Management research that matters

Abstract

Management researchers lament the fact that their work has so little impact on management practice. Practicing managers, so it is claimed, search for knowledge that will help them improve organizational performance but rarely consult the work of university-based researchers– work that they often find incomprehensible and irrelevant to their day-to-day challenges. Researchers assert that rather than being interestedin systematic and long-term solutions, managers are generally infatuated with the latest fads and fashions in their search for quick fixes. Wecontend that management research can matter to managers, but for this to occur requires mutually beneficial partnerships involving managersand researchers, as well as the support of their organizations. To support our contention, we illustrate the importance of practice-relevantmanagement research by drawing on four important contributions to management understanding that were prompted by the organizationalexperiences of a group of inquiring managers and curious researchers. Together these illustrations not only demonstrate how partnershipsbetween practicing managers and management researchers can yield practice-relevant knowledge, but also provide insights into enhancing thelikelihood that productive encounters will occur.