Universities, governments, faculty-evaluation committees,
grant-bestowing institutions, scholars, and accreditation organizations
have increasingly insisted on identifying and placing value on research
impact. Valuation of research and scholarly output predicts innovation,
affects careers, and guides resource allocations worldwide.
This book joins the burgeoning conversation in management and the social
sciences with theoretical and applied discussions of the concepts,
measurements, costs and benefits that accrue to pursuing scholarly
impact. The author draws on a pioneering study by the Academy of
Management that asked its global membership of 20,000 how they assessed
scholarly impact, including rankings and impact factors, and how
institutions supported this pursuit. Through qualitative and
quantitative cross-country analysis by professorial rank, geographical
region and support for various metrics, as well as exploration of
parallel discussions in the social and hard sciences, the author argues
for an urgent re-examination of the visible and invisible hands of
research evaluation that shape lives and global societies.
The book presents original data on the external impacts of management
research on policy, through the media, and in interest displayed by
constituencies, which will make the book of interest to researchers,
academics and students in the fields of business and management.
Recommendations from leading management scholars and from the data
follow for more valid, more reliable and less cynical metrics of
research impact.
