Responsible by Design: From Socially Responsible Science to Practical, Accountable Implications

Zhenquan Sha; Kenneth Paul Charman

doi:10.63029/23pjg866

Authors

Zhenquan Sha South China University of Technology Author
Kenneth Paul Charman CamEd Business School Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63029/23pjg866

Keywords:

responsible research, practical implications, management research, open science, editorial policy

Abstract

This editorial argues that management research should be responsible by design rather than merely responsible in retrospect. Bringing together the critique of socially irresponsible research systems and the warning that practical implications can themselves be harmful when overstated or poorly framed, it develops a publishing stance for Management Research Quarterly (MRQ) centered on three connected expectations: socially meaningful problem selection, methodological credibility, and careful, conditional practical implications. The editorial also suggests that journals should treat editorial infrastructures, review criteria, and communication practices as part of responsible research. In doing so, it positions MRQ as an open-access venue where transparency, relevance, and ethical interpretation can be jointly institutionalized across the full research pipeline.

Author Biographies

Zhenquan Sha, South China University of Technology

Professor Sha Zhenquan is a professor at the School of Business Administration, South China University of Technology. His research focuses on service marketing, consumer behavior, and marketing channels. He has also served in academic leadership roles, including chairing the China Marketing Management Research Center at SCUT, and contributes to broader scholarly discussions on management and intelligent technologies.
Kenneth Paul Charman, CamEd Business School

Kenneth Paul Charman is a professor of strategy at CamEd Business School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where he has been based since 2018. Prior to this he taught for over a decade in Kazakhstan, where he was instrumental in establishing Central Asia’s first international business school. He has managed several development projects. for the multinational donor organizations, including many projects for the EU EuropeAid. He has an MBA and a doctorate in international business from London Business School, and he was appointed as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Royal Institution of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 2012. His current research interests focus on creating shared value, ESG, joint ventures, and public enterprises, and now focuses on developing case studies for teaching and research.

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