Strategic Management Review > Vol 4 > Issue 1

Searching for Significance: The Case for Reimagining Management Research

Gary Hamel, London Business School, UK, ghamel@london.edu , Julian Birkinshaw, London Business School, UK, jbirkinshaw@london.edu
 
Suggested Citation
Gary Hamel and Julian Birkinshaw (2023), "Searching for Significance: The Case for Reimagining Management Research", Strategic Management Review: Vol. 4: No. 1, pp 107-126. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/111.00000054

Publication Date: 15 May 2023
© 2023 now Publishers, Inc.
 
Subjects
 
Keywords
Management researchexperimentationmanagement innovationresearch impactrigor versus relevance
 

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In this article:
Doubts About Impact 
Why Management Matters 
Strategies for Multiplying Impact 
Theory and Practice 
Conclusions 
References 

Abstract

In comparison to other applied fields such as medicine or engineering, the impact of management research is disappointing — most of it is neither practical nor profound. And yet the opportunity for doing ground-breaking research that improves the practice of management is huge. In this paper, we discuss the ways that management research might be reimagined so that it achieves the step-change required. We suggest five approaches — aim higher, challenge orthodoxy, invent, experiment and collaborate — and we draw from leading-edge companies and from our own experiences to illustrate the arguments.

DOI:10.1561/111.00000054