Management Research

- An author podcast

Table of Contents:
Introducing Management and Business Research Introduction The Nature of Management and Business Research What Is Management? Skills and Resources for Management and Business Research Levels and Outcomes of Management Research Is Management Research Distinctive? Conclusion Further Reading The Philosophy of Management Research Introduction The Philosophical Debates Ontology: From Realism to Nominalism Epistemology: Positivism versus Social Constructionism Linking Ontology, Epistemology and Methodology Strengths and Weaknesses of the Main Traditions Overviews of Other Philosophies Conclusion Further Reading Designing Management Research Introduction Epistemology and Researcher Engagement Positivist Research Designs Constructionist Research Designs Case method and Grounded Theory Mixed Methods Common Design Dilemmas Contributing to Theory Contrasting Views on Validity and Reliability Research Design Template Conclusion Further Reading The Politics and Ethics of Management Research Introduction Political Influences on the Research Questions Politics of Access Ethics Utilization of Research Conclusion Further Reading Reviewing the Literature Introduction What Is a Literature Review and What Is Its Purpose? Preparation for the Literature Review Elements of Literature Review Alignment with Study Context and Approach Sources of Information Conclusion Further Reading Creating Qualitative Data Methods for qualitative data collection Collecting data through language Collecting data through observation Understanding data through interaction General concerns related to the collection of qualitative methods Conclusion Further reading Framing Qualitative Data Introduction Analysing natural language data Content analysis and grounded analysis Computer aided analysis Social network analysis Discourse analysis Narrative analysis Conversation analysis Argument analysis Gaining knowledge through interaction Conclusion Further reading Creating Quantitative Data Introduction Sampling design Sources of quantitative data Questionnaire design Conclusion Further reading Summarising and Making Inferences from Quantitative Data Introduction Summarizing and describing data Going beyond a sample Conclusion Further reading Multivariate Analysis Introduction Multivariate analysis of measurement models Multivariate analysis of causal models Conclusion Further reading Writing Management and Business Research The skills of writing The content of reports and dissertations Writing up the literature review Outputs and evaluation Plagiarism Dissemination strategies Conclusion Further reading Answers to exercises Glossary Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Mark Easterby-Smith passed away in 2020. He was an Emeritus Professor at the University of Lancaster. His field was organizational learning. He had a first degree in Engineering Science and a PhD in Organizational Behaviour from Durham University and was an active researcher for over 30 years with primary interests in methodology and learning processes. He carried out evaluation studies in many European companies, and led research projects on management development, organizational learning, dynamic capabilities and knowledge transfer across international organizations in the UK, India and China. Mark published numerous academic papers and over ten books including: Auditing Management Development (Gower, 1980); The Challenge to Western Management Development (Routledge, 1989); Evaluation of Management Education, Training and Development (Gower, 1994); Organizational Learning and the Learning Organization (Sage, 1998); The Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management, 2nd edn (Wiley, 2011). At Lancaster he was, variously, Director of the School’s Doctoral Programme, Director of the Graduate Management School and Head of Department. Externally he spent several years as a visiting faculty member on the International Teachers’ Programme, acting as Director when it was held at the London Business School in 1984. During the early 1990s he was national co-ordinator of the Management Teaching Fellowship Scheme funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), which was responsible for training 180 new faculty members across UK management schools. He was a former member of the ESRC Post-graduate Training Board and was President of the British Academy of Management in 2006 and Dean of Fellows in 2008. Richard Thorpe is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Leeds where he was latterly Professor of Management Development and Pro Dean for Research at Leeds University Business School. His early industrial experience informed the way his ethos has developed. Common themes are a strong commitment to process methodologies and a focus on action in all its forms; an interest in and commitment to the development of doctoral students and the development of capacity within the sector; and a commitment to collaborative working on projects of mutual interest. Following a number of years in industry, he joined Strathclyde University as a researcher studying incentive payment schemes. This led to collaboration on Payment Schemes and Productivity (Macmillan, 1986). In 1980 he joined Glasgow University where he widened his research interests to include small firm growth and development as well as making regular contributions to the Scottish Business School’s doctoral programme. In 1983 he attended the International Teachers’ Programme in Sweden where he met Mark and embarked on a PhD under Mark’s supervision. Collaboration continued through the 1990s with the ESRC Teaching Fellowship Scheme. In 1996 he was instrumental in establishing the Graduate Business School at Manchester Metropolitan University and in 2003 joined the ESRC Training and Development Board. There, he was involved in establishing the training guidelines for both doctorate and professional doctorate provision and more recently in initiatives to address capacity building in management and business. In 2003 he contributed to the ESRC’s Evolution of Business Knowledge programme. His research interests have included: performance, remuneration and entrepreneurship, management learning and development and leadership, and he has published (with others) a number of books including: Remuneration Systems (Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2000); Management and Language: The Manager as Practical Author (Sage, 2003); The SAGE Dictionary of Qualitative Management Research (Sage, 2008); Performance Management: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (Palgrave, 2008); Gower Handbook of Leadership and Management Development (Gower, 2010) ) and more recently, two research methods books, Management Research, in the Sage ‘A very Short, Fairly Interesting and reasonably Cheap Book About’ series and A Guide to Professional Doctorates in Business and Management (Sage, 2015). He was a past Present of the British Academy of Management in 2007, Dean of Fellows in 2012 and in 2009-2015 he was Chair of the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies. In this latter role he initiated the ESRC/SAMS/UKCES Management and Business Fellowship Scheme. Paul R. Jackson is Professor of Corporate Communications and member of the Business Economics and Strategy group at the Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester. Over the years he has undertaken various roles including Director of Doctoral Programmes at the University of Sheffield and, at UMIST, Head of the Division of Marketing, International Business and Strategy as well as designing the doctoral training programme at MBS. He has been teaching research methods to undergraduate, Masters and doctoral students since 1975 and has contributed to books on research methods teaching as well as workshops for students and teachers on behalf of the British Academy of Management.

Review :
This is an excellent book that covers a variety of management research related topics relevant to undergraduate, postgraduate, and research students as well as to research professionals. Furthermore, the book offers numerous useful practical activities through which readers can apply and advance their understanding in relation to management research Thomas Matheus Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Northumbria University This book has everything that the new and established management researcher needs to know, it is both informative and comprehensive. An excellent introduction Catherine Cassell Professor of Organizational Psychology, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester