Dr Tish Taylor, Dr Wilhelm K. Neuland

Abstract

The concept of responsibility seems to be an assumed, overlooked construct within the field of strategic management. Cursory examination revealed an unexpected and unknown dearth of scholarly work on this topic. A brief foray into the philosophical nature of responsibility was made, yielding surprisingly pragmatic contributions, despite the well-published complexities and disagreements surrounding complexity. A stand-alone, semi-structured literature review revealed that less than 0.07% of articles published in the three highest ranking journals (related to strategic management) over the past 44 years explored or integrated the concept of responsibility in its unmodified form. Acceptable methods were followed, yielding satisfactory levels of validity and reliability. This highly replicable study serves as a strong foundation for future researchers yearning for a deeper, more introspective look for useful and exciting themes. The extent to which the concept of responsibility has not been researched within the field of strategic management has been uncovered and articulated. Despite this, startling examples do exist of how responsibility can be approached pragmatically and inventively within the field of strategic management.