From the Editors: the next Three Years at Amj—maintaining the Mission While Expanding the Journal

With this issue, the 19th editorial team in the venerable history of Academy of Management Journal formally takes its place on the masthead. Our team inherits a journal that is thriving in a number of respects. Submissions continue to rise, with 2010 setting a new record of over 1,100 manuscripts received. Impact remains strong, with AMJ continuing to place near the top of ISI Web of Knowledge’s oneand five-year impact factor ratings for management journals. Reviews of journal quality and influence continue to illustrate that AMJ publishes high-quality articles that make strong contributions to management (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Bachrach, & Podsakoff, 2005; Singh, Haddad, & Chow, 2007). Finally, citation patterns suggest that findings from AMJ articles get disseminated into practitioner journals, science-based popular business books, undergraduate textbooks, and other outlets that more directly reach practicing managers. Our team has the 18,000! members of the Academy of Management to thank for this exceptional status quo. After all, it is the members who have made AMJ their empirical journal of choice by submitting their manuscripts. It is the members who have stepped up to serve the Journal as ad hoc reviewers, Editorial Review Board members, associate editors, and editors. And it is the members who have voted for or been elected to the boards and committees that advise, shape, and staff AMJ over time. As scholarly life seems to get busier and busier, and as scholarly outlets seem to grow more and more abundant, our appreciation for these efforts deepens. Thus, on behalf of the new editorial team, please accept my sincere thanks for the support and passion for AMJ you have shown over the years, and your engagement in the Journal. Of course, our strong status quo is due in no small part to the talents and efforts of AMJ’s 18th editorial team, led by R. Duane Ireland. Duane was, in every respect, the consummate editor. While serving as one of Duane’s associate editors, I was struck by how keenly he understood AMJ’s mission, how deeply he cared about its history, and how honored he was to serve as a caretaker for that mission and history. The time and energy that he invested in that care-taking role were truly remarkable—I cannot imagine anyone working harder on behalf of the Journal than Duane. He was also keenly aware that every action he took reflected on AMJ, and he channeled that awareness into every conversation, e-mail, phone call, presentation, and decision letter of his term. His stewardship would provide a veritable case study for any scholar interested in “idealized influence” (Bass & Riggio, 2006). Fortunately, we as members can be thankful that Duane is continuing to use those qualities in service to the Academy, as he transitions to five years of service on the Board of Governors. More personally, I cannot thank Duane enough for all of the e-mails, phone calls, and visits during my transition to incoming editor. Those interactions became a routine that made a busy spring both enjoyable and enlightening. Our team also owes a considerable debt of thanks to Duane’s distinguished group of associate editors (AEs): Peter A. Bamberger (Technion–Israel Institute of Technology), James G. Combs (Florida State University), K. Michelle (Micki) Kacmar (University of Alabama), David J. Ketchen Jr. (Auburn University), Elizabeth W. Morrison (New York University), Michael G. Pratt (Boston College), Wm. Gerard (Gerry) Sanders (Rice University), and Wenpin Tsai (Pennsylvania State University). Each and every one of them went above and beyond their role, authoring incredibly constructive and developmental decision letters and representing the Journal at annual meetings, research visits, and their own universities. Moreover, the concerns, suggestions, and insights they offered at our annual editorial retreats have shaped many of the ideas that our current team will be implementing. Like Duane, they will continue their service to the Academy, as virtually all of them have joined the current Editorial Review Board (ERB). Finally, we also owe our thanks to the 160 members of Duane’s ERB, as well as his ad hoc reviewers, for all of their conscientious and timely reviews over the past three years.