Can we be all in one?

Abstract

The pursuit of a high research performance is nowadays shared by academics internationally since it is considered to sustain national development. Generating outstanding research is an effort that can jeopardize the enactment of other academic activities and the attainment of related satisfying goals, though. While the interplay between research and other knowledge transfer activities such as patenting, spin-off creation and consulting, has been widely debated, the influence of research on academic citizenship, i.e., on the service provided by faculty to their institution and to the wider collective, has remained surprisingly in the backward of the reflection on higher education systems. This study analyzes the effect of research performance on academic citizenship in a sample of 216 Italian academics in the field of management. With the exception of research awards and international scientific collaborations, research does not emerge to significantly impact upon academic citizenship, which may account for the scarce attention devoted to this latter. Since service is necessary for all organizations, universities included, to thrive, citizenship needs to be fostered and awarded through appropriate institutional and managerial policies that are here highlighted.