DCU Business School Next Generation Management Research Poster

When compared to a number of other areas of the social sciences—sociology and anthropology being perhaps the best examples—discussions and debates around research ethics in the field of management are quite limited, both in number and scope. This is likely the consequence of a number of interrelated factors. It may speak to issues of the constitution of management faculty, the frequent separation of the business school from other parts of the university, or the historic construction of what is considered to be the role of the business school and management research in society. For whatever other reasons it has occurred, one of the factors must be the relatively homogenous nature of the field of management and organization studies—a field dominated by positivist research and a broadly functionalist, managerial orientation. In any field of inquiry largely constituted by conventional epistemological and ontological approaches, assumptions about “normal science” emerge and the impetus to question and debate, or indeed to defend, the ethics of normalized research practices is diminished. For many, the field of research ethics in management remains a formal process of compliance, requiring little discussion or reflection; it is a process of following a predefined code and satisfying the ethical review committee or institutional review board of one’s institution. Understood thus, ethics in management research is seen as something akin to a hurdle to be overcome by requisite form filling at the start of a research project. This is a limited—and limiting—understanding of ethical issues in management research. As the contributions cited in this bibliography attest, issues of ethics span the entire research process—from conception, through execution, to publication, and beyond. Assumptions regarding the purpose and value of research constitute an ethical warrant, legitimizing the very conduct of research in the first place. Additionally, the constitution of the management academy itself and its process of publication, citation, and review raises a number of ethical issues and concerns. Finally, management scholarship that draws on explicitly critical theoretical traditions and nonpositivist or antipositivist research approaches has heightened the questioning of conventional research practices and assumptions—generating critiques and some defenses of research ethics in management. This article maps out a significant proportion of the work and resources in the management academy that engage with such issues and debates.

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Reconsidering the rigour-relevance gap: the need for contextualised research in risk societies

The Irish Journal of Management ◽

10.1515/ijm-2016-0010 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 159-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Robert J. Galavan ◽

Denis Harrington ◽

Felicity Kelliher

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Business School ◽

Management Education ◽

Presidential Address ◽

Scholarly Work ◽

Management Research ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Core Issue ◽

Definition Of ◽

The Relationship

AbstractThis paper addresses the debate on rigour and relevance in management research to identify barriers to progress and identify the challenges and opportunities in moving forward. We identify strong calls from both North American and European literatures for a move to close this gap. It has, however, been 20 years since Hambrick asked scholars ‘What if the academy actually mattered?’ during his Presidential address to the Academy of Management. Despite both the time and the consistency of calls, there has been only modest progress in closing this rigour-relevance gap. We argue that this is not because of any lack of willingness or capacity but is shaped by systemic issues. We find the narrative of the business school framed as either professional or social sciences a core issue. Each brings with them a tradition of different ontological perspectives and epistemological processes, protected by gatekeepers, which supports, even if unintentionally, the maintenance of the gap. We go on to discuss the challenge of management education and research in a postmodern context, the need to examine our conception of rigour, and to challenge the definition of management as a profession given its strategic win-lose orientation. We conclude with a discussion on the relationship between society and business and lay out the challenges ahead for richly contextualised scholarly work that may be defined as both rigorous and relevant.

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Business School Teaching of Research Methods – A Review of Literature and Initial Data Collection for Undergraduate Business School Students

The Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods ◽

10.34190/jbrm.18.2.003 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Anthony Mitchell ◽

Martin Rich

Keyword(s):

Collaborative Learning ◽

Data Collection ◽

Research Methods ◽

Business School ◽

Business Students ◽

Learning Approach ◽

Management Research ◽

Dyadic Relationship ◽

Collective Models ◽

School Teaching

This paper reviews approaches to teaching research methods and the effectiveness of the student supervisor relationship in managing research projects. Corporate scandal, changes in society, the emergence of online technologies and a need to reduce teaching costs have all led business schools to change their curriculum including how research methods are taught and undergraduate and postgraduate projects supervised. Management research, and the manner in which research methods are both taught and practiced continue to make a key contribution and play a significant role in the partnership between academia and practice. Virtual learning has been helpful in a better understanding of research methods, developing critical thinking and understanding issues in more depth that are briefly covered in class. Researchers have found that the blending learning approach and use of computer‑mediated discourse supported a collaborative learning approach and resulted in more active and reflective learners (Altinay and Paraskevas, 2007). Despite this positive example, the use of technology for learning has generally been limited to supplementing face to face learning (Thomas and Thomas, 2012). The class is increasingly culturally diverse, students more mobile while academics may be Anglo‑centric and westernised. Supervision needs to be responsive to the changing needs and ambitions of the student; to move away from a dyadic relationship between supervisor and student, and emphasise the importance of collaborative learning environments and collective models of supervision (Malfroy, 2005). Literature reviewing three related research questions is presented. Questions remain as to whether changes are driven by a need to reduce cost or improve pedagogy. Data collection has started with undergraduate business students through pilot surveys and interviews to gain an improved understanding of the trends, initiatives and best practice. A further paper will explore in more detail postgraduate business students. At a time when some schools are moving more content on‑line and seeking new forms of assessment so there is a need to ensure that management research continues to fulfil a contribution towards intellectual and practical understanding. Corona virus has made this need more urgent.

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