Action research in business and management: A reflective review

Self Cite

This article explores how abductive reasoning is central to Mode 2 organization development and change (ODC) research, despite the rarity with which it is made explicit. It differentiates between Peirce’s notions of deduction, induction, and abduction in the field of ODC and explores how Mode 2 ODC research, particularly that involving collaboration between academics and practitioners, draws on abductive reasoning. It is when confronted with an array of puzzling and paradoxical data that insights constitute abductive reasoning, a fundamental element in both the production of knowledge and the development of successful organizational interventions.

Section: Organization Development and Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Rediscovering Abductive Reasoning in Organization Development and Change Research

Shani

Coghlan

Alexander

2019

Self Cite

“…Historically, OD’s major contribution to MOS is the application of action research to the field’s dual purpose of creating research-based knowledge and helping organizations improve themselves (Coghlan, 2011a; Shani & Coghlan, 2019). During the formative years, OD action researchers created applied knowledge, while helping organizations address social problems.…”

Section: A Path Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relevance Challenge in Management and Organization Studies: Bringing Organization Development Back In

Cummings

2020

We address management and organization studies’ (MOS) mounting relevance challenge of creating knowledge that matters far more to researchers than practitioners. Organization development (OD), a subfield of MOS, can help bridge the research–practice gap. OD was once a valued contributor to MOS creating applied knowledge to change and improve organizations. Yet that contribution gradually diminished and today OD is a marginal member of the MOS community. A historical–evolutionary analysis reveals the causes for that decline and suggests how to bring OD back in to address the relevance challenge. Our proposal involves the application of OD action research, an engaged and collaborative form of inquiry that creates knowledge in the service of helping organizations improve themselves.

“…The problems that action research addresses are relevant in that they stem from “real” management issues. The findings are subsequently published to inform and enhance the understanding of management science (Kieser et al, 2015; Shani & Coghlan, 2019).…”

Section: Tensions Within the Rigor-relevance Divide In Organizationalmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Balance of Rigor and Relevance: Engaged Scholarship in Organizational Change

Paine

Delmhorst

2020

Organizations face increasing demand to make meaningful, sustainable changes based on shifts in their external environments. This presents an unprecedented opportunity for insightful, useful research in the field of organizational change. As in other management science disciplines, the field suffers from a gap between research-favoring rigor and practice-favoring relevance. Through the framework of engaged scholarship—a collaborative approach to knowledge production—we present organizational change research as particularly well-positioned to utilize existing gap-related tensions to advance the field in terms of effective academic- and practice-based outcomes. We highlight empirical efforts in organizational change applied research that have contributed to theory building, method development, and practice knowledge. We include interview data collected from scholar-practitioners in the field and focus on the work of W. Warner Burke, in particular, for this special issue honoring the legacy of his rigorous and relevant contributions to the science and practice of organizational change.