RIPCO, has set itself the goal of becoming a reference publication dedicated entirely to research in organizational behavior (OB). The journal's objective is to describe, understand, explain and predict individual and collective attitudes and behaviors at work. It deals with a wide range of topics, including learning, expectations, change, trust, social conflict, psychological contract, culture, decision-making, diversity, emotion, identity, social interaction, image, involvement, judgment, organizational justice, leadership, motivation, perception, personality, power, quality of work life, satisfaction, socialization and more. The articles published in the journal aim to support researchers in their reflections and to enlighten the practices of consultants and managers in both the private and public sectors.

By organizational behavior, the journal’s editorial line since 2005 refers to the contribution of behaviors, attitudes and collective social phenomena to the effective functioning and performance of organizations. In other words, the journal aims to improve understanding and knowledge of individual and team behavior in the workplace. The field of organizational behavior is interdisciplinary, drawing on a wide variety of studies from psychology (including social psychology), ethnology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, political science, economics, information technology, decision theory and more. By mobilizing these different disciplinary fields, this area of research enriches our knowledge of organizational phenomena, without however questioning the liminal texts of industrial psychology and sociology. Thus, RIPCO sees itself as an interdisciplinary journal whose purpose is to publish theoretical and empirical work in organizational behavior, irrespective of the type of organization under study (private, state-run, NGO, etc.), the methodology used and the contexts in which these studies are carried out.

RIPCO publishes scientific articles based in any discipline from the management sciences and the humanities in general, aim to shed new and informed light on organizational behavior. All analyses are welcome, including narrative, systematic, meta-analytical, or bibliometric literature reviews that summarize scientific knowledge on a specific subject, conceptual analyses proposing new theoretical frameworks, and empirical analyses using experiments, surveys, or case studies to test relationships between organizational phenomena.

Although the main focus is on academic research, the journal also accepts articles for scientific discussion and debate. It considers this input necessary for the advancement of knowledge. These articles or essays must clearly demonstrate their original and innovative character. They are reviewed according to a special procedure, distinct from the evaluation provided for classic academic articles, and are published under the heading “Points of View”.

Levels of analysis

Individual level: The RIPCO publishes research that focuses on the psychological and interpersonal processes responsible for key aspects of individual behavior. These processes contribute, in one way or another, to organizational life and performance, and can be studied at the level of employees without managerial responsibilities as well as at various management levels, including the executive team, whose decisions affect the entire organization, both internally and externally.

The individual characteristics, as well as the psychological and interpersonal processes most frequently addressed by academic journals in organizational behavior (list not exhaustive) are: learning (e.g., processes, approaches, socialization, retroaction, learning organization, behavioral change,…), personality (e.g., types and traits, …), emotions, stress (e.g., anxiety management), selection methods, communication (e.g., interpersonal and verbal, social desirability, organizational communication, …), perceptions, (e.g., selectivity, gender, appearance, attractiveness and discrimination, …), beliefs, attitudes, values, satisfaction, commitment, motivation, professional behavior, judgment, emotional and social intelligence, trust, organizational justice, social exchanges, well-being and so on.

Group level: group constitution (size, type of tasks, level of formalization, diversity, team development, virtual teams, theory, …), group composition and structure (e.g., hierarchy, status), group processes (e.g., development, leadership, decision-making, cooperation, conflict management, crisis  management, …), power, group norms, teamwork, objectives, creativity, reflexivity, cohesion, adaptability, interactions, negotiation, performance, meaningfulness, environment and context, etc.

In this context, RIPCO is particularly interested in the relationships between two people (dyadic level – e.g., superior-subordinate, leader-follower, mentor-mentee, colleague-colleague, provider-receiver, evaluator-evaluated, …). Research published by RIPCO on the interactive behavior of dyads  covers, among other things, links  vs. ruptures, for example in relations and exchanges between superiors and subordinates or between colleagues. In particular, RIPCO encourages research into interpersonal relationships, the phenomena of interpersonal attraction vs. repulsion, punishment vs. reward, help vs. rejection, and their interaction with work, mentoring, coaching, trust, justice, social exchanges, networks, and so on.

The levels of analyses presented above are not mutually exclusive. They interact and reinforce each other. Moreover, the social and cultural environment within which the organization’s actors evolve influences their behavior. Which explains why certain themes are common to different levels of analysis (e.g., structures, processes, power, conflicts, decision-making, performance, job satisfaction, organizational identification, turnover and absenteeism, career management, equal opportunities, work-life balance, work culture and climate, etc.). It is also important to consider context-related elements, such as the economic and institutional environment (globalization, diversity, ethics, corporate social responsibility …), and technology (information system management, analysis and design of socio-technical systems, lean and team management, teleworking, employee monitoring, and so forth).