BizDeansTalk- Deutsch

Research | - "Research constraints"

Kai Peters, Chief Executive, Ashridge Business School

Research means different things to different people. In the most abstract sense, research must surely mean looking at the world, thinking about things, and adding some new insights. In that sense, research must clearly inform teaching and the better the insights are, the better the teaching will be.

It is at the more specific level, however, that the debates begin in the business education arena and it is in many ways a debate about channels of diffusion. At the top of the academically recognized hierarchy sit academically peer reviewed articles published in journals fundamentally aimed at an internal, university audience. And, as many have pointed out, these journals tend to have narrow subject-specific foci, tend to a quantitative perspective, and are oftentimes written in impenetrable prose.

Subsequent members of the queue include refereed conference presentations and focussed scholarly chapters. From an academic world view, popular books, broadly-based syntheses, cross-functional collaborations, cases, articles and the like, are simply not considered serious scholarship no matter how influential they may actually be.

One must also be aware that this situation is not institutionally specific, but systemic. The reward system for faculty is based on counting the output recognized by the academic community as valuable, funding is based on this, promotion is based on this, tenure is based on this.

The challenging question is how can one return to a more broadly defined view of what constitutes valuable research when the system is set up for the narrow view. While I'm sure that university-based business schools will exist long into the future and will research and publish significant amounts of valuable material, it will be critical for students who want to make sense of the world to cast their nets more widely, to think for themselves and to look beyond universities for interesting and insightful research wherever it may be published.

What if, for example, someone posts the best idea of all time, based on verified research and using proper scientific method, on this blog? Would that be research? Would it be considered valuable?

We'll have to wait and see!!

Research | - "Research has to make a difference, otherwise it is irrelevant"

Della Bradshaw, The Financial Times Business Education editor.

I have been really interested to read the comments about the relevance of research and its application to teaching.  I can't help thinking that the debate shouldn't be polarised around esoteric research on the one hand and on practical research and teaching on the other. Perhaps instead it should focus on how to develop really great ideas that can be researched, taught and used in the workplace. That is, how do you make sure research is provoking, whatever its remit and structure?

I'm afraid I'm on pretty shaky ground when I expound theories on high-level research, but clearly the best of it has changed the way businesses work, especially in the financial markets. I tend to think of it as being a bit like catwalk fashion - when I see some supermodel flouncing around in London or New York, I see clothes I would never wear in a million years, but eventually these designs influence the sort of clothes I buy in Marks and Spencer.

But that is the most exciting research - and clearly much research is neither exciting nor influential, particularly in second and third tier business schools.

I am reminded of the time when a subeditor on a UK national newspaper complained to the economics leader writer that he couldn't understand a word of his leader. The leader writer replied that there were only six people in the country would understand it - and the subeditor wasn't one of them! Clearly there are direct equivalents in the academic world, with academics publishing articles to impress other academics.

The same applies to "near-to-market" research: I often read case studies which only tell me things about a company that I have already read in newspapers. Unless they give companies new information on which they can develop strategies, what is the point of them?

Like Dean Danos, I believe the best teaching has to be informed by cutting-edge research. After all, teaching is about content as well as presentation. But it is what participants learn, not what the faculty teach, which is important, and there is a growing acceptance that other students, company internships or guest speakers are all contributors to this. 

I have just got back from China where the top business schools are working hard to write case studies of companies in the region. One dean made the point that China is changing so rapidly in areas such as investment opportunities and  banking, to name just two, that case studies are the most appropriate type of research. They capture the moment, if you will.

Perhaps the deep changes in the political, financial and business environments in Europe over the past 20 years have meant that lengthy research projects are less appropriate than in the US?

Research | -"Business Schools' unique research capabilities"

Paul Danos, Dean Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Dean Iñiguez asks about cutting edge research and the debate about how and where this fits into a business school setting, especially in light of the recent HBR article by Bennis and O'Toole.

I believe that business school researchers have special insights into best business practices and that they can therefore give students unique knowledge that non-researchers may miss. Of course, there are no absolutes here, and exceptions can be found in both directions.

The greatest researchers I have known are among the greatest teachers I have known, and because researchers are often generalizing across many observations, they bring a breath of knowledge that is hard to match. Many of the critics of current business school faculty seem to imply that these brilliant people are in some way engaging in frivolous research behavior and that their schools blindly support that behavior. On the contrary, I believe that for the most part business school research is serious and relevant, and most importantly it leads to truly exceptional learning experiences for students.

America v Europe, BizEd Alumni | - "Alumnus of both schools"

James Tatum, previous student of Dartmouth College and MBA Instituto de Empresa.

As an alumnus of both the American school system, namely Dartmouth College, and the MBA program at Instituto de Empresa perhaps I can provide a shareholder’s view to this fascinating conversation between the Deans...

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