“What is different about research in business and management studies and other natural and social sciences?”
First of all, the stakeholders who have a direct interest in business and management research are different from those with interests in areas such as anthropology, education, sociology, psychology and other social sciences.
Second, whatever stakeholder group is being considered in business and management studies there is a strong emphasis on the application of knowledge rather than on the creation of knowledge for its own sake.
The third issue which makes business and management research different from other subjects in social science is the very broad nature of this field of study. Business and management studies range from enquiries into stock markets to debates as to how to display the merchandise on the shelves of supermarkets.
The fourth important issue that distinguishes business and management research is the context in which the research takes place. The fast pace of change in both the theory and practice of management creates a challenging context in which to conduct research . For example, in strategic management, a move away from the design school approach to the resource-based view of the firm took place in just a few years.
Should highlight that business and management is a field of study within the broad scope of the social sciences, and thus the research methodologies available to students in business and management studies will be drawn from those also available to other social sciences. (Even though the other says this, operations and supply chain activities of many organization have physical and natural sciences and engineering as their foundation. Hence the entire management research cannot be conducted by social science research methods alone. Productivity research and developing productivity science has to investigate many physical and natural science processes and engineering processes.)
The PhD Degree
To obtain a PhD a candidate needs to have undertaken a substantial programme of original research and in so doing to have produced a material dissertation that makes a valuable and significant contribution to the body of knowledge.
For this degree to be awarded it is essential that the contribution made by the researcher is regarded by his or her examiner to have added something of value to the discipline which is being researched. The contribution made to the body of knowledge may in fact be quite small and indeed it is often said that a PhD adds only a few grains of new knowledge to an already established mountain. However, this does not detract from the value of the degree, which owes as much to a demonstration that the candidate has mastered the research process and the self-development of the degree candidate as it does to the actual result achieved.
While the PhD dissertation needs to be original, such originality (Howard and Sharp, 1983) may have one or more dimensions. Originality can be based on the fact that a new theory is being developed; it can be related to a new or novel research methodology that has been developed in the research programme. Or it can be because the domain in which the theory and the methodology are being applied has not previously been studied in this way.
A PhD candidate is expected to be fully familiar with all the literature appertaining to the subject area that is being researched as well as having a broad knowledge and understanding of the discipline in general. The candidate has to show he or she has understanding of the discipline in general.
The candidate has to show he or she has understood well the discipline and then extend the body of knowledge by developing a new dimension of the discipline. Candidate to know the range of research methodologies available. This is because the researcher has to claim and demonstrate that a sound approach has been taken to do the research.
Updated on 18.1.2022, 16 July 2019, 2 June 2013
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