When Rigor Meets Relevance: the Development of Hybrid Actionable Knowledge Production Systems

Thomaz Wood (), Edvalter Becker Holz () and Renato Souza ()
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Thomaz Wood: FGV EAESP
Edvalter Becker Holz: Insper Institute of Education and Research
Renato Souza: FGV EAESP

Systemic Practice and Action Research, 2023, vol. 36, issue 1, No 1, 29 pages

Abstract: Abstract Actionable knowledge (AK) refers to knowledge that is both rigorous and relevant. Previous works have assumed these features to be separate ontological realms and have focused on crafting theories to explain the mechanisms whereby those realms can be bridged to generate AK. Because of this orientation, we call such approaches bridging theories and claim that they have neglected research systems in which rigor and relevance are ontologically mingled. In the present study, we aimed to analyze how rigor and relevance can become ontologically mingled rather than bridged. We adopted hybridism as our ontology and an epistemology grounded in interactive moments featuring knowing-from-within to conduct two inductive, interpretive case studies of the development of research systems in business schools. Based on our findings, we developed a conceptual model to describe the process by which (rigorous) scientific and (relevant) practical knowledge systems are hybridized and become ontologically mingled over time. We introduce the notion of research hybridization and discuss this concept in relation to bridging theories. While bridging theories explain AK generation in terms of the agential role played by collaboration among researchers and contextual stakeholders, research hybridization explains AK in terms of the agential role played by the actions institutionally undertaken in business schools regarding research.

Keywords: Business schools; Actionable research; Knowledge production modes; Rigor and relevance; Social impact of research; Hybridization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s11213-022-09596-x

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