Strategically reactive and maybe not thinking big enough

Abstract

Only recently has the Academy of Management begun to discuss the grand challenges that the world faces and the role that researchers should play in addressing societal issues such as poverty, climate change, and decent work for all (George etal., 2016;United Nations, 2020). [...]our profession tends to focus on efficiency (Lefkowitz, 2008) and in turn often reinforces processes that replicate past systems that could perpetuate the “haves” and “have nots,” such as separating the world into “high potentials” versus all of those other people that I-O pyschologists categorize as, well let’s be honest, “less valuable” in organizations (Yost & Chang, 2009). The far-reaching effects of COVID-19 and other potential crises necessitate that I-O psychologists work across disciplines (e.g., political science, education, business, health care) and demonstrate a willingness to collaborate and to pursue complementary research.