Challenging Polycrisis in Organizations

Our current era is characterised by multiple challenges, including climate change, global health challenges, economic inequality, political instability, and technological upheavals. With these crises intersecting and compounding, the modern business environment has become a landscape of volatility and moral complexity. Organizations can no longer remain passive in the face of these mounting challenges and are called upon to embrace human-centred, ethically-driven practices that acknowledge the profound interconnectedness of their actions with society and the planet. This edited volume explores how organizations and leaders can respond to the unprecedented complexities and crises of the 21st century with ethical integrity, adaptive governance, and proactive leadership.

The book integrates a wide array of multidisciplinary chapters, which are a mix of conceptual, qualitative and quantitative scholarly efforts. It includes studies of green HRM, sustainable career development, adaptive teleworking models, and AI-driven social accounting, underscoring the diverse ways in which organizations are navigating polycrisis with humanistic values and technological foresight. Together, these chapters advocate for a shift in mindset—from viewing crises as insurmountable barriers to recognizing them as catalysts for ethical growth and organizational evolution. This book is an essential resource for scholars and students of business ethics, sustainability strategy and organizational response to ‘grand challenges’. It will also be of interest to business leaders and policymakers seeking to navigate the complexities of polycrisis with ethical innovation, responsibility, and a commitment to building resilient, human-centered organizations.

Ivan Ureta is the Director of Executive Education and Board Member at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Switzerland, as well as the president of the Swiss Business Ethics Network.

R. Edward Freeman is Stephen E. Bachand University Professor of Business Administration and Olsson Professor of Business Administration, and an Academic Director of the Institute for Business in Society at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, USA.

Victor Blazquez is a lecturer in management and head of executive education at SUPSI, Switzerland, as well as research fellow at Deusto Business School and the University of the Bask Country, both in Spain.