More-than-human Management: A Systematic Review

We review management research that extends consideration beyond human-like characteristics to nonhuman, noncorporate actors and describes possible paths for theorizing more-than-human management. Management scholarship historically assumes actors are people (legally defined as “natural persons”) or organizations (“legal persons”). “More-than-humans” are entities other than natural or legal persons that are ascribed human-like characteristics. Examples include animals, rivers, computer programs, plants, mountains, places, and landscapes. Management theory and practice now ascribe human characteristics to a growing number of more-than-humans by recognizing them as stakeholders or as having legal rights to representation in decision-making and regulatory processes. Growing management and legal attention to more-than-human actors is a potential revolution in business practice on par with the recognition of corporations as legal persons. We describe how management scholarship has addressed more-than-humans so far and chart possible ways forward for further research in this area.