Plenary lecture 1
Why talk about research?
o Managers need to make decisions all the time. Some can be made based on experience,
intuition or advice from others. Other decisions need thoughtful contemplation of
alternatives.
If need knowledge is required to make a decision, research may be needed
Understanding the principles of (good) research helps:
o To execute (or commission) your own research
o To critically understand the research done by others
When we use the term manager, this is meant as shorthand for any type of decision maker (also with
other job titles) in any type of organization (for-profit, not-for-profit, voluntary, non-governmental
and government organizations)
Basic steps (more next week)
o 1. Formulate a knowledge question
o 2. Collect relevant knowledge that’s already out there
o 3. Collect new, additional data
o 4. Analyze and interpret
o 5. Formulate the answer to the question
Some principles of scientific research
1. Science progresses on the basis of testable hypotheses and evidence
o “In God we trust, all others bring data” (Deming)
2. Research does not take place in a vacuum
o “Stand on the shoulders of giants” (Newton)
3. Don’t trust other people’s science without your own critical analysis
o “Organized skepticism” (Merton)
o “There’s lies, damn lies, and statistics”
4. Confidence in a theory grows as more and more studies support (and perhaps refine) the theory
Evidence-based management (EBMgt) finds its origin in “Evidence-based medicine”
Definitions of EBMgt
o The systematic use of the best available evidence to improve management practice (Reay et
al., 2009)
o The conscientious use of multiple sources of evidence in organizational decisions (Rousseau,
2020)
Before following best practice or evidence, investigate:
o The logic (or mechanism) explaining why the practice works
o The context in which the practice has proven to work
o How your situation/ context is different or the same
In essence, ask yourself: “How generalizable is the evidence/ knowledge/ theory?”
Three levels of theory
o Local theories
o Mid-range theories
o Grand theories
What else can inform managerial practices?
, o Obsolete knowledge
o Personal experience
o Specialist skills
o Hype
o Dogma
o Mindless mimicry (Pfeffer & Sutton, 2006)
Examples:
o The “first-mover advantage” myth
o The “employee stock options” dogma
Different types of evidence to inform management practice
o Own research and experimentation
o One-off scientific studies (by others)
o Replicated scientific studies
o Systematic review or Meta-analysis of scientific studies
Example: Reay et al (2009) provide a systematic review of evidence on evidence-based management
Important aspect: critically assess the quality of the evidence you are reading
o Strength of research design
o Quality of outlet (reviewed content or not, reputation of the outlet)
o Your own assessment
Brief recap of scientific terminology
Constructs are theoretical concepts that may or may not be observable and measurable (so they are
often abstract): trust, customer loyalty, job satisfaction, organizational interdependence
Variables are also theoretical concepts, but they must be observable and measurable (essentially
they are operationalized constructs)
Proposition: is a researcher’s statement about relationship between two or more theoretical
constructs. It can be about abstract and non-measurable constructs. It can be developed
conceptually or based on empirical data. It does not have to be measurable or directly testable
Hypothesis: is a statement about relationship between two or more variables (thus, operationalized
constructs). A hypothesis is typically formed by any underlying proposition(s). It should be testable
and show the direction of the relationship/ effect between the variables
What is theory?
o A theory is a statement of relationships between units (constructs) observed approximated
in the empirical world (Bacharach, 1989)
o A theory answers questions How? When? Why?
o Every theory has boundaries
Research objective explains the main purpose of conducting a research project, its intended
contribution to the scientific literature and management practice (in case of management research)
o Always present in every academic paper; in the Introduction and Abstract
o Should explain to the reader what, why and how (by doing what) should be achieved
Research question is the focal point of the research objective- and project
o Often, but not always present in academic papers; can be found in the Introduction
Research method or strategy is a ‘plan of action’ – how the research objective will be achieved
o Always described in every academic paper; can be typically found in Method section
, o Existing research strategies (survey, case study, etc.) represent a systematic set of rules and
guidelines
The types of research
o Exploratory (interviews, focus groups, ethnography/ observations)
o Confirmatory descriptive (survey)
o Confirmatory causal (experiments)
o As always, there are more classifications…
What you know as exploratory
o Exploratory or descriptive
Output is a description of a phenomenon or a process (maybe a text, a
categorization, a process map, etc.)
o Theory-building
Output are theoretical propositions that explain certain phenomenon or process
What you know as confirmatory
o Theory testing
The output is ‘proof’ and quantifications of relationships between the established
variables
And also decision science; output is techniques, algorithms, models for optimization of processes,
decisions, better prediction, etc.
o Traveling salesman problem
o The prisoners dilemma
If you want to understand more about what this research is about – look up such academic journdals
as Management Science or Decision Analytics
, Plenary lecture 2
Agenda
o Types of scientific reasoning
o Research cycle
o Types of data in research
o Types of research connected to managerial problems
o Your BP themes and research cycle
Main ingredients of science
Science is concerned with knowing the world around us. This knowledge develops using four main
ingredients
o Theory: formalized explanations of phenomena
o Expectations: hypotheses about what we expect to observe
o Studies: experiments, surveys, case studies, secondary data analysis, simulations
o Observations: data stemming from studies (that need to be analyzed an interpreted)
Scientific reasoning; three main logics
Inducive reasoning
o Given a series of observations, we derive an explanation/ generalization that is probably true
Deductive reasoning
o Based on premises that are true, we logically come to a conclusion that is true
Abductive reasoning
o Based on interactions between observations and theories, we come to a likely explanation
for what we see
Working with the three logics
Mind the language for each logic!
Inductive: the generalization is probably true
Deductive: the conclusion is logically true
Abductive: the explanation is likely correct
Logics are often combined in scientific argumentation
o Abduction to conceive ideas or hunches
o Deduction to logically construct propositions or hypotheses
o Induction to observe reality and generalize
Consider alternative explanations and try to rule them out before coming to a conclusion
Critically reflect on the weaknesses in your own reasoning, and the reasoning of others
Why talk about research?
o Managers need to make decisions all the time. Some can be made based on experience,
intuition or advice from others. Other decisions need thoughtful contemplation of
alternatives.
If need knowledge is required to make a decision, research may be needed
Understanding the principles of (good) research helps:
o To execute (or commission) your own research
o To critically understand the research done by others
When we use the term manager, this is meant as shorthand for any type of decision maker (also with
other job titles) in any type of organization (for-profit, not-for-profit, voluntary, non-governmental
and government organizations)
Basic steps (more next week)
o 1. Formulate a knowledge question
o 2. Collect relevant knowledge that’s already out there
o 3. Collect new, additional data
o 4. Analyze and interpret
o 5. Formulate the answer to the question
Some principles of scientific research
1. Science progresses on the basis of testable hypotheses and evidence
o “In God we trust, all others bring data” (Deming)
2. Research does not take place in a vacuum
o “Stand on the shoulders of giants” (Newton)
3. Don’t trust other people’s science without your own critical analysis
o “Organized skepticism” (Merton)
o “There’s lies, damn lies, and statistics”
4. Confidence in a theory grows as more and more studies support (and perhaps refine) the theory
Evidence-based management (EBMgt) finds its origin in “Evidence-based medicine”
Definitions of EBMgt
o The systematic use of the best available evidence to improve management practice (Reay et
al., 2009)
o The conscientious use of multiple sources of evidence in organizational decisions (Rousseau,
2020)
Before following best practice or evidence, investigate:
o The logic (or mechanism) explaining why the practice works
o The context in which the practice has proven to work
o How your situation/ context is different or the same
In essence, ask yourself: “How generalizable is the evidence/ knowledge/ theory?”
Three levels of theory
o Local theories
o Mid-range theories
o Grand theories
What else can inform managerial practices?
, o Obsolete knowledge
o Personal experience
o Specialist skills
o Hype
o Dogma
o Mindless mimicry (Pfeffer & Sutton, 2006)
Examples:
o The “first-mover advantage” myth
o The “employee stock options” dogma
Different types of evidence to inform management practice
o Own research and experimentation
o One-off scientific studies (by others)
o Replicated scientific studies
o Systematic review or Meta-analysis of scientific studies
Example: Reay et al (2009) provide a systematic review of evidence on evidence-based management
Important aspect: critically assess the quality of the evidence you are reading
o Strength of research design
o Quality of outlet (reviewed content or not, reputation of the outlet)
o Your own assessment
Brief recap of scientific terminology
Constructs are theoretical concepts that may or may not be observable and measurable (so they are
often abstract): trust, customer loyalty, job satisfaction, organizational interdependence
Variables are also theoretical concepts, but they must be observable and measurable (essentially
they are operationalized constructs)
Proposition: is a researcher’s statement about relationship between two or more theoretical
constructs. It can be about abstract and non-measurable constructs. It can be developed
conceptually or based on empirical data. It does not have to be measurable or directly testable
Hypothesis: is a statement about relationship between two or more variables (thus, operationalized
constructs). A hypothesis is typically formed by any underlying proposition(s). It should be testable
and show the direction of the relationship/ effect between the variables
What is theory?
o A theory is a statement of relationships between units (constructs) observed approximated
in the empirical world (Bacharach, 1989)
o A theory answers questions How? When? Why?
o Every theory has boundaries
Research objective explains the main purpose of conducting a research project, its intended
contribution to the scientific literature and management practice (in case of management research)
o Always present in every academic paper; in the Introduction and Abstract
o Should explain to the reader what, why and how (by doing what) should be achieved
Research question is the focal point of the research objective- and project
o Often, but not always present in academic papers; can be found in the Introduction
Research method or strategy is a ‘plan of action’ – how the research objective will be achieved
o Always described in every academic paper; can be typically found in Method section
, o Existing research strategies (survey, case study, etc.) represent a systematic set of rules and
guidelines
The types of research
o Exploratory (interviews, focus groups, ethnography/ observations)
o Confirmatory descriptive (survey)
o Confirmatory causal (experiments)
o As always, there are more classifications…
What you know as exploratory
o Exploratory or descriptive
Output is a description of a phenomenon or a process (maybe a text, a
categorization, a process map, etc.)
o Theory-building
Output are theoretical propositions that explain certain phenomenon or process
What you know as confirmatory
o Theory testing
The output is ‘proof’ and quantifications of relationships between the established
variables
And also decision science; output is techniques, algorithms, models for optimization of processes,
decisions, better prediction, etc.
o Traveling salesman problem
o The prisoners dilemma
If you want to understand more about what this research is about – look up such academic journdals
as Management Science or Decision Analytics
, Plenary lecture 2
Agenda
o Types of scientific reasoning
o Research cycle
o Types of data in research
o Types of research connected to managerial problems
o Your BP themes and research cycle
Main ingredients of science
Science is concerned with knowing the world around us. This knowledge develops using four main
ingredients
o Theory: formalized explanations of phenomena
o Expectations: hypotheses about what we expect to observe
o Studies: experiments, surveys, case studies, secondary data analysis, simulations
o Observations: data stemming from studies (that need to be analyzed an interpreted)
Scientific reasoning; three main logics
Inducive reasoning
o Given a series of observations, we derive an explanation/ generalization that is probably true
Deductive reasoning
o Based on premises that are true, we logically come to a conclusion that is true
Abductive reasoning
o Based on interactions between observations and theories, we come to a likely explanation
for what we see
Working with the three logics
Mind the language for each logic!
Inductive: the generalization is probably true
Deductive: the conclusion is logically true
Abductive: the explanation is likely correct
Logics are often combined in scientific argumentation
o Abduction to conceive ideas or hunches
o Deduction to logically construct propositions or hypotheses
o Induction to observe reality and generalize
Consider alternative explanations and try to rule them out before coming to a conclusion
Critically reflect on the weaknesses in your own reasoning, and the reasoning of others
