Word from the Editor Tension Management? Organizational Relationships, Issues Affecting SMEs, and Coworking

International management takes many forms. It can be a source of tension or an issue of the management of interfaces between internal and external actors, tools, and environments. Thus, this particularly rich issue of Management international comprises a selection of articles complemented by a thematic feature on coworking.

Certain themes pertain to how businesses cooperate, compete, or do both simultaneously. In this case, notwithstanding the existence of organizational boundaries, there are internal and external tensions. In this vein, Annabelle Jaouen and Estelle Pellegrin-Boucher study commercial coopetition. Drawing on solid qualitative methodology, they show that coopetition generates tension, and they propose three ways of managing it.

Beyond internal-external relationships within organizations, Marion Cina and Claude Paraponaris question the resources supporting creativity and their impact on the creativity of professionals. They find that creative capacities are now assisted by powerful digital instruments which raise the question of the dynamics of the creative capacity of professionals.

Outside organizational boundaries, the activities of organizations have various consequences, such as societal impacts. Drawing on a case of multinationals operating in Columbia, Hamza Asshidi, Anne Bartel-Radic, and Mathilde Dessaigne study the issue of the societal impact of corporate social actions. They emphasize the importance of measuring this impact. The results of the study of 21 subsidiaries shows the importance of these societal impacts.

While multinationals have been widely studied, SMEs cannot be ignored, as they too face many dilemmas. Born globals often pivot in international contexts. Bilal Ahmed Jathol and Véronique Favre-Bonté consider this issue. They rely on data from the video game industry and on effectuation/causation theory to reveal the causes of pivoting and the related issues.

SMEs often rely on social media, which impacts businesses’ psychic distance, according to Elodie Deprince and Ulrike Mayrhofer, who base their conclusions on a study of 268 SMEs. The authors find that psychic distance is influenced by social media. More specifically, it is reduced by business development activities but is not affected by partnership-related activities.

It is undeniable that coworking is increasingly popular in the literature and among practitioners themselves. A fascinating thematic feature on the subject, which will undoubtedly gain a wide following, was led by Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay, Arnaud Scaillerez, and Anne-Laure Le Nadant. They ask fundamental questions around the importance of coworking spaces for entrepreneurs to access resources. While coworking spaces are subject to their own logics, understanding their dynamic is crucial, if only because of the pandemic. This thematic feature includes contributions by renowned colleagues with particularly rich and pertinent perspectives, such as those of Hélène Bussy-Socrate, Olivia Chambard, and Nicolas Aubouin; Stéphanie Bouchet, Jean-Yves Ottoman, Émilie Hennequin, and Papa Alioune Meïssa Mbaye; Didier Chabaud, Philippe Eynaud, and Nathalie Raulet-Croset; Mylène Capo-Chichi, Anne-Laure Saives, and Annie Camus; and Fabio James Petani, Didier Chabanet, and Damien Richard.

It is therefore a particularly substantive issue that we present to you. Thank you for your loyalty, for your support, and especially for your participation in the Management international community, which is among the most dynamic and unique trilingual spaces.

Enjoy your reading!