Editorial Vol. 9

As we enter our last year as co-editors of the Journal of Organization Design (JOD), we look both backward and forward.

A look back at 2019 reveals that JOD made significant progress toward the goals we set forth when we took over as editors two years ago.

In 2019, JOD published 21 articles, including seven research papers, eight points of view, two case studies, two commentaries, one research primer, and one translational. Articles published in JOD since 2016, the year the journal moved to its current home at SpringerOpen, were accessed more than 100,000 times (for the first time) in 2019 and are frequently shared and discussed on social media sites. The journal’s editorial team reflects the field’s diversity and includes prominent scholars of—and industry experts on—organization design.

In looking forward to 2020, we have set our sights on growth. Our goal is to expand our pipeline of manuscripts, increase the quality and number of articles published, and enhance the journal’s overall impact. A steady stream of high-quality submissions from all segments of the academic and practitioner spectrum is essential to achieving this growth. We therefore call on our readers, past contributors, and reviewers to send us your manuscripts and to seek out others who might contribute their work. We also invite you to keep a close eye on calls for papers for new special issues in the new year.

What makes for a good JOD article? Who should send their work to JOD?

First, submissions should have value for both academics and practitioners. At JOD, we strive to be relevant and rigorous for both readerships. We believe this is something unique about JOD. Organization design has become increasingly important in the fields of strategy, organization theory, organizational economics, and organizational behavior (among others), which makes it an attractive area of study for a growing number of PhD students as well as established scholars. At the same time, organization design comprises a powerful set of levers that are directly accessible to managers at all levels of the organization. It follows that informing the practice of organization design has important implications: it better prepares managers to use these levers effectively.

Second, submissions should address something new, unexplored, unique, and/or emergent in the field of organization design. This is a broad mandate, but we offer a variety of article formats in which to publish. Beyond traditional research articles, alternative formats that may better suit your ideas, your data, and your perspectives are offered. Research primers introduce readers to particular research areas and their implications for design; points of view present new ideas or perspectives that are future oriented; translationals aim to communicate practical organization design advice—based on published research—for managers; organization zoos examine new forms of organizing; and commentaries discuss critical or emerging issues in the field of organization design. More information on these formats can be found at https://​jorgdesign.​springeropen.​com/​submission-guidelines/​preparing-your-manuscript.

This multitude of possibilities stems in part from our striving to give authors constructive feedback on their work. The quality of our editorial team ensures that all authors receive helpful feedback and developmental comments. The journal’s nature is such that our Associate and Guest Editors collaborate with authors to help them improve their work and craft meaningful contributions. Thus, it is not unusual for our editors to guide authors toward the most suitable formats, help them identify the appropriate tone and tempo for their research, and actively guide them in writing in order to create impactful articles for both practitioner and academic audiences.

For the Journal of Organization Design, growth is crucial to ensuring that we remain the intellectual home of organizational design research. Growth of the journal is important also because it ensures the JOD will continue to introduce ideas that help managers and organizations be successful. We therefore invite you to submit, and we look forward to reading your papers in the year ahead.