Bringing Inequality Back in : The Economic Inequality Footprint of Management and Organizational Practices

In this article, I argue for ‘bringing inequality back in' to organizational research in order to investigate the role of management and organizational practices in macro-level economic inequality. To set an agenda in this area, I suggest considering three loci where the links between organizations and inequality may be observed: the organizational locus comprising the producer/employee, investor and consumer dimensions; the inter- organizational locus to help disentangle issues related to the distribution of economic rewards across value chains, large financial versus non-financial organizations, and across occupations and organizations in general; and socio-political system as a locus where issues related to social change, political influence and the institutional system may be unpacked. In addition, I suggest considering the link between organizations and inequality from other important vantage points: elites, demographics, global inequality and debt. I also briefly highlight issues related to data and analyses. Throughout, I discuss the contributions of the five articles in the special issue and how they push us towards this agenda. Finally, I suggest that it may be helpful to think of an ‘inequality footprint' of management and organizational practices, potentially leading organizations to reduce and reverse this footprint and ensure that economic benefits reach wider society