Using review articles to address societal grand challenges

Abstract

We introduce a special issue of International Journal of Management Reviews that demonstrates how to use review articles to address societal grand challenges—complex, large-scale issues facing humankind, such as climate change, inequality and poverty. First, we argue that review articles possess unique features that make them particularly useful for addressing societal grand challenges. Second, we discuss three distinct but related roles of review articles in addressing societal grand challenges: (1) advancing theoretical knowledge; (2) advancing methodological knowledge; and (3) advancing practical knowledge. We conclude by providing future directions to enhance contributions of review articles for addressing societal grand challenges further by: (a) spanning disciplinary boundaries; (b) engaging practitioners; and (c) using alternative review approaches.