Editorial Continuing to be different Ann Cunliffe University of New Mexico, USA Eugene Sadler-Smith University of Surrey, UK We are fortunate in becoming the new joint Editors-in-Chief of Management Learning for several reasons: first, because it is an honour and privilege to serve the community of management learning scholars in this vitally important editorial capacity; second, because we take on these roles at a signifi- cant juncture for the journal, namely the publication milestone of volume 40 of Management Learning, and in particular issue 4 which looked back over the journal’s distinguished history, and forward to the challenges and opportunities that the field of managerial and organizational learning faces. Issue 40(4) celebrated the occasion with a series of contributions from twenty-four of the field’s founding and leading international scholars. The inception of our term of office is an appropriate point at which to reflect upon the issues raised by that distinguished group of contributors, and some of the implications of what they have said for the future direction of managerial and organizational learning. Recent years have witnessed a focusing of attention amongst editors, authors, librarians, and pro- motion panels on impact factors. In so far as Management Learning is concerned, our Journal Citation Reports impact factor has shown steady and healthy growth. The 2008 two-year impact factor was above the psychologically-important threshold value of 1, and the 2008 five-year impact factor was 1.49—testament to the quality of the scholarship of Management Learning’s contributing authors, the journal’s impact not only within its own field but in the wider sphere of management research and practice. The journal’s appeal and broad influence has as much to do with the range of issues that Management Learning’s authors address (including topics as diverse as organizational learning, knowledge management, leadership, networked learning, gender, power, critical pedagogy, commu- nities of practice, and coaching) as with the importance and relevance of what they have to say. So while respecting and engaging with the significance of impact factors, our principal aim is to continue to promote a distinctive scholarship that combines a ‘critical’ edge with innovation, imagination, provocation, engagement, excellence and careful and thoughtful work. As Grey (2009) and McAulay and Sims (2009) remind us, journals such as Management Learning provide much-needed outlets for a freer, and at times iconoclastic, kind of writing which respects and pro- mulgates a plurality of values and norms. The articles in the current issue, ranging from the appli- cation of MacIntyrian moral theory in organizational learning, to management as ‘the work that dare not speak its name’ are consistent with this tradition. Over the course of its history Management Management Learning 41(1) 3–5 © The Author(s) 2010 Reprints and permission: http://www. sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermission.nav DOI: 10.1177/1350507609352716 mlq.sagepub.com by guest on July 24, 2016 mlq.sagepub.com Downloaded from