A Balance of Rigor and Relevance: Engaged Scholarship in Organizational Change. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Paine, Jill W.; Delmhorst, Fred
• Other Names: Church Allan H. guest-editor.; Pasmore William guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of applied behavioral science. Volume 56:Number 4(2020:Dec.)
• Page Start: 437
• Page End: 461
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: organizational change -- rigor-relevance gap -- scholar-practitioner -- engaged scholarship -- collaborative management research -- action research; Social sciences -- Periodicals; 300.5
• DOI: 10.1177/0021886320961218
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-8863

Abstract

Organizations face increasing demand to make meaningful, sustainable changes based on shifts in their external environments. This presents an unprecedented opportunity for insightful, useful research in the field of organizational change. As in other management science disciplines, the field suffers from a gap between research-favoring rigor and practice-favoring relevance. Through the framework of engaged scholarship—a collaborative approach to knowledge production—we present organizational change research as particularly well-positioned to utilize existing gap-related tensions to advance the field in terms of effective academic- and practice-based outcomes. We highlight empirical efforts in organizational change applied research that have contributed to theory building, method development, and practice knowledge. We include interview data collected from scholar-practitioners in the field and focus on the work of W. Warner Burke, in particular, for this special issue honoring the legacy of his rigorous and relevant contributions to the science and practice of organizational change.