Alexander T. Nicolai

That’s Relevant! Different Forms of Practical Relevance in Management Science

Recently there has been an intense debate amongst scholars on how to increase the practical relevance of research. Although the notion of ‘relevance’ is frequently mentioned in the literature, it is hardly ever defined and may have different, even contradictory, meanings in different contexts. This article presents a taxonomy of different forms of relevance, based on a textual analysis of the ‘relevance literature’ and of a set of 450 articles in three leading academic management journals that are renowned for their practical relevance. The main categories of this taxonomy are then discussed against the background of different aspects of the social dynamics of science in order to ascertain the forms of relevance that can justifiably be expected from management science.

The Practical Relevance of Management Research: Turning the Debate on Relevance into a Rigorous Scientific Research Program

AbstractHow and to what extent practitioners use the scientific results of management studies is of great concern to management scholars and has given rise to a considerable body of literature. In ...

Success Factor Research Overcoming the Trade-Off Between Rigor and Relevance?

Success factor studies seem to offer a way out of the rigor verses relevance dilemma: Researchers, in their attempts to identify factors that are causes of performance and can be manipulated by managers, apply sophisticated analyses in rigorous ways. As it turns out, however, the findings of performance analyses usually contradict each other, and practitioners are unable to follow and to evaluate the discussions between the researchers that are published in scientific journals. Thus, rather than a correspondence, as implied by performance studies, a trade-off between rigor and relevance is the overall outcome of this kind of research. On the basis of sociological concepts, the authors show that this effect is a consequence of the inner dynamics of science as a social system. This means that the potential of performance research to create actionable knowledge is limited.

What Wall Street Wants – Exploring the Role of Security Analysts in the Evolution and Spread of Management Concepts

This paper discusses the role of security analysts in the dissemination of popular management concepts, drawing on neo-institutional and management fashion theory. Focusing on the core competence concept, we investigate whether security analysts swing with the popularity of a management concept or serve as a corrective that secures the rationality of managerial actions. Through our analysis, which uses data for US-based firms spanning the period 1990–2002, we show that during the 1990s analysts systematically overvalued the future earnings of refocusing firms that incorporated principles derived from the core competence concept. Moreover, we present evidence that their valuations were positively influenced by the popularity of the core competence discourse and exhibited a systematic bias. Our results suggest a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics underlying the popularization processes of management concepts. In addition to the classical bandwagon-effects discussed in neo-institutional theory, we argue that the mediating role of security analysts and their impact on stock-market prices promote the diffusion of new management concepts.

Between Sweet Harmony and a Clash of Cultures: Does a Joint Academic–Practitioner Review Reconcile Rigor and Relevance?

A substantial body of literature discusses the so-called rigor—relevance gap in management science and possible ways of overcoming it. A frequently advocated approach, in line with Gibbons, Limoges, Nowotny, Schwartz, and Trow’s “Mode 2” idea of creating “hybrid fora,” is the introduction of joint academic—practitioner review processes in management journals. In an empirical case study of one of the oldest management journals in the world, the authors show that the demands of academic and practitioner reviewers are hardly compatible, and, to some extent, inversely correlated. In contrast to other studies, here the authors show that the reason for the tension between academics and practitioners with regard to this issue does not lie in differences in the evaluation criteria of each group. Rather, the different worldviews of academics and practitioners lead to different interpretations of these criteria and a striking incongruence between the two groups’ ideas of practical relevance.

Strategic learning in Germany's largest companies

Over the past few years, corporate universities, as they are called, have become increasingly common. Independent of this, strategy process theory is also finding a place in international management research. In this paper, it will be shown that strategy process theory demonstrates an affinity with the concept of the corporate university. A survey of the 1,000 largest German companies for the “Federal Ministry of Education and Research” is examining for the first time how widespread corporate universities are in Germany and how they are organized. On the basis of this empirical data it will be shown to what extent the concept of the corporate university in practice is in line with the theoretical findings of strategy process theory.

Scientification, immune responses, and reflection

Purpose – There is little consensus among academics on how to treat management fashions. The aim of this paper is to point out how management scientists have previously dealt with consulting concepts and which ways of dealing with them seem to be appropriate.Design/methodology/approach – The debate surrounding management fashions alludes to the topic, how academia demarks its borders. Thus, a concept is required with which management studies and practice can be described as distinct entities in order to juxtapose the two spheres. This is done by applying Niklas Luhmanns systems theory to the realm of management studies.Findings – The development of academias attitude toward consulting concepts can be subdivided into three different phases: management academics considered consulting concepts as quasi‐scientific element; these concepts were then interpreted as a “foreign body”: and, finally, they were an object of scientific reflection. The last phase includes a transformation that has started only recent...

De-Diversification Activities of German Corporations from 1988 to 2002: Perspectives from Agency and Management Fashion Theory

In the past, many countries have witnessed de-diversification waves. In this paper we illustrate that the same phenomenon can be observed in Germany. We discuss different theoretical explanations for the occurrence of de-diversification: the predominant agency theory approach and the less common neo-institutionalist/management fashion theory. We present data on 360 divestitures by German corporations between 1988 and 2002 and obtain additional data from a literature database. The results show that management fashions can influence the impact of capital markets. We suggest strengthening the link between finance theory and research in strategy and organization.

Kritik der Mode, Managementmoden zu kritisieren

Das Verhaltnis von jenen Konzepten, die als „Managementmoden“ bezeichnet werden, und dem wissenschaftlichen Diskurs der Managementlehre ist noch weitgehend ungeklart. Die zumeist beraterinduzierten Managementmoden besitzen ihren Ursprung regelmasig auserhalb der Wissenschaft im engeren Sinne. Managementmoden erlangen ihre Popularitat aus der Dynamik, die aus dem Zusammenspiel von Beratungsindustrie, Wirtschaftsmedien, Managementbestsellern, Business Schools, „Management-Gurus“ sowie der Fuhrungspraxis offentlich gut sichtbarer Pionierunternehmen erwachst. Auch die Wissenschaft ist in diese Dynamik der gegenseitigen Beeinflussung eingebunden. Als Initiator einer Mode tritt sie jedoch praktisch nie auf. Die Rolle, die die Managementwissenschaften hinsichtlich der Modezyklen einnehmen, hat sich in den letzten Jahrzehnten gewandelt. Dieser Artikel zeichnet am Beispiel der wissenschaftlichen Disziplin des Strategischen Managements diese Entwicklung nach. Dazu wird die Disziplin als ein soziales System im Sinne der Luhmannschen Systemtheorie verstanden. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird versucht, einen Beitrag zur Klarung des Verhaltnisses der Managementwissenschaften zu den beraterinduzierten Managementmoden zu leisten. Es zeigt sich, das zur Beurteilung von Managementmoden ihre Entstehungs- und Verwendungskontext zu berucksichtigen ist. Geschieht dies, wird deutlich, das sie weder als ein quasi-wissenschaftliches Element zu behandeln sind noch zwingend als ein Symptom defizitarer Praxis. Statt dessen wird vorgeschlagen, Managementmoden zum Gegenstand wissenschaftlicher Reflexion zu machen und ihre Funktionalitat bzw.

Kapitalmarktkonforme Unternehmensführung: Eine Analyse im Lichte der jüngeren Strategieprozesslehre

SummaryThis article examines recent developments that cause an increasingly tight coupling between the capital markets and top management decision-making. As a consequence, a so-called capital marked-oriented type of strategy development is gaining ground. This type is characterised by a CEO-focus, a rational planning process, and the idea of generic strategies. Recent research on the strategy process disputes the descriptive and prescriptive validity of this concept. In this view it becomes evident that the tight coupling is connected to strategy issues that go beyond the agency-problem. One of the shortcomings of the agency perspective is the neglect of the entrepreneurial content of the strategy process.