Genocide has been an enduring and profoundly disturbing feature of history. Yet, scholars of organization and management have approached it in a rather limited and marginal way. In this article, the authors propose that genocide far from constituting a tragic phenomenon at the margins of contemporary society raises questions that go to the heart of organization and management studies. In particular, they argue that genocide represents a challenge for organizational theorists in two regards—first, to unlock the organizational and managerial processes that make it possible, and, second, to investigate the extent to which these processes apply to non-genocidal situations. Four particular issues are drawn out as urgently calling for further research—first, the extent to which genocide should be treated as an ‘exceptional’ event; second, the study of different types of genocide involving different forms of management, organization and violence; third, probing into the issue of whether genocide represents a failure of morality or an instance of exaggerated zeal in applying morality; and fourth, the study of the ways ‘othering’ is acted out, both at the broad level of victims and perpetrators, but also in creating a wide range of subdivisions, different degrees of victimhood and collusion, different choices and dilemmas and different modes of identity construction.

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The aim of the article is to examine the factors influencing the overall acquisition performance of the companies acquiring the high-tech firms. The data were gathered during 2007-2009 via a cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire on a sample of Israeli high-tech firms that were engaged in acquisitions. Given its global leading role in the high-tech sector, Israel constitutes an important site for the study of mergers in this industrial domain. The findings indicate that synergy potential (similarities and complementarities) between high-tech merging firms, effectiveness of post-acquisition integration, and organizational cultural differences positively influence the overall acquisition performance merging high-tech firms. Moreover, our findings suggest that organizational cultural differences moderate the relationship between effectiveness of post-acquisition integration and overall acquisition performance as such that positive effect of effectiveness of post-acquisition integration is higher when organizational differences are higher. Our findings indicate that organizational cultural differences also positively moderate the relationship between autonomy granted and the overall acquisition performance. An important contribution of the present article is the development of a conceptual framework incorporating the direct and moderating effect of organizational cultural differences and autonomy granted on the overall performance of acquisition.

This special issue assembles eight papers which provide insights into the working lives of early career to more senior academics, from several different countries. The first common theme which emerges is around the predominance of ‘targets’, enacting aspects of quantification and the ideal of perfect control and fabrication. The second theme is about the ensuing precarious evocation of ‘terror’ impacting on mental well-being, albeit enacted in diverse ways. Furthermore, several papers highlight a particular type of response, beyond complicity to ‘take freedom back’ (the third theme). This freedom is used to assert an emerging parallel form of resistance over time, from overt, planned, institutional collective representation towards more informal, post-recognition forms of collaborative, covert, counter spaces (both virtually and physically). Such resistance is underpinned by a collective care, generosity and embrace of vulnerability, whereby a reflexive collegiality is enacted. We feel that these emergent practices should encourage senior management, including vice-chancellors, to rethink performative practices. Situating the papers in the context of the current coronavirus crisis, they point towards new forms of seeing and organising which open up, rather than close down, academic freedom to unleash collaborative emancipatory power so as to contribute to the public and ecological good.

In the twenty-first century, resilience has emerged as an important topic linked to calls for adaptability, well-being and organizational performance. Extant strategic human resource management (HRM) literature and practices have developed many insights into resilience. However, overall, they have a propensity to conceptualise resilience as being associated with 'macro-' and 'extreme' situations. This paper complements the prevailing perspective by developing a micro-focus on resilience through the conceptual framework of organizational ambidexterity surfacing under-examined individual resilience in connection with HRM practices.Methodologically, the paper adopts a qualitative approach presenting data from two illustrative contexts: an 'everyday' quasi-governmental institution and a prima facie 'extreme' pan-international military organization. Using template analysis, a number of valuable themes and similarities are identified. The findings and discussion underline the managerial challenges in handling organizational ambidextrous dynamics and tensions surrounding resilience, positive and sceptical approaches in relation to individual and organizational stances towards HRM practices. As such, the results point at value in HRM managers and practices recontextualising and appreciating 'extremes' and resilience more as an everyday (rather than exceptional) phenomenon wherein myriad micro-moments are highly significant in constructing and influencing macro-contexts. This also implies a need to see cynical resistance as normative rather than automatically negatively.

Purpose A review of the emerging scholarly literature on positive organizational scholarship indicates a need to pursue cognitive, emotional and motivational mechanisms which translate into positive states and outcomes in organizations. Responding to this, this paper aims to test a mediation model linking resilience and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) through subjective well-being (SWB) components (i.e. life satisfaction and affect balance) and organizational commitment (OC) components. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 345 employees working in the Indian manufacturing industry. The study used structural equation modeling using AMOS to conduct bootstrapped mediation analyses. Findings Results showed that SWB and OC components mediated the resilience-OCB relationship. Results offered strong support for the role of affect balance (high positive and low negative affect) and affective commitment in mediating the influence of resilience on OCB. Originality/value The study not only tested the applicability of resilience in an organizational context to predict coveted positive outcomes but also identified the underlying mechanism as how psychological resource capacities like resilience contribute to OCBs.

In this article, we examine the mechanisms of the corporate political activities of service multinational enterprises (SMNEs) operating in an emerging economy. Reporting the findings of qualitative interviews with key decision-makers in Ukraine, the article illuminates how SMNEs operating in turbulent institutional contexts can enact various corporate political strategies, including social responsibility activities, to mitigate market costs and develop legitimacy. The findings elucidate how government agencies and institutions may also invoke corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a strategy. The article makes key contributions; firstly, it underscores the complementary dynamics that exist between CPA and CSR strategies in host markets characterised by weak and incomplete institutions. Secondly, the article contributes to the relatively under-explored nature of service sector MNEs operating in such institutional contexts.

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