Management research on the war in Ukraine: Building theory and supporting practitioners

Abstract

The war in Ukraine has left thousands dead, disrupted businesses in Ukraine and around the world, and created enormous practical challenges for managers of Ukrainian organizations. We submit that management scholars can and should conduct new research to generate insights which help Ukrainian practitioners address the problems they are experiencing. However, the focus of our essay is on how this can be done in ways where such new research projects also help to advance management theory more broadly. In this way, we propose that studying the context of the war in Ukraine can enrich scholarly understanding of management in ways that help those in Ukraine and elsewhere in the modern world. We reflect on the multiple ways that management scholars can conduct such projects in practice.