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Beyond Rigour and Relevance: A Critical Realist Approach to Business Education

Syed, Jawad, Mingers, John, Murray, Peter A. (2010) Beyond Rigour and Relevance: A Critical Realist Approach to Business Education. Management Learning, 41 (1). pp. 71-85. ISSN 1350-5076. (doi:10.1177/1350507609350839) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:24814)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1350507609350839

Abstract

This article takes a critical realist perspective to understand the research-practice gap in the field of business and management. To investigate issues surrounding the rigour versus relevance debate, we examine how the divergent perspectives of scholars and practitioners can be bridged by a critical realist approach in relation to: (1) the research paradigm: instead of confining their research within methodological purism, scholars may need to deploy any research paradigm to investigate a phenomenon in its context, (2) context and causality: critical realism provides an ontological grounding for interpretivist research reaffirming the importance of a focus on context, meaning and interpretation as causal influences, (3) methodological rigidity: multiple research methods will be more important when addressing research-practice gaps since they are more receptive to interdisciplinary functions and contexts in time and space than traditional methodologies, and (4) ethical aspects of business research highlighting the need to engage with the knowledge agenda of not only the university but also society overall. The critical nature of management studies we contend also helps to explain why at least certain research-practice gaps can be treated as natural because of divergent preferences of scholars and practitioners.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1177/1350507609350839
Uncontrolled keywords: Critical Management Studies, Critical Realism, Management Education, Research Paradigms
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Kent Business School - Division > Department of Analytics, Operations and Systems
Depositing User: John Mingers
Date Deposited: 02 Jun 2010 13:55 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:03 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/24814 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Syed, Jawad.

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Mingers, John.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4102-4696
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
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