Rutgers Faculty of Management
Helen Paxton, Director of Communications
81 New Street,University Heights
Newark, NJ 07102
201/648-5177; [email protected]
THE PROFESSOR-PRACTITIONER GAP IN BUSINESS SCHOOLS:
SCIENCE VERSUS SERVICE IN ORGANIZATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP
The purpose of university business schools in not merely to educate prospective managers. Equally as important is the task of generating knowledge about societies, economies, organizations and
individuals--that is, science--that can be communicated to and used by practicing managers in their everyday business dealing--that is, service.
But the divide between science and service seems to have grown in recent years, much to the chagrin of practicing managers. The complain is that the research produced by business professors is of little relevance to the "real-world". This issue facing modern organization scholarship, then, is whether or not it is truly adding value, and if not, why?
Two faculty members from Rutgers Graduate School of Management have made a major attempt to diagnose this issue. James Bailey, assistant professor of organization management, and Wayne Eastman, assistant professor of business environment, co-edited a special monograph of the "Journal of Applied Behavioral Science" that enlists many of the fields most illustrious researchers to debate whether or not organization science is relevant to practitioners, and what can be done to address the problem. The result is a free-wheeling, engaging dialogue that presents various perspectives
and recommendations. What makes this monograph so unique is that it allowed each author to respond to the papers of other authors so that it has more the feeling of a lively exchange rather than just a dry soliloquy.
Although no single solution emerged, it is important to note that Bailey and Eastman's special monograph represents the first formal, coordinated attempt to examine how academic scholarship is supposed to serve practicing managers, and what the field can do to improve. And the critical acclaim is widespread. One reviewer said: "This is evocative!! Read it, from front to back and over again, and invite your colleagues, your students, and your adversaries to do the same." Another said: "This is an important contribution that is likely to generate much discussion and controversy".
James Bailey teaches organizational behavior and negotiations, and can be reached at 201-648-5983. Wayne Eastman teaches business law, and can be reached at 201-648-1001.
###
RSS