RIPCO, as a management science journal, has set itself the goal of becoming a reference publication entirely dedicated to organizational behavior (OB) research. 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 aspects, 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, etc. The articles published in the journal aim to support researchers in their reflections and to enlighten the practices of consultants and managers in both private and public sectors..

By organizational behavior, or OB, the journal’s new editorial policy since 2005 refers to the study of the structure, of the functioning and achievements of organizations, as well as groups and individuals’ behaviors. In other words, the journal aims at contributing to the understanding, explaining and bettering of teams’ and individuals’ behaviors within organizations. Organizational behavior is an interdisciplinary field because it is nourished by a great variety of research from psychology (and social psychology in particular), of ethnology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, political sciences, economics, information sciences, theories on decision- making, and so on. By using these different fields, this domain nurtures our knowledge of organizational phenomena, without however questioning the liminal texts of psychology and industrial sociology. Resolutely therefore, RIPCO is an interdisciplinary journal whose purpose is to publish theoretical or empirical research on organizational behavior, no matter which organization is under study (private, state-run or NGO), the methodology used and the contexts in which these research papers are written.

RIPCO publishes scientific articles involving management science and the humanities, in general (psychology, social psychology, psychosociology, sociology, ethology, economics, philosophy, etc.) provided that they shed new light on organizational behavior. It does not exclude neither any field within management sciences, nor any topics associated with management processes, be it on strategy, management control, human resources management, entrepreneurship, marketing, information system, quality management, or logistics. All analyses are welcome: be it a traditional narrative, systematic, meta-analytical or scientometrical literary review, it has to summarize scientific knowledge available on one subject; conceptual analyses proposing new theoretical frameworks; empirical analyses through a survey, or case studies (studying one individual, a team, or one or several organizations.) This, in order to test the relationships between many an organizational phenomenon, and eventually experimental or quasi-experimental studies, from which the researcher intently deals with one phenomena to draw conclusions on its consequences (artificial situation), or experimental studies in which the treatment assigned is triggered by natural causes (actual situation).

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. All proposals submitted, whatever their subject matter, must demonstrate significant new findings. RIPCO asks its authors to clearly highlight the originality of their manuscripts. However, they are reviewed according to a special procedure separated from the evaluation provided for the traditional academic section.

Analyses' depth

Individual level (micro-level): RIPCO publishes research dealing with the psychological processes responsible of key aspects on individuals’ behavior, contributing, one way or another to the organizational life and efficiency.

The characteristics and individual processes which are tackled the most by scholarly journals in organizational behavior (not limited to) are: learning, for example processes, approaches, socialization, retroaction, learning organization (behavioral change,…), personality (types and features), emotions, stress (handling stress), selection methods, communication (impersonal et verbal, social desirability, organizational communication, …), perceptions, (selectivity, gender, appearance, attractiveness and discrimination,…), beliefs, reactions, values, satisfaction, involvement, professional behavior, judgment, emotional and social intelligence, trust, organizational justice, social exchanges, well-being and so on.

Group level (meso-level): the constitution of groups (size, type, type of tasks, formalization level, diversity, theory, team development, virtual teams, …), its composition, its structure (ex: hierarchy, status), processes (development, leadership, decision-making, cooperating, handling conflicts and issues), power, groups’ and political leverage, team work, objectives, creativity, reflexivity, cohesion, adaptability, learning processes, interactions, negotiation, efficiency, quest for meaning, environment, context.

In this context, RIPCO is particularly interested in the relationships between two people (on a dyadic level) – supervisor-trainee couples, mentor-mentee, colleague-colleague, client-seller, evaluator-evaluated. Research published by RIPCO on the interactive behavior of dyads are notably about links versus breaks, between to CEOs and colleagues, between trainer and trainee, the interactions during interviews, collaborative relationships, and so on.

More precisely, RIPCO encourages research around interpersonal relations, attraction vs. interpersonal repulsion, punishment phenomenon, vs. rewards, help and reject phenomenon and their interaction in the workplace, mentoring, coaching, trust, justice, social exchanges, networks, and so on.

Organizational level (macro-level): RIPCO encourages research about the organization, regardless on its size and its objective. (multinational business, individual business, hospital, association, sports team, orchestra, and so on), dealing with its structure, its processes and practices.

The following (but not limited to) list provides a few examples related to the objectives, the structure and design of organizations: organizational conception, work design, jobs, organizational structures, roles, functional relations, vertical and horizontal specialization, organizational development, organizational changes, rise and fall, success and failure, culture and organizational ambiance, HRM, work conception, communication, collaboration, creativity, socialization, retroaction, consultations and interventions, leadership, planning of objectives, decision-making, handling issues, governance, power, authority, politics, efficiency and performance.

The three levels of analyses presented above are not exclusive to each other. They combine themselves and reinforce each other. Moreover, the social and cultural environment within which the organization’s actors evolve has leverage on their behaviors. Which explains why, many a varied source are different from the common themes from the different levels of analyses. (structures, processes, power, conflicts, decision-making, performance, workplace satisfaction, staff shift and absences, diversity, careers and career development, balanced work-family life, identification, culture and organizational ambiance, interorganizational processes, national issues and many other.) It is also important to consider the elements linked to organizational context, like the environment (globallization, diversity, ethics, CSR…), and technology (information system management, conception and analysis on sociotechnical systems, lean and team management, work from home, call centers, employee surveillance…).