Baudoin, L. “Water in Management Research: An Overview of Thematic and Theoretical Approaches”

May 8, 2017

The paper “Water in Management Research: An Overview of Thematic and Theoretical Approaches,” (Baudoin, L.) will be presented at the 6th Conference on the Regulation of Infrastructures (16 June 2017).

ABSTRACT

Sustainable water resource management is a growing issue worldwide, putting pressure on private companies, local populations, and society as a whole. But according to a previous literature review from Kurland & Zell (2010), many research gaps remain regarding water-related topics in management research. Seven years after this publication which developed a first taxonomy to cover the great diversity of water-related subjects, it is time to ask: what has been done in terms of management research regarding water issues? The question remains whether Kurland & Zell’s assertion that “application of theories from the fields of organization behaviour and organization theory are largely missing from the research” still holds. This paper aims to provide some insight on which theoretical fields usually tackle water-related issues in management research. Our review of the literature uncovers a great variety of research angles and disparity in the level of analysis. We complement Kurland & Zell’s water taxonomy by classifying the themes encountered in water-related management papers within Ostrom’s (2009) Social-Ecological Systems (SES) framework. This helps identify future research opportunities that would feed more accurately into a multi-disciplinary effort for sustainable water management.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lucie Baudoin is a MRes Student of the Doctoral Program of ESADE, Barcelona. Her research focus is on water management and sustainability. Previously, she had been working as an analyst for the water sector. She holds a double Master in International Management from HEC Paris and the CEMS program.