|
CO-chairs:
Marc Bonnet, ISEOR, University of Jean Moulin Lyon 3
bonnet@iseor.com
Robert MacIntosh, University
of Strathclyde
robert@gsb.strath.ac.uk
Background
This standing group has its roots in the growing demand for more
practice-oriented forms of research. A vibrant community of action
researchers already exists and, by definition, these researchers work
in contexts where changes to practice sit side-by-side with the
development of theory. This working group has emerged to offer a forum
where those with an interest in action research can exchange views on
methods, practices, validity and a range of wider social issues.
Standing group status has initially been granted for a three year
period starting with the Berlin meeting in 2005. The standing group is
however, a continuation of the successful sub-theme meetings which
have taken place in Lyon (2001), Copehagen (2003) and Ljubljana
(2004).
Remit of
the Proposed Standing Group
In recent years the very nature of organisation research has been
called into question. Both the British and American Academies of
Management have highlighted the need for academic research to develop
a closer relationship with practice (see Tranfield and Starkey, 1998;
Huff, 2000 and Van de Ven, 2001). This has increased the attention
being paid to all forms of practice-oriented research.
Perhaps the most commonly used
form of practice-oriented research is action research. In the research
methodology marketplace, action research represents an established
brand. Whilst the content of the original research conducted by Lewin
(1946) has largely been forgotten, the research process employed and
the term action research which he coined have become an important
touchstone for many others who have followed, or adapted, his
approach. Returning to the original source material we find Lewin
encouraging us to concern ourselves with "two rather different
questions … the study of general laws … and the diagnosis of a
specific situation" (1946, p36). It is the possibility of research
offering insights to the specific situation which explains current
interest in action research. Lewin’s argument might reasonably be
interpreted as meaning that research can both help the academic (with
their concern for generalisable knowledge) and help the practitioner
(and their concern with the specifics of here and now). Action
research, in its many forms, is in many ways ideally suited to
producing managerially relevant research outputs.
However, in the intervening
forty-five years the term has been used so regularly and with such a
variety of different meanings, that the phrase itself has "lost some
of its original weight." Eden and Huxham characterise action research
as research resulting from involvement with an organisation over a
matter of genuine concern, where there is the intention to take action
on the basis of the intervention (1996). This definition seems to
transcend most of the subtle differences between the many
methodological variants of action research and some other forms of
practice-oriented research.
The aim
of this standing group is to explore the full range of methodological,
epistemological and ontological issues relating to the practice of
action research.
Themes for
the First Three Years
In organizing a standing group as opposed to individual sub-themes,
our intention is to cover a comprehensive range of issues relating to
the conduct of action research. Standing group status will allow a
community of interest to develop around the action research theme. We
will build a web presence to facilitate the development of this
community between EGOS meetings and we believe that by the third
meeting (2007), the EGOS action research community will be
self-sustaining.
| 2005 |
The Practice of
Action Research as a Means of Unlocking Organizations
The full call for papers has already been developed and is
available on the EGOS web-site. The intention is to share
experiences of the action research process and, in so doing, to
contribute to the development of action research. The specific
focus of the meeting will be the ways in which an action
research approach can unlock organizations, opening them to the
possibility of change, development, improvement and evolution. |
| 2006 |
Validity and
Epistemology in Action Research
Criticism of AR practices often focus on the problem of bias a
research process which, by definition, involves actors who hold
opinions and objectives for the research which may be either
explicit or implicit. A key challenge for those conducting AR
is to ackowledge and engage with the issue of validity in
meaningful ways. Action researchers face a number of potential
pitfalls and this session will focus on the question of
"validity" in AR. Issues such as the extent to which one can
generalize from observations made in one specific context, and
the relationship (if any) between the epistemological position
of action research and other more positivistic approaches ? The
2006 meeting will invite contributions from the AR community in
order to develop clear views on benefits and limitations of AR
compared to other forms of research. |
| 2007 |
Social Responsibility and Action
Research Practices
Our rapidly changing world requires forms of research which can
overcome the difficulties that our organizations and the actors
within them face. The final meeting of the AR standing group
will focus on the role of action research as a means of
empowering organizational actors to adapt to new environments,
to become more creative and to become more socially responsible.
Specifically, we will focus on AR in relation to issues of
governance and the relationship between academia and practice.
|
Support
for the Standing Group
The co-chairs Marc Bonnet and Robert MacIntosh have been involved in
the running of a number of previous EGOS sub-themes on Action
Research. The majority of participants at these previous sub-themes
have expressed a desire to be part of building a community of action
researchers. E-mail contact has been maintained with these
participants and the ISEOR group has offered to develop and support
a web-site dedicated to the EGOS Standing Group participants. We are
confident that the evidence from previous colloquia shows continued
interest in the action research stream with a healthy number of
contributors drawn from across Europe, the US and beyond. |
