This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Aldag, R. J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Moving Sofas and Exhuming Woodchucks

On Relevance, Impact, and the Following of Fads

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Continuing concerns about the relevance and impact of management research deserve reflection and response. In this article, the author considers ways to increase management research relevance, including rewards for relevance and mechanisms for inreach. The author argues, however, that management research is already quite relevant and that basic research and research that appears somehow "artificial" should not be sacrificed on the altar of relevance. Conversely, the author argues that seeking relevance by following fads creates an unfortunate and dangerous illusion of responsiveness. To enhance impact, the author suggests seeking channels for better communication of the relevance and applicability of management research as well as the presentation of management research to potential users in intrinsically appealing ways. This might require using more concrete examples and metaphors and telling better stories. It should not involve "dummying down" research reports or debasing the nature of the research process.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Pagel and R. Westerfelhaus Charting Managerial Reading Preferences in Relation to Popular Management Theory Books: A Semiotic Analysis Journal of Business Communication, October 1, 2005; 42(4): 420 - 448. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Kuhn Negotiating Boundaries between Scholars and Practitioners: Knowledge, Networks, and Communities of Practice Management Communication Quarterly, August 1, 2002; 16(1): 106 - 112. [PDF]

				C. De Cock Essal: Reflections on Fiction, Representation, and Organization Studies: An Essay with Special Reference to the Work of Jorge Luis Borges Organization Studies, May 1, 2000; 21(3): 589 - 609. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. De Cock "It Seems to Fill My Head with Ideas": A Few Thoughts on Postmodernism, TQM, and BPR Journal of Management Inquiry, June 1, 1998; 7(2): 144 - 153. [Abstract]