BAM on Sustainability
As a leading authority in the academic field of management, BAM is vital in representing and supporting scholars in the UK and across the globe as we prepare ourselves, our institutions, and our students for a future where the climate crisis is at the forefront of almost everything we do. While political leaders and governments play a vital role in addressing systemic change, businesses likewise play an essential part, bringing their resources, capabilities and ingenuity to addressing complex sustainability challenges. Across all management disciplines there is a need for better research and knowledge about how businesses can balance economic objectives with social and environmental impacts.
The BAM community of scholars has a passion for sustainability as demonstrated by the strong interest in sustainability themed events and the popularity of sustainable and responsible business conference tracks at the annual BAM Conference. This special section in BJM represents BAM’s commitment to supporting interdisciplinary research on the topics of sustainable and responsible business and reflects the passion of our members and authors in producing research that makes a positive impact not just on economic outputs but on the wellbeing of society and future of our planet.
Context
Sustainability and responsible business is a subject area in which BJM has consistently received the highest number of submissions over the years (over 300 submissions annually). This sustained strong momentum demonstrates BJM’s leadership in the field and also reflects the intellectual vitality and societal urgency of the sustainability agenda in business and management scholarship. Recognising the importance of further stimulating and advancing scholarly debate, shaping future research agendas, and promoting research-informed practices, BJM is proud to launch a dedicated Sustainability and Responsible Business section. This new section will provide greater focus and visibility for cutting-edge research on sustainability issues, enabling BJM to articulate clear thematic priorities in a domain often dispersed across various disciplinary outlets.
By consolidating and showcasing high-quality contributions, BJM further reinforces its role as a premier platform for innovative, impactful, and societally relevant interdisciplinary management scholarship. The section will promote deeper examination of how organisational leaders can effectively navigate, respond to, and shape the complex environmental, social, and ethical challenges confronting society today. In doing so, BJM will not only support the advancement of theoretical perspectives, but also serve as a crucial bridge to practice, providing insights that guide organisations, including businesses, nonprofit and government organisations, in building a more sustainable and responsible future.
Aim and scope
This new section aligns with BJM’s overarching aim and scope as a general management journal committed to fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and embracing scholarly pluralism. The aim is to encourage rigorous, theory-driven, and methodologically diverse research at the intersection of sustainability, responsible management, and business practice and policy. Rather than being confined to narrow disciplinary boundaries, the section seeks to advance research that examines the ecological, social, and governance implications of business activity, and that aspires to foster inclusive, equitable, and regenerative systems of value creation.
We define sustainability and responsible business broadly as a domain of inquiry that examines how business strategies, decisions, structures, processes, and impacts relate to the long-term viability of social and ecological systems. This encompasses efforts to create value that is not only economic, but also environmental, social, and ethical—while recognising and addressing tensions and trade-offs inherent among these dimensions. This includes business approaches that include, but are not limited to:
- Environmentally regenerative (e.g., addressing critical challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource scarcity);
- Socially inclusive (e.g., promoting equity, human rights, well-being, and diversity across organisations and communities);
- Ethically grounded (e.g., upholding accountability, transparency, and fairness in organisational decision-making);
- Governance-driven (e.g., designing systems, structures and practices that support responsible leadership and oversight).
- Transformative potential of business—Exploring how businesses can go beyond compliance and external pressures to actively drive systemic change, including facilitating just transitions and building more resilient and sustainable futures
- Digitally enabled: Harnessing digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, blockchain, and the Internet of Things, responsibly to drive sustainable innovation, enable responsible business models, and enhance environmental and social impacts.
Submitting to the Sustainability and Responsible Business Section in BJM
The new section was launched on 1 October 2025, with submissions opening from November 2025.
Authors interested in submitting to this section need to answer the following questions in the cover letter (which will be mandatory):
- Is sustainable business/management and/or responsible business central to the research question?
- In what ways does the paper advance knowledge that transcends conventional disciplinary boundaries?
- In what ways does your paper advance the ongoing debates in the British Journal of Management?
- How does the study develop novel substantiative theoretical insights and/or empirical approaches that speak to real-world and evolving sustainability challenges?
- What are the practical implications, and/or actionable insights of the research for practitioners, policymakers, or communities, beyond what is already known? Be specific about the key beneficiaries of this research, e.g. business managers, certain industry sectors, policymakers, community members.
Note: each question should be answered in maximum 150 words or less.
This section is open to the types of submissions BJM publishes – i.e. conceptual, empirical, or methodological – that deepen our understanding of how business can operate more responsibly and sustainably in a complex and uncertain world.
It is important to note manuscripts, particularly those that lack broad and generalisable impact or fail to offer new theoretical insights to business and management scholarship, are not suitable for this section. Submissions should transcend narrow disciplinary analyses and instead demonstrate clear relevance to the wider sustainability and responsible business agenda. Contributions should offer insights that are meaningful and applicable beyond isolated contexts or disciplinary perspectives.
Authors should follow the BJM Author Guidelines and submit their papers via our ScholarOne Manuscripts site from November 2025.