AMP Call for Special Issue Papers: Managing Under Political Turbulence

1-30 September 2026

Deadline: 30 September 2026

Submit via the AMP Manuscript Central site

Managing Under Political Turbulence: Practical Solutions for Coping with Rising Geopolitical Risk

Guest Editors:

• Jonathan Doh, Villanova University
• Srividya Jandhyala, ESSEC Business School
• Yadong Luo, University of Miami
• Grazia D. Santangelo, Copenhagen Business School

AMP Associate Editor:

• Tazeeb Rajwani, University of Surrey
  

Background

Political turbulence is on the rise, as evidenced most dramatically in violent conflicts (e.g., wars, terrorism attacks), volatile political transitions (e.g., dramatic regime change, cuts to government employees, new geopolitical alliances, coups), and geopolitical tensions (e.g., trade wars, democratic backsliding, sanctions). This escalated political turbulence exacerbates geopolitical risks for organizations and their stakeholders.¹ How should they handle it?

Whether anticipatory (e.g., fear of cyberattacks) or actual (e.g., ongoing trade wars, competition over territories), rising geopolitical risks affect organizations in many ways.² The rise of techno-nationalism,³ driven by national security and ideological concerns, challenges the resilience of global technology supply chains. With the rapid development of AI comes misinformation and disinformation that further aggravate political tensions and ideologies. Tariffs, sanctions, and protectionist trade restrictions bring escalating compliance risks. Rising populist sentiment drives immigration restrictions and is creating a shortage of high-skill talent for MNEs.⁴

Political turbulence has long been a strategic consideration in some sectors such as energy and defense, but it is now affecting organizations in nearly all sectors,⁵ both at home and abroad. At home, organizations encounter scrutiny from civil society for their operations in countries with questionable international standing.⁶ Abroad, they may face interventions by host country governments that vary with their country of origin or type of ownership.  All of this presents considerable challenges for managers and their organizations.

This special issue aims to provide actionable, evidence-based insights that clearly and credibly guide managers and their organizations in navigating the political turbulence that increasingly characterizes the international, national, and subnational landscape. We seek to fill in the “glaring white space” of how organizations can best operate under political turbulence, providing robust insights on which practitioners and policy makers can rely.

Please note that AMP’s mission and format differ from many other leading academic journals. AMP papers are managerially driven, not theory driven. Successful submissions clearly define the managerial issue from the outset and make a compelling case for its importance. They do not simply tack managerial implications onto a standard academic study. Rather, AMP papers evidence actionable insights that can credibly guide managerial behavior and influence policy decisions. We strongly encourage potential authors to review AMP’s guidelines before submission. Note that we also welcome Practitioner Perspectives essays and Constructive Confrontations papers for this special issue. Guidance for all formats is on our website.

Scope and Open-Ended Research Questions

For this special issue, we welcome rigorous and insightful submissions that address a broad range of political turbulences associated with various adverse events that disrupt organizations, such as national security clashes, trade conflicts, territorial wars, terrorism, misinformation, removal of government officials, reductions in civil liberties, etc. Our focus is on providing actionable, evidence-based insights of how organizations and managers can best comprehend, influence, internalize, adapt, or mitigate the political risks associated with these changes. Such insights can address firms’ efforts to influence politics and respond to political turbulence, as well as the impact of political turbulence on firms, their employees, and other stakeholders.

Below we provide a set of open-ended questions to evoke topics germane to this special issue. These are starting points and are neither comprehensive nor exclusive, but they’re a good start!

Understanding Different Types and Forms of Political Turbulence. Scholars have distinguished between political risk and uncertainty. Is this classification scheme effective at helping managers understand political turbulence and how to act upon it? Are there better frameworks?

Rethinking Corporate Political Strategies. How should firms integrate corporate political activities (e.g., bridging, lobbying, alliance-building, campaigning, political contributions, regulatory engagement) to best navigate different types of political turbulence? How should firms address covert political activities (e.g. bribery, misinformation, deep fakes)? Which strategies best enable firms to balance global and local political pressures? How should firms deploy corporate diplomacy and activism in an increasingly polarized environment?

Reorganizing and Realigning Geographically Diversified Operations. How can organizations from various regions, countries, and sectors respond and adapt to rapid and often unforeseen political change? How can managers prepare for and be more resilient in the face of these changes? Which organizational structures best support flexibility and resilience in uncertain environments? How should leaders determine which operations to decouple or restructure?

Managing Stakeholder Nationalism. Nationalist sentiment can influence consumer and shareholder behavior and penalize organizations for their political stands and countries of origin. Under what conditions should organizations disengage from, reduce, or change their political activities? Which strategies can organizations adopt to avoid being perceived as political actors?

The Role of New Technologies. What are the best ways to use AI, blockchain, and other digital technologies and intelligence to inform decision-making and improve risk management in a politically turbulent environment? Can firms use such technologies for regulatory compliance and operational agility at the same time? Which new methods (e.g., AI/machine learning, field experience, political training) are best suited to providing an early warning system? What are the trade-offs between quality of insights versus cost of development for such systems?

Managing Corporate Innovation. Groundbreaking innovation often requires combining knowledge and innovation from different sources and locations. How can organizations preserve innovation opportunities despite the increased national security focus? How should organizations evaluate the trade-offs in local versus global efforts in innovation? Which strategies allow them to exploit innovations in new technologies such as AI, quantum computing, and biotechnology while balancing regulatory/political obligations?

Navigating the Race for Talent. The knowledge and social capital of highly skilled migrant workers provides critical insights and valuable connections across borders. Yet political turbulence fosters a populism sentiment that drives anti-immigration policies. How should firms manage talent across borders under these conditions?

We welcome both conceptual and empirical papers that are grounded in rigorous analysis and directly evidence specific and significant managerial and policy actions. We welcome accounts of embodied, lived experiences of specific political turbulence and the use of reflexive methodologies. Quantitative analyses of large databases, qualitative comparative analyses, and extensive data analysis using linguistic programs and algorithms are also fair game. In short, we want papers that prove what can or does work in ways that managers and policymakers can use.

Deadline, Submission, and Review Process

The final deadline is 30 September 2026 at 23:59 ET (DST+1, UTC-4). All submissions must be uploaded to the AMP Manuscript Central website between 1 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, inclusive.

All papers will be reviewed according to the current policies of Academy of Management Perspectives. AMP papers should be grounded in robust empirical evidence or conceptual frameworks, address relevant real-world managerial and policy issues, offer actionable insights, avoid theory fetish, and be written in a style accessible to non-specialists and practitioners.

We intend to host a Paper Development Workshop for selected authors to further develop their manuscripts. Participation in this workshop is neither a guarantee nor a prerequisite for publication. 

Endnotes

1. G.K. Adarkwah, S. Dorobantu, C.A. Sabel, and F. Zilja, “Geopolitical Volatility and Subsidiary Investments,” Strategic Management Journal 45, no. 11 (2024): 2275–2306.

2. P. Sun, J.P. Doh, T. Rajwani, and D. Siegel, “Navigating Cross-Border Institutional Complexity: A Review and Assessment of Multinational Nonmarket Strategy Research,” Journal of International Business Studies 52, no. 9 (2021): 1818–53.

3. Y. Luo, “Illusions of Techno-Nationalism,” Journal of International Business Studies 53, no. 3 (2021): 550–67.

4. D. Nayak, S. Moreira, and R. Mudambi, “Restrictive Immigration Policies and MNE Innovation,” Journal of International Business Studies 56, no. 1 (2025): 84–104.

5. S. Jandhyala, The Great Disruption: How Geopolitics Is Changing Companies, Managers, and Work (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025).

6. M. Mol, L. Rabbiosi, and G. Santangelo, “Should I Stay or Should I Go? How Danish MNEs in Russia Respond to a Geopolitical Shift,” AIB Insights 23, no. 1 (2023), https://doi.org/10.46697/001c.68337.