Where Is Change Research Getting Us?

Bill_Owen (CC BY 2.0)

Change research in organization theory abounds, but is it leading to progress in the field? A new study in The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science (JABS) challenges basic assumptions and asks “the question of what exactly is the ‘change’ in organizational change research.” Gavin M. Schwarz of The University of New South Wales published “Shaking Fruit out of the Tree: Temporal Effects and Life Cycle in Organizational Change Research” in the JABS September 2012 issue. Click here to view the Table of Contents.

Dr. Schwarz writes:

Faced with an infinite number of “facts” that have shaped what is currently known about organizational change, one must wonder which one of these statements is accurate. More specifically, with this inconsistency as a backdrop, how exactly do change researchers convert established ideas, rules, procedures, and information into tangible outcomes? The framing question of this current research—of progress and life cycles—seeks to understand the accuracy of these varied knowledge assumptions by focusing on what change has been studied, and whether this convention has resulted in progress in knowledge.

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Why Does Academic Research Matter?

Michael A. Hitt, Texas A&M University, and Charles R. Greer, Texas Christian University, published “The Value of Research and Its Evaluation in Business Schools: Killing the Goose That Laid the Golden Egg?” on March 18, 2012 inthe Journal of Management Inquiry. To view other OnlineFirst articles, please click here.

The abstract:

Critics have characterized academic research as being of little practical or commercial value. Such criticism of scholarly research, as opposed to applied research, resonates with detractors who do not appreciate the evolving role of business schools in providing foundational research. The authors contend that scholarly research helps develop knowledge in fields such as strategic management, enhances the value of later applied research, and provides content for courses. Not all research is of high quality, however, so the evaluation of research is critical. The authors examine several considerations for evaluation, such as journal rankings, interdisciplinary evaluation, and breadth of approach.

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