Abstract Public distrust has become a pressing challenge across governments, social enterprises (SEs) and businesses, shaping compliance, participation and legitimacy. Despite the well‐established research on trust, the scholarship on distrust remains fragmented and lacks systematic synthesis. This review addresses this gap by examining the antecedents, consequences and repair mechanisms of public distrust across organizational contexts. We conducted a systematic literature review of 54 peer‐reviewed articles published between 2006 and 2025, following the six‐step framework of Durach. Using the Gioia methodology, we identified first‐order categories such as misinformation, lack of transparency and unmet expectations and mapped them onto the multilevel framework of interpersonal, organizational and inter‐organizational distrust, complemented by sectoral distinctions between public sector organizations, SEs and business enterprises (BEs). The findings indicate that the antecedents of public distrust include policy failures, corruption and communication breakdowns, whereas the consequences range from reduced compliance and reputational decline to systemic instability. Across all organizational types, transparency emerges as the most frequently applied repair mechanism, yet its effectiveness often depends on combining it with relational, cultural and structural approaches that address underlying expectations about organizational accountability and integrity. This review advances conceptual clarity on trust and distrust by consolidating public distrust as a distinct evaluative construct, developing a multilevel, cross‐sectoral framework and clarifying how organizational responses address distrust following institutional failures. It further delineates the conditions under which trust and distrust should be analytically distinguished, particularly when stakeholders evaluate different organizational attributes. The study also identifies gaps in the literature, including the under‐representation of SEs and BEs, and calls for more diverse methodological approaches to deepen understanding of distrust and its repair.
Abstract Scholars are increasingly studying paradox processes, yet insights remain disconnected, with limited discussion across studies’ perspectives. Consequently, research risks underutilizing valuable findings, thereby reducing both theoretical and practical progress. To address this gap, we review empirical process studies of organizational paradoxes published in leading management and organization journals. We develop a framework that explains how time horizons (short, medium and long), process styles (sequential, cyclical and entangled) and temporality shape what becomes visible about organizational paradoxes, drawing implications across microscopic, mesoscopic and panoramic perspectives. Our analysis shows how different process‐temporal configurations reveal distinct dynamics, from micro‐trajectories to historical sedimentation and reactivation. We identify the strengths and limitations of short‐, medium‐ and long‐term studies, as well as cross‐horizon mechanisms for understanding paradox processes. Based on these insights, we draw implications to advance paradox theory and propose a research agenda. We argue that this agenda can guide cumulative theorizing about core paradox constructs and strengthen links between paradox and process scholarship.
Abstract The advent of industry platforms, with some rising to become among the most valuable companies by market capitalization, has attracted significant attention from both practitioners and academics. While various firms have sought to embrace industry platforms, many have struggled with their management. Although prior research has provided valuable insights into how platform owners manage their industry platforms, the literature remains fragmented across disciplines, narrowly focused on specific topics, and underexplores diverse aspects of platform management. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of industry platform management remains lacking despite substantial research efforts. In response, we conducted a systematic literature review of 359 articles spanning a range of disciplines that focus on industry platforms. This research contributes to the platform literature by conceptualizing industry platform management as the dynamic interplay of interrelated, iterative, and simultaneous processes—creation, integration, orchestration, navigation, and evolution—that collectively shape the emergence, configuration, and advancement of industry platforms. This conceptualization is embodied in an integrative framework that captures the five processes, their underlying approaches, and their inter‐ and intra‐process dynamics. Building on the framework, this research proposes a future research agenda that addresses the key gaps in the platform literature through research directions at the process, intra‐process, and inter‐process levels.
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) face growing pressures from stakeholders to address global challenges and alleviate inequalities endured by disadvantaged communities in the regions where they operate. Given the fragmented conceptual approaches to understanding the relationships between MNEs and these communities, the complex mechanisms underpinning these interactions remain underexplored. This study seeks to uncover existing knowledge in the management literature and supplement it with work from closely related fields—including economics, area studies and development studies—to consolidate current knowledge and gain a broader understanding of how MNEs interact with these communities. We explore the actions, mechanisms and strategies MNEs use to interact with these communities in emerging markets and how they may contribute to integrating disadvantaged communities into the socio‐economic ecosystem. Understanding how MNEs and communities interact is important since MNEs can help address several SDG‐related issues pertinent to these communities, such as poverty and inequality. To achieve our research objective, we conduct a semi‐systematic literature review of 119 carefully identified papers. Our findings reveal the array of actions employed by MNEs to facilitate interactions with communities. Such actions, which often involve multi‐stakeholder partnerships, are shown to promote MNEs’ accountability and social legitimacy in the local environment, leading to various relational benefits. Our study advances theoretical knowledge by synthesising current findings in the management and closely related literature on the interactions between MNEs and disadvantaged communities, offering a novel integrative conceptual model of MNE–community interactions and advancing recommendations for future research.
Although sustainability has been championed in management education for over 25 years, its integration remains uneven, fragile and contested. Existing literature mirrors this fragmentation-often descriptive, celebratory or narrowly focused, offering limited insight into the organisational processes that shape integration. Synthesising 70 peer-reviewed articles, this systematic review asks: What explains the complexity and contested nature of sustainability integration in management education through inter-, multi- and transdisciplinary approaches, and with what implications? We identify three predominant rationales underpinning integration: (1) skills/employability-preparing graduates for market demand in sustainability competencies; (2) standards alignment-compliance with frameworks such as Principles for Responsible Management Education, the Sustainable Development Goals and accreditation requirements and (3) moral/ethical-commitments to societal and environmental responsibility. Using institutional theory, we interpret these as manifestations of coexisting civic, market and professional logics. We further surface nine recurrent tensions that shape implementation and leverage paradox theory to group them across four domains: organising (stability vs. change; autonomy vs. control), learning (breadth vs. depth; conventional vs. transformative learning), performing (aspirations vs. resource constraints; rigour vs. relevance; neoliberal vs. public purpose) and belonging (disciplinary silos vs. integration; pluralism vs. coherence). Finally, mobilising sensemaking theory, we examine how educators and institutions actively navigate competing logics and paradoxical tensions through iterative processes of sensegiving, sensebreaking and sensemaking. By integrating these perspectives, the study advances an integrative, organisationally grounded framework that helps explain why sustainability integration remains complex. In doing so, the review reframes sustainability integration from a pedagogical add-on to an ongoing organisational transformation, with implications for research, policy and practice in management education.
This comparative literature review explores how an expanding body of interdisciplinary post-growth literature aligns, extends or challenges ecocentric Corporate Sustainability (eCS) research in management (i.e., rooted in systems thinking, emphasising planetary boundaries, ecological limits and embeddedness). From a sample of eCS literature, we inductively extracted four recurring theoretical dimensions: Place, Resources, Scale and Time. We then systematically compared how eCS research and post-growth scholarship approach these dimensions. Our results suggest that although the two literatures share the same intellectual foundations grounded in ecological realism (i.e., natural science insights about biophysical limits and their implications for human organising), they diverge significantly in that the post-growth literature has drawn out the political-economic implications of such ecological realism more explicitly than eCS (e.g., challenging neoclassical economic principles; paying more attention to the requisites for political and structural change; and embracing experimentation with alternative organising). We elaborate on the implications of such divergences, from which we propose future research directions towards post-growth-oriented CS, that is, a synthesis that combines eCS's engagement with firm-level organising and post-growth's institutional, political and economic critique of growth imperatives.
Rebound effects describe how efficiency improvements in energy or resource use can increase demand, thereby partially or fully offsetting expected environmental savings. This dynamic complicates win-win strategies that aim to improve environmental and financial performance. Yet, management research has not systematically engaged with the concept. To address this gap, we review the rebound literature using bibliometric techniques and content analysis. We trace its origins in energy economics and document its subsequent theoretical and empirical diversification, particularly in industrial ecology. Across these domains, research has focused predominantly on estimating rebound magnitudes, offering limited insight into how rebound effects are perceived, managed or ignored by decision-makers. Building on this review, we conceptualize rebound effects as a form of means-ends decoupling and develop a taxonomy that distinguishes four types of win-win strategies based on how rebound effects are understood and acted upon. Overall, the paper advances the literature on corporate sustainability by clarifying when win-win claims are likely to be unreliable and by outlining directions for integrating rebound effects into future research in strategy, organization and innovation studies.
Hybrid work arrangements are frequently promoted-yet increasingly contested-as pivotal to a sustainable workforce future, as they can challenge and dismantle traditional gender roles by providing opportunities for greater work-life balance, shared caregiving responsibilities and flexibility that can benefit everyone. Yet, their transformative potential is not uniformly realized, a disparity intricately linked to deeply ingrained gendered perceptions of time that paradoxically undermine the very sustainability they promise. This integrative literature review systematically synthesizes fragmented research on hybrid and remote work, gender and sustainable work scholarship, positioning time as the central analytical construct that connects these literatures. We introduce and elaborate on four critical paradoxes-flexibility, visibility, work-life integration and inclusion, which illuminate the complex and often contradictory ways in which gendered temporal biases shape experiences and outcomes in hybrid work. By underscoring time as a socially valued and normatively judged mechanism, rather than treating equity as a starting point, this paper offers substantive theoretical advances by challenging existing assumptions about time and work. It explains why flexibility alone is insufficient to deliver enduring and inclusive outcomes. It provides actionable insights for scholars, policymakers and practitioners to foster truly gender-inclusive, sustainable hybrid work environments throughout the life course.
Organizations are increasingly urged to adopt circular economy principles for their business strategies, yet 'going circular' is challenging. The circular business model (CBM) transition-shifting from linear to CBMs-is complex, and our initial analysis of the literature indicated that organizations do not know how to implement circular principles alongside existing business models. In practice, the parallel management of two business models creates tensions between exploring new circular initiatives and exploiting established linear practices. By systematically reviewing research on organizational learning and business model innovation, this review proposes a theoretical model that frames the CBM transition as a dynamic, iterative and experiential process, turning tensions into synergies through continuous learning and adaptation. Our review reveals learning-based strategies for organizations to address these inherent tensions at multiple levels, including employees' cognitions, organizational operations and network legitimization. Furthermore, we set a future research agenda for the CBM transition.
Neurodiversity has important implications for individuals and organizations as an increasingly salient but under-researched dimension of diversity in the workplace. In this article, we provide an interdisciplinary review of neurodiversity research through the lens of intersectionality, with a particular focus on the potential ways neurodivergent identities intersect with other social identities to give rise to distinct experiences of inequality, inclusion and development. Reviewing relevant academic work emerging from 2010 onwards (69 pieces of literature), we draw attention to how various neurodivergent identities and experiences have been researched and theorized in combination with a variety of other identities and characteristics, including gender, race, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and parental status. We contribute to literature on neurodiversity and intersectionality in management by mapping research on identity combinations to associated theories, frameworks, methods, lived experiences and potential implications for work and employment. We also provide a research agenda for developing intersectional approaches to neurodiversity in the workplace, including gaps in existing research, opportunities for conceptual and methodological development, and broader implications for enhancing future intersectional research and practice on neurodiversity in the workplace.
Management and organization research has paid limited attention to how gender, time and organizational dynamics intersect, particularly in shaping gender equality and inclusion. The extant literature also remains largely western-centric in its focus on the conceptualizations of time and gendered time use. Thus, the present study examines the complex interaction between gender, time and organizations in a non-western context, specifically in Africa. Through a systematic literature review of 88 articles, we provide insights into the gendered impact of time on inclusion in African organizations. In doing so, we make two key contributions to the literature. First, we develop a conceptual framework that identifies five distinct gendered conceptualizations of time, which offer a culturally grounded lens for analysing inclusion. Second, we highlight the main theoretical perspectives of gendered time use based on our reviewed literature. Furthermore, we also suggest directions for future research to advance research on gender, time and organizations.
Employers play a key role in supporting the inclusion of unemployed people. However, organisational diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices do not typically address discrimination against people experiencing unemployment. Utilising a semi-systematic breakout review, we identify five gendered factors that contribute to the risk of unemployment exclusion: (1) household factors, including breadwinning norms and caring responsibilities, (2) individual health and well-being, (3) socio-economic factors including education and social class, (4) decision-making and support, particularly by welfare states and (5) stigma. We apply a temporal lens to understand these factors as the basis of unemployment discrimination. First, we use the root metaphor 'TIME IS MONEY' to understand the role of capitalist temporality in reproducing perceptions that unemployment is time wasting. We then introduce an alternative, embodied perspective on unemployed temporality which contributes to the conceptualisation of unemployment at a meso level. Focusing on the neglected role of employers in supporting the inclusion of unemployed people, we propose a future research agenda for determining meaningful employer DEI strategies.
This study explores the intersection of the informal and circular economies and its implications for business, management and organization (BMO) scholarship and practice. Informal circularity, practices of collecting, reusing, repairing, recycling and repurposing materials outside formal economic, legal and regulatory arrangements, constitutes a critical yet underexplored dimension of sustainability transitions. We reviewed 102 studies across BMO, urban studies, geography, sociology, economics, sustainability science and others to synthesise fragmented insights into storylines (metanarratives) of informal circularity. Our analysis identifies four interrelated metanarratives: (1) the ambivalence of informal circularity in terms of its sustainability implications, (2) its entanglement with reproduction of urban poverty and governance, (3) the agency of informal actors through entrepreneurship and advocacy amid marginalisation, and (4) the interdependent yet contradictory relationship between informal and formal systems. These metanarratives surface intersecting tensions that both enable and constrain sustainability outcomes and invite deeper inquiry into how circularity is organised beyond formal structures and economies. We offer three contributions. First, we synthesise inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives on informal circularity, identifying metanarratives that capture its tensions and invite BMO research through our future directions. Second, we advance research on tensions in organising for circularity by showing how informal circularity challenges assumptions about organising, strategy and operations. Third, we respond to calls for boundary-crossing sustainability research by integrating intra-, inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives. Finally, we problematise the dominant policy and corporate circularity narratives that exclude informality from the circular transitions and advocate a more inclusive, context-sensitive understanding of informal practices that maintain circularity.
Neurodiversity in organizations remains an underexplored area, leaving gaps in understanding how organizations may create safe spaces for and with neurodivergent employees. This article engages with current neuro-inclusion debates and advocates for a shift towards a framework of (neuro)divergent safe space, offering a more refined exploration of the underlying issues of exclusion. Addressing this gap, our critical review guided by the concept of safe space and the extended social model of disability thematically analysed 31 empirical and conceptual articles. We identified that existing organizational approaches focus on social relations, the physical workplace and flexible working arrangements. Although these practices enable neurodivergent workers to perform effectively (what they can do), they often overlook the need for individual agency to self-initiate practices that cultivate a positive bodily sense of self (who they can be). Despite its descriptive nature in mapping how these interventions promote neuro-inclusion, the literature informs our novel (neuro)divergent safe space framework, which comprises of four interrelated types of spaces. First, the social-relational safe space involves practices designed to challenge ableist behaviours and norms. Second, the physical safe space includes practices aimed at creating safer and accessible physical environments. Third, the autonomous safe space encompasses practices that allow workers to exercise flexibility and autonomy. Finally, central to a (neuro)divergent safe space is the inner safe space, prioritising the psycho-emotional wellbeing of neurodivergent individuals. We lay the foundation for future research to expand upon the conceptualisation of (neuro)divergent safe space and its constituent parts across the micro, meso and macro level.
Perspectives on economic, social and environmental sustainability in machinery manufacturing are changing. These are predominantly driven by increased consumer, firm and public knowledge on the importance of sustainability and the role that machinery manufacturers can play to achieve sustainability outcomes. A maturing stream of research has emerged examining economic, social and environmental sustainability strategies of machinery manufacturers. However, there has been no comprehensive analysis of the extant literature synthesizing the current state of knowledge and postulating future research directions from an inter-disciplinary perspective. This article addresses this gap by utilizing a systematic literature review approach from the business and management and engineering disciplines. Based on our analysis of 44 articles in this line of literature from 2004 until 2025, first, we examine the major debates in each discipline and the theoretical underpinnings utilized in the literature. Our findings indicate that most of the machinery manufacturing research in both disciplines primarily focuses on economic and environmental sustainability to the detriment of social sustainability. Second, we propose a boundary-spanning framework based on theoretical insights from the resource-based theory and systems theory to investigate sustainability in machinery manufacturing. Third, we present intra- and inter-disciplinary research agendas on sustainability in machinery manufacturing.
The intersection of gender, time and marginalization in organizations is evident in the challenges faced by employed mothers, particularly those who are breastfeeding. These challenges are amplified for Muslim mothers, who must navigate intersecting social identities within these structures shaped by dominant masculine norms. In Islam, breastfeeding is embedded in religious beliefs, moral values and spirituality, shaping how employed mothers experience and manage their dual commitments to work and family. This systematic review explores how Muslim mothers negotiate breastfeeding, motherhood and employment, responding to calls for context-sensitive and intersectional studies that support diverse women's economic participation. Drawing on a transnational psychology lens, we synthesize findings around key challenges and empowerment strategies. We illustrate how cultural expectations of breastfeeding, maternal deference to elders and normative motherhood ideals intersect with religious influences-such as Quranic principles of modesty, gender segregation and traditional dress practices like hijab-to shape mothers' access to employment, career progression and professional networking in male-dominated spaces. These intersecting norms create temporal constraints that influence mothers' daily routines. Given the paucity of research and theoretical underdevelopment in this area, we conclude with a research agenda to advance conceptual, theoretical and methodological developments of breastfeeding and employment in diverse contexts.
Despite the progress made in recent years, inequalities between men and women persist. Gender equality (GE) is one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG5) that multinational enterprises (MNEs) can contribute most to. This is because SDG5 integrates directly into MNEs’ human resource practices, supply chain management and corporate social responsibility initiatives, making it more actionable for MNEs. Despite their potential contribution, knowledge about how MNEs can impact SDG5 remains fragmented, inconsistent and scattered across disciplines such as management, economics and gender studies. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of the literature is urgently needed. We address this gap through a systematic literature review relying on a taxonomy of the mechanisms through which MNEs can impact SDG5: human resource management strategy, partnership, philanthropy, advocacy, and indirect mechanisms. Drawing on the findings from 158 empirical articles, we developed an integrative framework to help understand the potential contribution MNEs can make towards GE. The framework underscores the need to simultaneously consider contextual factors at multiple levels (individual, organizational, meso and macro) to discover why intended GE policies may fail to achieve their desired outcomes. Furthermore, in order to truly contribute to SDG5, MNEs must not only engage with the various mechanisms they can activate to promote GE but should also remain aware of the indirect mechanisms triggered by their investments and business activities, which may produce either positive or negative effects for women in the countries where they operate.
Conceptual and empirical contributions to network embeddedness have flourished in the last decades within the field of international business (IB). Scholars have used the concept to explain IB phenomena through the lens of business actors’ network relationships and positions in their networks. Yet, network embeddedness has been conceptualized and operationalized quite differently across IB. To bring clarity to the field, we conducted a systematic literature review of 182 conceptual and empirical articles published between 1996 and 2025. Our review unpacks the various theoretical perspectives, definitions and operationalizations used in network embeddedness research in IB. Moreover, our findings highlight the limited attention paid to space and time in the conceptualizations and operationalizations of network embeddedness in IB. To improve upon these aspects, we advance a spatio‐temporal view of network embeddedness that combines dimensions of geographical space beyond the country level, accounts for social and digital space and incorporates the notion of subjective time. Our proposed view opens new directions for future research in IB, moving and expanding current scholarship in the interface of network embeddedness and internationalization.
International business research emphasizes the importance of geopolitics to multinational enterprise (MNE) strategic decision-making. Yet, insights and evidence are dispersed across levels of analysis and disciplinary perspectives, making it difficult to determine how exactly MNEs respond to geopolitics. Leveraging a sample of 93 papers from journals in strategy, international business and management, we clarify the impact of geopolitics on home and host country relations and the interplay with MNE strategic decision-making. In advancing existing knowledge boundaries, we make sense of MNE responses to geopolitically induced uncertainty by accounting for MNEs’ heterogeneous political capabilities and investment real options. We show that when MNEs have strong political capabilities, they often opt for a shaping engagement response to influence home–host country relations. However, weak political capabilities limit investments with flexible real options and restrict investments with committed real options, leading to adaptive engagement, non-engagement and exit responses. Finally, we outline an agenda for future studies on the topic.
Safety voice – the cornerstone of safe workplaces – is a form of safety communication in which an employee speaks up about workplace safety-related issues with constructive intentions to help prevent incidents, reduce hazards and improve overall safety of the work environment. When workers feel comfortable speaking up about safety concerns, organizations are gifted with opportunities to take proactive measures to protect their workforce. Through the lens of social exchange theory, this review presents the results of a meta-analytic compilation of 49 independent studies with a total of 50856 participants. Utilizing meta-analyses, meta-regressions and meta-analytic path analyses, we explore a series of research questions investigating safety-related and general work-related factors associated with safety voice, and examine how safety voice relates to workplace safety behaviours and outcomes. Findings suggest that safety voice (1) is significantly more prevalent when work environments, organizational leaders and workers at all levels are safety-supportive, (2) is positively associated with safety compliance behaviour and (3) can help to explain employees’ safety compliance behaviour, beyond safety knowledge and safety motivation alone. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.
