Welcome to issue 17.1 of the Journal of Work Applied Management (JWAM), which is now fully indexed in Scopus and celebrates a CiteScore of 8.5 (at the time of writing), which is a leap from the CiteScore of 6.0 the year before. JWAM is a signatory of DORA, so such strong CiteScores should not be seen as an indicator of the quality of the work published in JWAM but as a recognition of the attention that the articles are gaining globally. This would not be possible without the authors and reviewers that dedicate their time to applied management scholarship.
At the same time, a recent political micro-event (at the start of March 2025) thrust the world into even greater instability and uncertainty. In this editorial, I want to highlight some key ideas from the articles in this issue that seem to be critical at this time. The first relates to the need for collaborative change and leadership during a crisis (Garrido, 2025), invariably involving dialogue and co-creation with those impacted by the crisis. Here, collaboration and solidarity can help stabilise the wider ripples that we are experiencing, avoiding (or at least trying to bridge) silos as islands of different priorities and preferences for ways of working (Jeske and Olson, 2025). Alike silos, generational differences can create gaps which need care to bridge, but we must also remember that such differences can, at the same time, provide creative insights into new perspectives of resolution or reconciliation (Minzlaff et al., 2025). We must learn from history.
To bear these circumstances in mind during change efforts, it is important to deal with authenticity, diversity and engagement as a way to find sustainable pathways forward with respect and dignity (Choudhary and Jain, 2025; Howard, 2025). Here, needs analysis, both in terms of training or development and indeed wider stakeholder political needs, can go some way to help facilitate reconciliation (Robert and Mori, 2025). Once again, the applied management methods of coaching can come into play, not least because deep transformation work inevitably involves leader identity work (Szekely et al., 2025) – and as such – requires team cohesion and psychological safety (Passmore et al., 2025). These are critical concepts to those not only involved in negotiating challenging circumstances but also for wider teams and communities impacted by unstable and uncertain circumstances. Clearly, this is incredibly challenging to achieve at the moment.
These efforts, however, will need to go beyond individual leaders and teams and need to engage governmental organisations as part of their public accountability (Makanga et al., 2025), wider partnerships and ways of working in public and private collaboration. Here, amidst challenges or crises, social and sustainable entrepreneurship can provide unorthodox routes to stability or survival for individuals, families or wider communities in challenging circumstances (Kimuli et al., 2025; Turyakira et al., 2025). Whilst these articles are not necessarily designed to address the exact circumstances we find ourselves in right now, they can and should be read with conceptual resonance in mind; in addition to the scholarly insights embedded within the articles, they should be read flexibly enough to inspire ideas of resolution, reconciliation and hope for those who need it. I do hope that by the next editorial, we have moved closer to a state of positive hope.
