This Academy
of Management Perspectives article, by Susan
Mohram and Edward Lawler III, focuses on the fact that researchers should
collaborate with practitioners in order for their research to be most
beneficial. This collaboration between academia and practice will provide a
valuable knowledge transfer. The current business environment is ever-changing,
this means that organizational design should also be quick to adapt. Practices
and theories that have worked in the past may not be able to withhold through
this global environment of business.
This article focuses on the amount of
impact that research has on business practice. The current business environment
we compete in is ever-changing. An organization’s design should be able to
adapt to the environment or maybe it needs to be changed in order to adapt. It
is important for researchers to work with practitioners to truly be on the
forefront of using knowledge to develop organizational change. Organizations
should be designed to be able to adapt to current situations within the market.
According to this article, it is crucial that researchers go beyond the current
business norm in order to provide implications that work and what doesn’t work.
A researcher should focus on those companies that fall outside the norm. The
author emphasizes that these outside the norm companies will allow knowledge transfer
which in turn will create new organizational design.
It is evident that practitioners should
work together with researchers and the knowledge transferred should reflect a
need or a future need for material. As the article states, researchers should
want their material to be beneficial for this currently fast paced business
environment. In order for research to be beneficial to the practitioner, the
researcher must have acquired data from organizations. The author supports
these findings by using questions that practitioners have and applying them to
theory based questions that could be researched.
Practicing managers need to be able to
take research and apply it to their company in a way that benefits them. There
are many questions that practitioners have about how to handle this global
market that is rapidly changing. The transfer of knowledge between researchers
and practitioners will be valuable to both parties. Practicing managers are on
the forefront of dealing with issues such as globalization with intense
competition. As these pressures continue, it will be important for research to
be more future oriented and their will need to be collaboration between the
practice and academia. This collaboration will allow a vast amount of knowledge
transfer. The more knowledge transfer that occurs between the two different
specialties the more benefit. One way to implement this knowledge transfer
would be for a company to submit their organizational design questions to
academia research. The company could choose to sponsor the research in order to
receive the most benefit. These two areas of management expertise are the
forefront of the future organizational design.
References:
Mohran, Susan and Edward Lawler III.
Generating Knowledge that Drives Change. 2012. Academy of Management Perspectives. Feb 2012, Vol. 26 Issue I,
p.41-51
What a great article. As stated by the article, it is so important for researchers to collaborate with business professionals. The knowledge that could be gained from researchers could be so valuable to an organization as they strive to maintain a competitive advantage. I do however, feel that researchers need to come to business professionals as well in order to learn the latest problems affecting an industry. Researchers can tend to see too big of a picture and not realize the little picture aspects. The relationship between researchers and business professionals and the sharing of knowledge should be a two-way street.
ReplyDeleteI agree Mark. Transfer of knowledge needs to go both ways. It is important for both groups to understand the benefit of working together. Practitioners do not always know what needs to be researched, as researchers do not always know that practitioners are faced with on a daily basis. If this information could switch hands quickly then a company would gain a competitive advantage.
DeleteIt is an interesting article which is based on the transfer of knowledge amongst researchers and practitioners. If a researcher is doing research, it is important that if a research is useful in the industry then there should be proper implementation of the research by the people in the organization. To understand what research has been done, a researcher needs to convey information to the world so that it can be used and implemented by the organizations. This way organization can gain benefit from research. We have been discussing about knowledge transfer in our class since few days. Transferring knowledge increases the efficiency of the organizations. Transfer of knowledge is always synergetic.
ReplyDeleteI also found this interesting due to the recent articles in classed discussed on the transfer of knowledge and how valuable knowledge is to an organization. Transfer of knowledge will allow the research to make the most impact on the industry.
DeleteThis is a very interesting article and I think it shows that research is headed in the right direction. Also the managers should be open to new ideas. Many times, managers fall into the thinking that their experience is better than some new cutting edge research. In my opinion this is why many firms fall into a reactor type. Instead of sticking to what true and proven, they must take into consideration the dynamic business environment in which all firms live. In my opinion, the managers and researchers must be able to share knowledge and be open to suggestions. The effectiveness of transfer knowledge will be crucial to a successful firm.
ReplyDeleteI agree, sometimes managers believe that they have the most knowledge, because they have "hands on" experience. However, many times it takes an outsider to find the best answer to a problem. Researchers provide this outsider view and most of the time notice inefficiencies that the manager missed. Both sides need to understand that they need the other in order for their knowledge to be maximized.
DeleteHi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the idea of the importance of collaborating researchers with practitioners. It is especially beneficial nowadays to carry out the strategy regarding to integration of theory with practice. Researchers need to transfer important finding into practice, while practitioners need useful knowledge and information to take actions in the right direction of goals. Not only cooperation but also coordination is crucial within an organization. Knowledge should be mobile between researchers and practitioners. The ability of an organization to integrate information between researchers and practitioners could create its competitive advantages for an organization.
Raymond,
DeleteI like the word "mobility" you used to explain how the knowledge should be transferred. It is crucial that the knowledge be mobile between the two parties. The more mobile the knowledge, it seems it would be easier for the firm to sustain a competitive advantage. I think this would be because there would be a knowledge relationship between the two, and there would be a constant strive for finding the best answers to problems.
Thanks, Lauren. I think good mobility of knowledge in the organization needs incentive mechanism and good policy. In the long run, it will be beneficial to create special organization culture.
Delete