Building research capacity in Management and Business studies: a community generated initiative

Chris Huxham

On behalf of:The British Academy of Management

Assumptions There is concern surrounding the provision of academics

in the field of Management and Business and a need to increase the number entering the profession and retain them over time.

There are approximately 450 academics (ABS and ESRC) being recruited into business schools each year and this presentation deals with the research active group.

The ESRC demographic reviews showed a very different pattern of entry into the profession from other social science disciplines.

There is a need to provide a diversity of pathways and inputs into the system – one size doesn’t necessarily fit all in management and business field and…..

Academics need support over the life course

Objectives of the current proposal

To build of the success of the AIM initiative To continue to develop and retain academics within the

profession, particularly in areas where AIM hasn’t focused

To support and improve the quality of those academics who wish to be research active as they enter the profession

To retain a critical mass of British and European academics within doctoral programmes.

To focus training on recognise centres of excellence. To develop a new cadre of academics in new areas of

expertise particularly practice relevant aspects To develop academics in Management and Business

across the life course

Building a context for the initiative Some provision covering pre and post professional career entry

points are already being enhanced through AIM and through the RDI projects

Build on the £20M ESRC/EPSRC investment, Cadre of 250 UK based academics Improve the quality of practice relevant research – 36% of the

FTSE 100 companies 31 fellows, 300 journal articles and 200 books

Capacity building 150 capacity building activities AIM – RDI Support for the DORN network

Other areas of support AIM phase II but no support for post doctoral fellows BAMs and AIMs RDI training projects the scheme now to be

extended Therefore what happens next?

Key aspects of the proposal The introduction of a rolling programme, annually

updated that to takes account of field specific needs Seven core capacity-building components, that address a

researchers development needs across the life course The establishment of a steering group that comprises all

major stakeholders – the group to identify further funding opportunities and promote collaboration e.g. BAM already engages with other learned societies through SCRAM Access a broad mix of training and development

activities, including the RDI’s, (BAM and AIM) and the existing networks funded by the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods

Component 1. New Curriculum for research training at undergraduate level

The Leitch report points to the need to focus on reforms to schools and colleges if skills needed to be competitive are to be fully addressed

One identified need is for graduates to be able to conduct, commission and evaluate research

Develop exemplar course material Material will include quantitative methods

Component 2. – Sustaining the provision

of research studentships - Numbers (Approx 50 per annum)

Rationale Instrumental – to encourage students to

consider a move into an academic career. So good students can continue to progress from recognised masters.

Symbolic – to maintain a management and business presence within the social science community more generally

Pragmatic – to retain as many studentships within the MBS field as a way of addressing capacity issues Method of provision

• Quotas or open competition

Component 3. – Piloting a Social Science and Management PhD

Rationale To bring management closer to its social

science roots by bringing social science graduates into management and by so doing mainstreaming good practice

To promote inter-disciplinarily research (context)

To conduct a problem based PhD which focus on a number of important themes embedded both in management and the social sciences

To produce future research leaders Goes some way to avoid the ‘importer’

discipline problem

Component 4. – Sustaining the provision of

postdoctoral fellowships (numbers 10 per year)

Rationale To retain academic researchers after their PhDs To ensure the stock of fellows is maintained now

that AIM II does not explicitly support post docs To provide an opportunity for newly completed

PhDs to publish and raise the quality of their work

10 in the open competition, subject to quality

Component 5. – New early career management fellowship scheme

Rationale Build the capacity of the discipline by helping

practitioners entering academia to better make the transition – Age mid 30s

two/three year programme dependant on the amount and quality of prior research training within the masters

Two years if entrants have a research recognised masters, three years if the prospective students take an MRes in year one of the scheme

Good contracting with Business Schools essential (see evaluation of the ESRC Management Teachers Fellowship Scheme)

Component 6. Expanding the FME mid-career practitioner conversion fellowship scheme

Based on an already long running and successful partnership between the FME and business schools

Offers another route to build capacity and bring in new blood of a more experienced kind – typically 40+

The ESRC has indicated it is prepared to help expand the scheme

A feature of previous cohorts has been the number who have gone on to occupy senior positions within business schools

Component Seven

Capacity Building Clusters

Matrix of Support All six components backed by a national professional

training infrastructure ESRC, RDIs and National Centre for research methods Relevant professional bodies Capacity engagements with AIM fellows Training workshops through current and future BAM

and AIM events Connecting the participants by where possible

creating cohorts and adding value through managed networking and inputs that will improve career development

Regional collaborations? Specialist nodes of the NCRM Access to materials e.g. JISC/ESRC/AHRC etc Access to ESRC strategic initiative for advanced quants

Outcomes

Enhance the sustainability of management and business research

Offer a rolling programme Establish a steering group that is

representative and will address the evolving needs over the years

Deliver increased integration and less overlap of provision