Knowledge exchange and management research: barriers and potentials

Abstract

Purpose The growing involvement of management researchers in knowledge exchange activities and collaborative research does not seem to be reflected in a growing academic output. The purpose of this paper is to explore barriers for the limited academic output from these activities as well as the potential for ‘interesting’ papers. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses secondary data and statistics as well as an illustrative case study to trace knowledge exchange activities and barriers for academic output based on these activities. Findings The paper identifies a number of barriers for the turning of data derived from knowledge exchange activities into academic papers such as low priority of case study research in leading management journals, a growing practice orientation in the research funding systems, methodological challenges because of limited researcher control and disincentives for researcher involvement in knowledge exchange activities. The paper also identifies a potential for ‘interesting’ research and discoveries through collaborative research. Research limitations/implications Diminishing the barriers for collaborative and case-based research and exploring the potential for ‘interesting’ discoveries has the potential to increase the number of published papers with a high level of scientific rigor as well as a high level of relevance for practice. Originality/value An outcome focus on the relationship between knowledge exchange activities and management research is to the author’s knowledge new in the debate about weak practical relevance of management research.