Research trends in the field of organisational management: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Purpose: Studies into organisational management are considered key to understanding the characteristics of the organisational fabric in general, and administrative managers’ capacity for reflection is particularly relevant to achieving a more intricate and in-depth comprehension of the organisational context. Nonetheless, despite the importance of such studies, there is a lack of alignment in the specialised literature and no review articles that allow us to identify research trends in the field. The purpose of this paper is, thus, to identify the main research trends in the literature on organisational management.

Design/Methodology: We conducted a bibliometric analysis with 457 articles following the PRISMA Statement guidelines, which is why we specified the inclusion and exclusion criteria, data sources, search strategy, and the data collection and selection processes we employed.

Findings: The increasingly growing amount of research done on the topic is evidence of its significance. Using quality and quantity indicators, we were able to identify the most productive authors, journals, and countries in the field. Also, by means of a keyword analysis, we identified the most relevant research trends and classified them per year. According to the results of such analysis, organisational performance and organisational culture are currently the most influential topics, and themes related to transformational leadership are likely to be increasingly used in future research.

Originality: This study identifies the concepts that have been most prominent and that are outlined as crucial for the research agenda or future work in the field, which would allow organisations to be aligned with the Industry 4.0 trends.