Administrative Science Quarterly Online Table of Contents Alert
The September 2025 issue of Administrative Science Quarterly is available online:
Vol. 70, No. 3
The September issue is my first as editor, and it is my privilege to recognize the award-winning articles that were announced at the Academy of Management meetings in Copenhagen. This issue also contains the third essay in honor of our 70th volume, which calls for additional attention to marginalized populations in order to advance organization theory. Several empirical articles resonate with this call, examining how marginalized or unconventional actors-such as employees with disabilities, women scientists, and bootlegging DJs-shape perceptions of value, creativity, and innovation. Two articles explore how ambiguity, whether in legal enforcement or institutional agreements, can trigger adaptive strategies and deeper commitments, as shown in cross-border banking compliance and transnational labor accords. Finally, a longitudinal analysis of independent bookstores demonstrates how reconceptualizing physical space is a successful response to digital commoditization. Happy reading!
Addressing Marginalized Populations in Management Research
Damon J. Phillips and Aruna Ranganathan
In this essay commemorating ASQ's 70th volume, the authors argue for the advancement of organization theory by advocating greater focus on populations marginalized across economic, educational, geographic, demographic, cultural, and social dimensions. The article assesses the extent to which organization theory has addressed these populations, describes and identifies exemplary articles for each proposed dimension of marginalization, notes positive trends in addressing marginalized populations in ASQ, and emphasizes the importance of an intersectional approach.
When Breaking the Law Gets You the Job: Evidence from the Electronic Dance Music Community
Xu Li and Amandine Ody-Brasier
How do lawbreakers gain support from their law-abiding community members? In this article, the authors study bootlegging among DJs in the electronic dance music (EDM) community, finding support for illegal remixing when audiences perceive the action as intended to serve the community but not when the bootlegging is seen as self-serving. The authors use a mixed-methods strategy of quantitative analysis, survey data, and interviews to demonstrate their findings, which speak to the complex reality of discretionary compliance in ambiguous situations.
Organizational Burden or Catalyst for Ideas? Disability as a Driver of Cognitive Flexibility and Creativity
David J. G. Dwertmann, Stephan A. Boehm, Kristie L. McAlpine, and Mukta Kulkarni
Disability is typically viewed in negative terms, but what if it actually spurs innovation? Using a multi-study, multi-method approach on a sample of German car manufacturing employees, the authors find that disability is linked to two creativity outcomes among colleagues of persons with disabilities: idea generation and idea novelty. Linking creativity and disability theory, the findings challenge the view of disability as an organizational burden and conventional views of coworkers of disabled persons.
Standing on the Shoulders of (Male) Giants: Gender Inequality and the Technological Impact of Scientific Ideas
Michaël Bikard, Isabel Fernandez-Mateo, and Ronak Mogra
How does scientists' standing within their profession influence the impact of their ideas? Research has shown that women researchers receive less credit and recognition from their academic peers; this article shows that such inequality also affects technology development. Analyzing the scientific paper citations in patented inventions, the authors find gender disparity in patent-to-paper citations and attribute the difference to the idea that inventors value scientific publications written by men more than those written by women. The findings have important implications for understanding career outcomes, innovation, and technology development.
From Constructive Ambiguity to Escalating Commitment: The Evolution of the Bangladesh Accord as a Transnational Institution for Collective Action
Juliane Reinecke and Jimmy Donaghey
Helping multi-stakeholder institutions agree to collective action about systemic challenges requires clear, unambiguous contract language. Or does it? In this article, the authors theorize that constructive ambiguity can actually lead to greater subsequent commitment, in this case to the challenging problem of worker safety in global supply chains. Conducting an eight-year study of the Bangladesh Accord for Fire and Building Safety, initiated among unions, NGOs, and more than 200 companies after the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza factory, which killed more than 1,100 people, the authors show that constructive ambiguity enabled multi-stakeholder partnerships by initially leaving contested issues unresolved. This ambiguity allowed the Accord's formation but required parties to negotiate the details needed for collective action, which introduced risk of failure but ultimately led the parties to strengthen their commitment via institutional investment and tie-in.
Organizational Emplacement as a Response to Digital Threat: The Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores
Ryan Raffaelli and Ryann Noe
The rise of Amazon.com was widely believed to signal the end of brick-and-mortar retail, but this article shows how independent bookstores adapted successfully by creating new types of value. Conducting a longitudinal, qualitative analysis of the U.S. bookselling industry from 1995 to 2019, the study finds that booksellers reconceptualized their physical spaces-through a process the authors call organizational emplacement-in order to create differentiation, which prevented the bookstores' displacement in the market. The findings offer an important counter-narrative to assumptions about digital commoditization.
Regulatory Territory and General Deterrence Across Borders: Swiss Banks' Territorial Self-Categorizations and Responses to U.S. Extraterritorial Law Enforcement
Emmanuelle Reuter, Florian Überbacher, and Andreas Georg Scherer
Extraterritorial law enforcement is on the rise, but to what extent does it deter potential lawbreakers? Studying the Swiss private wealth management industry, the authors integrate deterrence theory with a new organization-centered perspective on regulatory territory. They find that the different ways in which unprosecuted banks categorized their own territories (which the authors call territorial self-categorization) explain their responses to foreign regulators' enforcement events. By theorizing organizations' regulatory environment as a territory, the article reconceptualizes such environments and shows that cultural‒cognitive mechanisms mediate deterrence.
Book Reviews
Erik Schneiderhan and Martin Lukk. GoFailMe: The Unfulfilled Promise of Digital Crowdfunding
Matthias Tröbinger
Emily Hund. The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media
Farnaz Ghaedipour
Stuart L. Hart. Beyond Shareholder Primacy: Remaking Capitalism for a Sustainable Future
Thomas P. Lyon
Brooke Harrington. Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism
Kimberly Kay Hoang
Akshat Rathi. Climate Capitalism: Winning the Race to Zero Emissions and Solving the Crisis of Our Age. Auden Schendler. Terrible Beauty: Reckoning with Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul
Jeffrey G. York
Matt Grossmann and David A. Hopkins. Polarized by Degrees: How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics
Reuben Hurst
Kevin Woodson. The Black Ceiling: How Race Still Matters in the Elite Workplace
Summer Jackson
Pontus Braunerhjelm and Magnus Henrekson. Unleashing Society's Innovative Capacity: An Integrated Policy Framework
Miriam Bird
Our student-run ASQ Blog features interviews with ASQ authors that offer insights into the research and writing process. To stay informed, follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to our newsletter on Substack for all the latest ASQ announcements and information.
Beth Bechky, University of California, Davis
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Beth Bechky
Professor
UC Davis
Davis CA
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