Towards a Methodology for Developing Evidence-Informed Management Knowledge by Means of Systematic Review
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluate the process of systematic review used in the medical sciences to produce a reliable knowledge stock and enhanced practice by developing context-sensitive research and highlight the challenges in developing an appropriate methodology.
Abstract: Undertaking a review of the literature is an important part of any research project. The researcher both maps and assesses the relevant intellectual territory in order to specify a research question which will further develop the knowledge hase. However, traditional 'narrative' reviews frequently lack thoroughness, and in many cases are not undertaken as genuine pieces of investigatory science. Consequently they can lack a means for making sense of what the collection of studies is saying. These reviews can he hiased by the researcher and often lack rigour. Furthermore, the use of reviews of the available evidence to provide insights and guidance for intervention into operational needs of practitioners and policymakers has largely been of secondary importance. For practitioners, making sense of a mass of often-contrad ictory evidence has hecome progressively harder. The quality of evidence underpinning decision-making and action has heen questioned, for inadequate or incomplete evidence seriously impedes policy formulation and implementation. In exploring ways in which evidence-informed management reviews might be achieved, the authors evaluate the process of systematic review used in the medical sciences. Over the last fifteen years, medical science has attempted to improve the review process hy synthesizing research in a systematic, transparent, and reproducihie manner with the twin aims of enhancing the knowledge hase and informing policymaking and practice. This paper evaluates the extent to which the process of systematic review can be applied to the management field in order to produce a reliable knowledge stock and enhanced practice by developing context-sensitive research. The paper highlights the challenges in developing an appropriate methodology.
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TL;DR: In this article, a review of 100 scholarly articles and 27 grey sources drawn from the period of the three Earth Summits (1992, 2002 and 2012), the authors address four specific deficiencies that have given rise to these limitations: the meaning of SOI, how it has been conceptualized, its treatment as a dichotomous phenomenon and a general failure to reflect more contemporary practices.
Abstract: This article is intended as a contribution to the ongoing conceptual development of Sustainability-Oriented Innovation (SOI) and provides initial guidance on becoming and being sustainable. We organize and integrate the diverse body of empirical literature relating to SOI and, in doing so, develop a synthesized conceptual framework onto which SOI practices and processes can be mapped. SOI involves making intentional changes to an organization’s philosophy and values, as well as to its products, processes or practices to serve the specific purpose of creating and realising social and environmental value in addition to economic returns. A critical reading of previous literature relating to environmental management and sustainability reveals how little attention has been paid to SOI and what exists is only partial. In a review of 100 scholarly articles and 27 grey sources drawn from the period of the three Earth Summits (1992, 2002 and 2012), we address four specific deficiencies that have given rise to these limitations: the meaning of SOI, how it has been conceptualised, its treatment as a dichotomous phenomenon and a general failure to reflect more contemporary practices. We adopt a framework synthesis approach involving first constructing an initial architecture of the landscape grounded in previous studies which is subsequently iteratively tested, shaped, refined and reinforced into a model of SOI with data drawn from included studies: so advancing theoretical development in the field of SOI.
817 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, content analysis is applied for reviewing 22 literature reviews of seven sub-fields of supply chain management, published in English-speaking peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2009.
Abstract: Purpose – Inconsistent research output makes critical literature reviews crucial tools for assessing and developing the knowledge base within a research field. Literature reviews in the field of supply chain management (SCM) are often considerably less stringently presented than other empirical research. Replicability of the research and traceability of the arguments and conclusions call for more transparent and systematic procedures. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the importance of literature reviews in SCM.Design/methodology/approach – Literature reviews are defined as primarily qualitative synthesis. Content analysis is introduced and applied for reviewing 22 literature reviews of seven sub‐fields of SCM, published in English‐speaking peer‐reviewed journals between 2000 and 2009. A descriptive evaluation of the literature body is followed by a content analysis on the basis of a specific pattern of analytic categories derived from a typical research process.Findings – Each paper was assess...
808 citations
TL;DR: A characterisation of the Digital Twin is provided, identification of gaps in knowledge, and required areas of future research are identified: Perceived Benefits; Digital Twin across the Product Life-Cycle; Use-Cases; Technical Implementations; Levels of Fidelity; Data Ownership; and Integration between Virtual Entities; each of which are required to realise the Digital twin.
Abstract: While there has been a recent growth of interest in the Digital Twin, a variety of definitions employed across industry and academia remain. There is a need to consolidate research such to maintain a common understanding of the topic and ensure future research efforts are to be based on solid foundations. Through a systematic literature review and a thematic analysis of 92 Digital Twin publications from the last ten years, this paper provides a characterisation of the Digital Twin, identification of gaps in knowledge, and required areas of future research. In characterising the Digital Twin, the state of the concept, key terminology, and associated processes are identified, discussed, and consolidated to produce 13 characteristics (Physical Entity/Twin; Virtual Entity/Twin; Physical Environment; Virtual Environment; State; Realisation; Metrology; Twinning; Twinning Rate; Physical-to-Virtual Connection/Twinning; Virtual-to-Physical Connection/Twinning; Physical Processes; and Virtual Processes) and a complete framework of the Digital Twin and its process of operation. Following this characterisation, seven knowledge gaps and topics for future research focus are identified: Perceived Benefits; Digital Twin across the Product Life-Cycle; Use-Cases; Technical Implementations; Levels of Fidelity; Data Ownership; and Integration between Virtual Entities; each of which are required to realise the Digital Twin.
775 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic review of empirical studies published between 1993 and 2003 is presented, which brings together a set of variables related to the innovation process and the internal and contextual factors driving it.
743 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the CIMO-logic is extended to the design proposition notion, which involves a combination of a problematic Context, for which the design propositions suggests a certain Intervention type, to produce, through specified generative Mechanisms, the intended Outcome(s) of the intended intervention type.
Abstract: The field of organization and management studies has a significant and ever increasing published research base, often criticized as fragmented and of limited relevance for practice A design science approach to management has argued that more room for the development of solution-oriented or prescriptive knowledge would increase its relevance In this article we discuss prescriptive knowledge cast in the form of design propositions following the so-called 'CIMO-logic', extending previous applications of the design proposition notion This logic involves a combination of a problematic Context, for which the design proposition suggests a certain Intervention type, to produce, through specified generative Mechanisms, the intended Outcome(s) We discuss how design-oriented research synthesis provides a vehicle for addressing fragmentation and increasing the chances of application Moreover, we explore how the development of design propositions can result from synthesizing previously published research and illu
729 citations
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Book•
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: The authors argued that the ways in which knowledge is produced are undergoing fundamental changes at the end of the twentieth century and that these changes mark a distinct shift into a new mode of knowledge production which is replacing or reforming established institutions, disciplines, practices and policies.
Abstract: In this provocative and broad-ranging work, a distinguished team of authors argues that the ways in which knowledge scientific, social and cultural is produced are undergoing fundamental changes at the end of the twentieth century. They claim that these changes mark a distinct shift into a new mode of knowledge production which is replacing or reforming established institutions, disciplines, practices and policies. Identifying a range of features of the new moder of knowledge production reflexivity, transdisciplinarity, heterogeneity the authors show the connections between these features and the changing role of knowledge in social relations. While the knowledge produced by research and development in science and technology (both public and industrial) is accorded central concern, the authors also outline the changing dimensions of social scientific and humanities knowledge and the relations between the production of knowledge and its dissemination through education. Placing science policy and scientific knowledge in its broader context within contemporary societies, this book will be essential reading for all those concerned with the changing nature of knowledge, with the social study of science, with educational systems, and with the relations between R&D and social, economic and technological development.
7,486 citations
TL;DR: The meta-analysis of research as discussed by the authors is an important feature of the research and evaluation enterprise, and it has been widely used in the field of computer science and computer engineering, especially in the context of education.
Abstract: M y subject is data analysis at three levels. Primary analysis is the original analysis of data in a research study. It is what one typically imagines as the application of statistical methods. Secondary analysis is the re-analysis of data for the purpose of answering the original research question with better statistical techniques, or answering new questions with old data. Secondary analysis is an important feature of the research and evaluation enterprise. Tom Cook (1974) at Northwestern University has written about its purposes and methods. Some of our best methodologists have pursued secondary analyses in such grand style that its importance has eclipsed that of the primary analysis. We can cite with pride some state of the art documents: the MostellerMoynihan secondary analysis of the Coleman study; the Campbell-Erlebacher analysis of the Ohio-Westinghouse Headstart evaluation; and the Elashoff-Snow secondary analysis of Pygmalion in the Classroom, to name three. About all that can effectively be done to insure that secondary analyses of important studies are carried out is to see that the data from the original studies are preserved and that secondary analyses are funded. The preservation of original data could improve. Last month, one of our graduate students, Karl White, spent 15 hours and made 30 phone calls attempting to obtain from the government a copy of the data tapes for the Coleman study only to learn in the end that they had been irretrievably filed in unmarked tape cannisters with some 2,000 other unmarked data tapes. Tom Cook remarked in an Annual Meeting symposium on secondary analysis that you can get the data if you have chutzpah or if you're socio metrically well-connected. The whole business is too important to be treated so casually. On the other extreme, one can point with satisfaction to the ready availability to any researcher of the data tapes from Project TALENT or the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Others are advancing the practice of secondary analysis. My major interest currently is in what we have come to call—not for want of a less pretentious name—the meta-analysis of research. The term is a bit grand, but it is precise, and apt, and in the spirit of "metamathematics," "meta-psychology," and "meta-evaluation." Meta-analysis refers to the analysis of analyses. I use it to refer to the statistical analysis of a large collection of analysis results from individual studies for the purpose of integrating the findings. It connotes a rigorous alternative to the casual, narrative discussions of research studies which typify our attempts to make sense of the rapidly expanding research literature. The need for the meta-analysis of research is clear. The literature on dozens of topics in education is growing at an astounding rate. In five years time, researchers can produce literally hundreds of studies on IQ and creativity, or impulsive vs. reflective cognitive styles, or any other topic.
4,509 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: This book discusses the evolution of Science and Society, the transformation of Knowledge Institutions, and the role of Universities in Knowledge Production.
Abstract: Preface. Chapter 1: The Transformation of Society. Chapter 2: Beyond Modernity -- Breaching the Frontiers. Chapter 3: The Co--Evolution of Science and Society. Chapter 4: The Context Speaks Back. Chapter 5: The Transformation of Knowledge Institutions. Chapter 6: The Role of Universities in Knowledge Production. Chapter 7: How does Contextualization Happen?. Chapter 8: Weakly Contextualized Knowledge. Chapter 9: Strongly Contextualized Knowledge. Chapter 10: Contextualization in the Middle Range. Chapter 11: From Reliable Knowledge to Socially Robust Knowledge. Chapter 12: The Epistemological Core?. Chapter 13: Science Moves to the Agora. Chapter 14: Socially Distributed Expertise. Chapter 15: Re--Visioning Science. Chapter 16: Re--Thinking Science is not Science Re--Thought. References. Index
3,513 citations
TL;DR: Two views of how qualitative methods might be judged are outlined and it is argued that qualitative research can be assessed according to two broad criteria: validity and relevance.
Abstract: This is the first in a series of three articles
In the past decade, qualitative methods have become more commonplace in areas such as health services research and health technology assessment, and there has been a corresponding rise in the reporting of qualitative research studies in medical and related journals.1 Interest in these methods and their wider exposure in health research has led to necessary scrutiny of qualitative research. Researchers from other traditions are increasingly concerned to understand qualitative methods and, most importantly, to examine the claims researchers make about the findings obtained from these methods.
The status of all forms of research depends on the quality of the methods used. In qualitative research, concern about assessing quality has manifested itself recently in the proliferation of guidelines for doing and judging qualitative work.2–5 Users and funders of research have had an important role in developing these guidelines as they become increasingly familiar with qualitative methods, but require some means of assessing their quality and of distinguishing “good” and “poor” quality research. However, the issue of “quality” in qualitative research is part of a much larger and contested debate about the nature of the knowledge produced by qualitative research, whether its quality can legitimately be judged, and, if so, how. This paper cannot do full justice to this wider epistemological debate. Rather it outlines two views of how qualitative methods might be judged and argues that qualitative research can be assessed according to two broad criteria: validity and relevance.
#### Summary points
Qualitative methods are now widely used and increasingly accepted in health research, but quality in qualitative research is a mystery to many health services researchers
There is considerable debate over the nature of the knowledge produced by such methods and how such research should be judged
Antirealists argue …
3,075 citations
Book•
28 Dec 2001TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss academic disciplines overlaps, boundaries and specialisms aspects of community life patterns of communication academic careers and the wider context implications for theory and practice in the context of communication.
Abstract: Points of departure academic disciplines overlaps, boundaries and specialisms aspects of community life patterns of communication academic careers the wider context implications for theory and practice. Appendix: research issues.
2,981 citations