The industrial landscape has undergone rapid conceptual evolution in recent years, marked by the successive emergence of Industry 4.0, Industry 5.0, and the nascent Industry 6.0. This study explores the emergence of Industry 6.0 as a prospective industrial paradigm, characterized by intelligent, autonomous, and sustainable systems, which builds upon the digital foundations of its predecessors. Using management fashion theory as a theoretical lens, we analyze how these industrial concepts arise, diffuse, and potentially become institutionalized within management discourse. The study reveals that the adoption and dissemination of these paradigms are influenced not only by technological advancements but also by the discursive efforts of a fashion-setting community comprising academics, policymakers, consultants, and media actors. Industry 6.0, while still largely speculative, continues a broader trend of using numbered industrial revolutions to frame ongoing innovation. The findings suggest that such paradigms serve both practical and rhetorical purposes, driving organizational change while also reflecting shifting societal and managerial values. The study concludes with reflections on the implications for managers and policymakers as they navigate the evolving industrial landscape.

Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) is a management concept which prescribes that organizations, rather than going head-to-head with competitors, try to create and exploit new market spaces, so-called blue oceans. Since its inception in the mid-2000s, BOS has become one of the most popular concepts in the field of strategy and one of the biggest buzzwords in the business world. This paper examines the emergence and evolution of BOS through the lens of management fashion theory. The analysis shows that the BOS concept exhibits several characteristics which makes it highly appealing to organizations and managers. In addition, the emergence of the concept was helped by a good fit with the zeitgeist in the field of strategy during the 2000s, which had shifted to a strong focus on theories and ideas about disruptive innovation and business model innovation. The popularization of the BOS concept can also be attributed to the backing of a powerful supply-side actors, and, in particular, the concept’s creators Kim and Mauborgne. While the attention given to BOS in public management discourse suggests that the concept can currently be considered highly fashionable, evidence about the concept’s use on the demand-side remains limited. Most surveys indicate that the adoption and diffusion is lower than would be expected based on the intensity of discourse surrounding the concept. Therefore, the current study provides some support for the view that supply-side and demand-side activity related to management fashions does not necessarily coevolve.

The concept of Industry 4.0 has received enormous levels of attention since it was introduced in 2011 and continues to be a dominant management trend. However, during the last few years, Industry 5.0 has emerged as an alternative visionary management concept. Although Industry 5.0 builds on and is related to its predecessor, it provides a different vision of the future of industry. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to carry out an in-depth examination of these two related management concepts, using management fashion theory as an interpretive framework and lens. Viewing Industry 4.0 and 5.0 from this vantage point involves analyzing and tracing the involvement activities of the suppliers of the two concepts as well as gauging the concepts’ demand-side impact. Generally, the comparative analysis of the cases of Industry 4.0 and 5.0 indicates that, while the growth and popularity of Industry 4.0 appear to have plateaued, it remains at a high level. Although Industry 5.0 is growing in popularity and is gaining followers and supporters, it is still a much more marginal concept and movement. This study contributes to the management fashion literature by showing how two highly related but competing management concept movements coevolve. Furthermore, the two cases provide novel insights into the trajectories and lifecycles of fashionable management concepts, in particular, the early phase where actors are actively attempting to generate credibility and legitimacy and drum up support and enthusiasm for their preferred ideas.

This essay examines how AI-driven content curation reshapes leadership fashions through algorithmic amplification on social media platforms. Algorithms designed to maximize engagement selectively elevate certain leadership styles, such as authentic, servant, and transformational leadership, while marginalizing others, including transactional or directive approaches. Drawing on leadership fashion theory, an extension of management fashion theory, this essay analyzes how viral content, influencer dynamics, and algorithmic prioritization collectively construct contemporary leadership ideals. It highlights the central role of leadership gurus such as Simon Sinek, Brené Brown, and Gary Vaynerchuk, and critiques the risks of oversimplification and performative authenticity in algorithmically mediated leadership discourse. Using recent empirical findings and real-world examples, the analysis shows how emotionally resonant and morally charged content gains disproportionate visibility, potentially distorting leadership development and practice. This essay concludes by discussing implications for organizations, leadership education, and research, and calls for a renewed commitment to evidence-based leadership theory and practice in the face of algorithmic influence.

Google Books Ngram Viewer (GNV) is an analytical tool that uses quantitative methods to analyze digitized text. This paper looks at the possibilities and limitations of using GNV in management fashion research, an area of management research that examines the lifecycle and evolution of management concepts and ideas. GNV provides a historical big picture of the lifecycle and popularity of specific terms and phrases in books. It is argued that this tool could have a natural application in the study of management fashions, since books are a medium through which popular management concepts and ideas have traditionally been diffused. The paper provides several illustrative examples of how GNV can be applied to study management fashions and identifies the tool’s main possibilities and limitations. Although GNV has obvious advantages such as accessibility and user-friendliness, researchers should exercise caution, as it only provides a partial picture of the impact of management fashions.

Management fashions have long been explained as the result of charismatic gurus, consultants, and professional media who confer legitimacy on new ideas. In the platform era, however, the circulation of management ideas is increasingly mediated by algorithms that privilege certain communicative forms while obscuring others. Building on management fashion theory, this paper conceptualizes algorithms as non-human actors that participate in the communicative construction of authority and legitimacy. The analysis draws on the concept of algorithmic meta-capital to explain how human actors navigate and exploit platform logics through reflexive adaptation. Using the diffusion of Agile as an illustrative example, the paper shows how visibility and meaning shift across platforms such as LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok. Legitimacy is reframed as a hybrid outcome of authenticity performance and algorithmic amplification, extending management fashion theory into the domain of organizational communication. Six propositions outline how algorithmic authority, amplification, and meta-capital reshape diffusion dynamics, communicative lifecycles, and the politics of visibility in the platform age.