John Stephens

Business Action Research in Practice—A Strategic Conversation About Conducting Action Research in Business Organizations

The objectiveof this paper is to provide “practitioner researchers” with insights into the initial findings around the challenges of conducting “business action research in practice” in “commercial” settings on the basis of experiences of a PhD cohort at Monash University in the first 18 months of candidature. In performing the role of a concluding paper, it sets out a generic framework for action research that the cohort has come to embrace. In doing so, it draws on emergent themes spread across the six diverse topics that are the subject of action research interventions of the cohort members. The paper then identifies and analyses the common patterns that have emerged and offers observations and conclusions for those involved in practitioner research.

Action Research: Its Role in the University/Business Relationship

The Action Research (AR) PhD program at Monash University had its genesis in Systems Thinking and Organizational Learning. This paper discusses the role of the university in AR projects in business and the central role that AR projects can have in a Facultys strategic positioning. The issues that have emerged in the project to date are discussed.

Action Learning as a Mindset—The Evolution of PICCO

This paper investigates action learning as a “maintenance of mindset.” It is an account of a personal evolution from a 4-year work in progress Action Research (AR) study exploring organizational viability. That study, involving two separate organizations and four cycles of AR, has seen the researcher and to some extent the organizations develop action-learning mindsets. The paper is an attempt to step outside the study and its associated learning from an organizational perspective and to link the threads of learning from the mindset of an action researcher. The paper suggests that adopting the mindset of an action researcher favors the transfer of learning from one organizational situation to another. Advocating that action researchers do not restart their initial methodologies, it is contended that the second organization has gained advantage of learning from the first. It is concluded that action learning mindsets articulate cumulative wisdom from organizational and methodological perspectives.

Leadership in network learning: business action research at Monash University

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain the emergent nature of leadership in a university‐based learning network of mature‐aged practitioner‐scholars.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on previously published work, interviews, and current research.Findings – The paper finds that once initial structures have been established, the leadership role falls to different members depending on the needs of the group. Intellectual leadership becomes important in this setting.Research limitations/implications – The study is drawn from a single case although supported by research done in a similar group in the UK. Research indicates that cohorts and support networks increase success rates in PhD completions. This paper outlines one example of the structures and processes of a successful one.Practical implications – There is significant leverage for universities in developing the network structures and process, beyond the simple supervisor/student relationship that support doctoral students. It foc...