Call for paper: Geopolitical Trends and Their Impact on Business Management

Geopolitical Trends and Their Impact on Business Management

Dynamics of geopolitical continuities – from shifting global alliances to regional conflicts – are reshaping the business landscape at an unprecedented pace. These dynamics challenge existing management paradigms and constrain leaders to develop new capacities, tactics, and structures to navigate the uncertainty of the international system (Flint, 2006).

This special issue of Management Decision invites conceptual and empirical papers that explore how geopolitical trends (both (a) long-term geopolitical dynamics of continuity, and (b) short-term geopolitical events) influence managerial decision-making, organisational behaviour, strategic planning, and leadership across industries, national borders, and governments (Li et al., 2022; Teece, 2025). It aims to attract multi-disciplinary research drawing on qualitative and quantitative methods, including mixed methods, to explicate the historical, socio-political, and geographical factors of geopolitics and its respective implications for management.

Multinational corporations operate at the intersection of divergent national interests, making them particularly vulnerable to geopolitical shifts. Scholars argue that multinational corporations must adapt to diverse regulatory regimes and engage in non-market strategies such as lobbying, diplomacy, and local engagement to safeguard operations. Research in this line includes findings on how multinational enterprises can benefit from political connections (Ayyagari et al., 2024), on business–government–society interface (Saittakari et al., 2023), or emerging research that explores the use of corporate diplomacy to navigate international tensions (Henisz, 2014).

The integration of geopolitical reasoning into corporate strategy is gaining traction. Geopolitical reasoning encompasses tools and frameworks that help decision-makers anticipate and respond to international political developments (Chauprade, 2007; Sicker, 2010; Kelly, 2016; O’Reilly, 2019). Studies indicate that firms with robust geopolitical scanning capabilities outperform peers in responding to crises. However, integrating geopolitical reasoning into managerial processes remains underdeveloped in theory and practice, suggesting an avenue for future research overcoming critical geopolitics and its excessive level of vagueness (Kelly, 2006; Haverluck et al., 2014; Morgado, 2023).

The literature provides strong evidence that geopolitical trends are deeply intertwined with management decisions across all levels – from operational risk to strategic planning and leadership development – as, for example, Pringpong et al (2023) demonstrated in their study measuring the impact of geopolitical risk on emerging markets, or Dai et al.’s (2023) analysis on the timing and mode of firm exits from host-country conflict zones.

List of topic areas

Methodological frameworks linking geopolitical trends to managerial approaches and outcomes
The impact of geopolitical risk and its analysis on strategic decision-making
The role of geopolitical literacy in dealing with global challenges from managerial viewpoint
Management direct responses to trade wars, tariffs, transportation disruption, and protectionism
Sector-specific impacts, particularly in energy, defence, cybersecurity, and tech with geopolitical relevance
Company’s leadership behaviour in politically unstable and restrictive environments
How multinational companies navigate global political dynamics and economic cooperation
Talent management and cross-border workforce challenges amid geopolitical shifts
The influence of international policy, regulation, and diplomacy on corporate strategy
Scenario planning, forecasting, and risk assessment tools in volatile environments
Transportations corridors and their vulnerabilities

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here.

Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see here.

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to ““Please select the issue you are submitting to”.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.