Research rigor and the gap between academic journals and business practitioners

Abstract

Purpose This paper examines the engagement of business practitioners with academic business research. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether there is a gap between academic research and business people, and, if so, how to bridge this gap. Design/methodology/approach Over 150 senior business practitioners were interviewed, in order to capture their views on the usefulness of academic research to them in their roles as practicing managers. Survey questions covered both their current access and reading of business-related publications and what the ideal academic business journal should be, in terms of access and contents. Findings Academic journals are not very well known among business professionals. If these professionals could choose, they would like academic journals to be written by experienced business people, to contain business cases and to be accessible on line. Existing academic business journal “repositories,” such as Google Scholar, are not mentioned in the survey results. Practical implications The findings indicate that potential solutions to bridge the gap between academic journals and business practitioners should not be complicated to implement, and would greatly help bring these two communities closer, with mutually enriching results. Originality/value This paper takes a very pragmatic view of the gap between academic journals and business practitioners, and seeks to assess this gap in terms of how it can be bridged on an everyday basis, rather than take a theoretical approach. It begs for the definition of actionable next steps.