I was comparing what's been published in the Annual Review of Sociology and the Academy of Management Annals over the last four years or so. They're supposed to serve a relatively similar function right? Then why is ASR so much more interesting (I'm sure many agree it is)? 1/

I can suggest a few reasons. 1)ASR seems much more phenomena-driven, and the majority of the articles concern really contemporary events, processes, and general phenomena. It's stronger even when it comes organizations (just see the recent stuff on transnational gov and MNCs)!2/

2) On the flipside, AMA has quite a lot of fairly small-theory stuff in it, is very highly theory-focused, many of the pieces are very narrow and specific, and there's needless repetition of themes and theories across issues. These are likely to result in boredom for many. 3/

3) This one is not really a reason. But some might point out the remit of AMA is narrower. However, organization studies as a field is *vast*. The diversity of different types of orgs (and organizing!) and different phenomena and processes they are involved with is immense. 4/

4) AMA does draw on management journals, particularly on Academy of Management ones. Its content of course reflects what is going on in those journals to an extent. Especially since the editorial process is standard. But, there could perhps be a relatively simple fix. 5/

AMA used to publish articles by invitation. There are problems with that editorial philosophy too. But how about having a (diverse) panel for each AMA volume, perhaps mixed with some sort of crowdsourcing, to determine broad topics? Theories and phenomena. 6/

Then have calls for papers. This is kind of how NYRB works, though by invitation instead of call for papers. And it works fantastic. 7/

Following the late great Charles Perrow, organizations are the most important units of any society (and globally), and therefore most deserving of study. Plenty of interesting and meaningful ground to cover. The flagship review journal of org studies should reflect that. 8/8