hear the sound of hoof beats and the William Tell Overture playing, while Emerald and the new Editorial team ride in on white horses and save the day! Truly, had the journal been purchased by an inexperienced publishing group it might have died then. However, the acquisition by Emerald, a leading and highly respected publishing firm with a seasoned and professional staff, was perhaps the best thing that has happened to the journal since its launch. Not only is Emerald well connected throughout the UK and Europe especially, but the good people at Emerald have the drive, determination, desire, guts, and know how – the moxie – to turn things around. And they’re already doing just that!

The first thing Emerald did was appoint Kim Foster as the journal’s Publisher. Kim had a good eye for copy editing and she worked first on Emerald’s Abstracting and Indexing team and then as Managing Editor for the Organization Studies and General Management journals. Her background was in publishing from behind the scenes, rather than on the page. She earned a BA (Honors) degree in Publishing and English from Loughborough University, and then worked for the Civil Service in their publications team before joining Emerald. She is organized, hard working, motivated, and well connected, but what impresses me personally the most is that she also has a lot of heart.

The many challenges facing Kim were: How to get caught up? How and where to generate good manuscript submissions? Who to appoint as new Editor? How to improve the quality of both the submissions and the published articles? How to not lose the many loyal readers and subscribers who had been patiently waiting for two and three and four back issues to arrive?

Kim contacted me in late January, 2007, and invited me to serve as the journal’s new Editor-in-Chief starting with Volume 15 (2007). I agreed on condition that I would be given complete control over all journal content, and that I would appoint my own Associate Editors and Editorial Board. Kim enthusiastically agreed and about a month later I was on board. Then in March, 2007 she asked me to also serve as Guest Editor of the two remaining back issues for 2006 (Issues 3 and 4). Throughout our discussions, I kept thinking to myself, “What a wonderful privilege!”

This is my third experience working with the professional staff at Emerald, the first two when they were called MCB University Press. The first was serving as Guest Editor of a Special Issue on “Developing Leadership Excellence” of the Journal of Management Development; the second was serving as Founding Editor of the Journal of Organizational Change Management. I have the greatest respect for the good people at Emerald and their long commitment to excellence in publishing. I am especially pleased to be working with Kim, who has been a jewel! We are all fortunate that Emerald acquired the journal and I am honored to have this opportunity to work closely with them and to serve as your Editor-in-Chief.

In short, things look very promising for the journal at this point. The next two issues are already in press and we are doing everything possible to get caught up by the end of 2007. Also, we recently announced the new Associate Editors and Editorial Board on our website (see: www.emeraldinsight.com/info/journals/ijoa/eabinfo.jsp). The new Board will take over with the upcoming Volume 15 (2007), and it includes some of the world’s top scholars from Harvard, Yale, McGill, INSEAD, MIT, Amsterdam, Cornell, Lancaster, Penn (Wharton), Duke, Northwestern, Bath, California-Berkeley, Queensland, Michigan, and other leading universities. Scholars like Bob Zmud, Founding Editor of Organization Science; Phil Anderson, currently an Associate Editor of Administrative Science Quarterly; and Jerry Hunt, former Senior Editor of Leadership Quarterly. The focus and direction of the journal will be changing and improving, with greater emphasis on problem-finding and creating a forum for asking good questions, but the journal’s commitment to publishing research and theory on “organizational analysis” from around the world will remain the same.

My immediate goals as Editor-in-Chief are to firstly, eliminate the back issue problem, so that readers receive issues on time, and secondly, generate a greater number of high-quality manuscript submissions. My long-term goals are to firstly, improve the journal’s overall visibility and reputation, and secondly, increase the number of readers and subscribers. We welcome submissions of innovative, well-written manuscripts for publication consideration, as outlined in detail on the journal’s website. Please pay careful attention to Emerald’s manuscript preparation guidelines. We also welcome proposals for innovative Special Issues. For 2008 we will be publishing eight articles per issue. In the next issue, we will be announcing the Special Issues we have planned for 2008 and 2009. As Editor-in-Chief, I will continue to follow a double-blind review process for all submitted manuscripts, but we will also include occasional invited articles from leading researchers and practitioners. I hope that all of our readers and subscribers will stick with us as we clean out the cobwebs and get caught up. It will be worth it! We have a bright future ahead and we are going to have some fun!

The four articles in this issue are good indication of the broad range of research and writing we’re looking for. The article by Michelle King and Dianne Gardner entitled, “Emotional intelligence and occupational stress among professional staff in New Zealand,” contributes to the growing body of knowledge on the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace. The article by Kathryn L. Fonner and Michael E. Roloff entitled, “Effects of exposure to job insecurity on workplace expectations of interns in the United States and Australia,” presents the results of two studies that examine the downside of internship experiences. The article by Helena M. Addae, K. Praveen Parboteeah, and Evyan E. Davis entitled, “Organizational commitment and intentions to quit: an examination of the moderating effects of psychological breach in Trinidad and Tobago,” explores organizational commitment in the Caribbean. And, finally, the article by Steven M. Elias and Scott R. MacDonald entitled, “Consequences of restrictive and promotive managerial control among American university professors,” provides another view of the importance of the exchange relationship between leaders and followers.

Finally, I would like to thank each of the outgoing Associate Editors, along with the many fine members of the outgoing Editorial Board, for their past service and commitment to the journal.

I welcome your thoughts and suggestions, and hope to hear from many of you.

All the best,

Larry PateRedondo Beach, California, USA