A new editor, much like a new manager usually makes their mark by carving a line between what was and what is to come. Not so this time. I have been collaborating with the journal and the conference series for a number of years now. There is a reason for that. I have enjoyed being part of a community of scholars and practitioners who strive to understand management and make it better by using philosophical inquiry. I have also enjoyed the past sixteen volumes of this journal, which serves as the publication outlet of that community. So when it comes to making clear my vision as the new editor of this journal it cannot be anything else than a steadfast allegiance to what the journal has been doing so far: be a leading forum for philosophically-informed thinking about management in theory and practice.

Philosophy of management is the inquiry into the nature, knowledge, practice, limits, hopes, and possibilities of management. It is concerned with the most fundamental questions. Because these are the conceptual and normative questions, we believe philosophy can make an especially important contribution to the other disciplines with which it shares the interest of improving the practice of management.

However, maintaining that vision does imply some changes to future journal issues, and the current issue is already an example. All previous issues of the journal have been either thematic issues, or special issues with a guest editor. We will keep doing special issues. The next two issues are special issues - one on pragmatism and artful management, and another on responsible innovation. But the thematic issues will make way for regular issues. The number of manuscript submissions to the journal has increased since the journal moved in volume fifteen to be published with Springer. Together with the authors I am grateful to the reviewers who are now more frequently called upon. The papers’ subject matter and philosophical approaches have also become more varied, which leaves me constantly searching to expand the reviewer pool. But it also means accepted papers would have to ‘sit around’ far too long before actually being published, which would be unfair to both authors and readers. The journal and conferences strive to encompass any aspect of philosophy of management, including any cultural or philosophical tradition. We are getting noticed for that strife, the implication of which is not only regular issues but also slightly thicker issues from volume seventeen onwards.

I am grateful to Nigel Laurie and Paul Griseri for establishing a journal that explores management philosophically in a way that is clear, compelling, and edifying. I am honoured that they have entrusted this journal to my editorship. I am also lucky to have a team of executive editors with complementary expertise (Vincent Blok, Mark Dibben, Cristina Neesham, Frits Schipper, David Wilson, and Marian Eabrasu) to support me in leading this journal. I thank them together with the authors, the reviewers, and the people at Springer for their efforts in making this journal ‘become’, with every issue of every volume.