Editorial introduction: Between markets and morality—Exploring Adam Smith as a figure for contemporary European management

Abstract

This Management Focus section introduces readers of the European Management Journal to the ongoing relevance of one of Scotland's foremost intellectual exports, Adam Smith. After noting the spaces, places, and people Smith has influenced, it introduces Smith as a manager and leader himself. It then provides a critique of contemporary interpretations of Smith and calls for revised attention to the relational and psychosocial implications of his work for contemporary management thinking. Finally, it introduces three papers by authors from across the globe, summarizing how they each showcase the fertility of Smith's thinking through examination of the way institutions and professionals negotiate the tensions between serving the competitively driven bottom line of a market-driven society and attending to responsibility and accountability for social and ethical concerns.