Discussion: View Thread

  • 1.  Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

    Posted 12-03-2015 07:55

    There's a story in today's Chronicle of Higher Education about a systemic problem in science: many people believe that risky, potentially curve jumping research should be done, but the entire system of hiring, P&T, and grants is skewed in favor of predictable results. I think we have similar issues despite our much lower reliance on grants.


    Fifteen years ago or so when I was PDW Chair for the ENTP division, I set about trying to find junior scholars (doctoral students or assistant professors) who were taking risks in their work, sinning bravely as they say. As I asked around among those who had been innovative themselves but now had doctoral students themselves, the answers were discouraging. Not that no names came up, but almost none. I am sure most of us can think of someone who has taken risks and survived - I think of Jeff Robinson at Rutgers for example.


    But how many of us have systems in our departments and universities that can encourage risky work? Moreover, how many of us even have systems to encourage risky research among more senior scholars? That's at the local level. The culture of journals and their rankings - especially I would say in the UK - are hugely slanted against truly innovative work. Moreover, the increasing concentration of ownership among journals - you may have seen that Ashgate is now part of a large corporation - surely can't help.


    Hopefully some people know of more encouraging signs.


    Alex


    Alex Stewart, Ph.D.
    Professor of Management
    Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship
    Marquette University
    Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
    Office: 414 288-7188
    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!


  • 2.  Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

    Posted 12-03-2015 08:54

    Alex – How are you defining risky research?  I see a strong bias towards topics and methods that increase short term publication success for junior faculty. It's simply necessary to build a publication record and to make tenure.  However, risk does not necessarily equal innovation.  I believe that innovative research is rewarded by publication and citations.  As reviewer, I certainly appreciate and support innovative work.

     

    Amanda

     

    Amanda Elam, PhD

    President, Galaxy Diagnostics

    Research Advisor, NC State University

    Research Director, Babson CWEL

     

    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Stewart, Alex
    Sent: Thursday, December 3, 2015 7:55 AM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: [ENTREP] Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

     

    There's a story in today's Chronicle of Higher Education about a systemic problem in science: many people believe that risky, potentially curve jumping research should be done, but the entire system of hiring, P&T, and grants is skewed in favor of predictable results. I think we have similar issues despite our much lower reliance on grants.

     

    Fifteen years ago or so when I was PDW Chair for the ENTP division, I set about trying to find junior scholars (doctoral students or assistant professors) who were taking risks in their work, sinning bravely as they say. As I asked around among those who had been innovative themselves but now had doctoral students themselves, the answers were discouraging. Not that no names came up, but almost none. I am sure most of us can think of someone who has taken risks and survived - I think of Jeff Robinson at Rutgers for example.

     

    But how many of us have systems in our departments and universities that can encourage risky work? Moreover, how many of us even have systems to encourage risky research among more senior scholars? That's at the local level. The culture of journals and their rankings - especially I would say in the UK - are hugely slanted against truly innovative work. Moreover, the increasing concentration of ownership among journals - you may have seen that Ashgate is now part of a large corporation - surely can't help.

     

    Hopefully some people know of more encouraging signs.

     

    Alex

     

    Alex Stewart, Ph.D.
    Professor of Management
    Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship
    Marquette University
    Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
    Office: 414 288-7188

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!


  • 3.  Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

    Posted 12-03-2015 10:18
    Hi Everybody,

    Long time reader, first time contributor, but I just couldn't help myself this time.

    Dean Shepherd and I wrote a paper about this issue several years ago, which grappled with some of these issues, especially what "risky research" means to tenure track researchers.  Here's the reference:

    McMullen, J. S., & Shepherd, D. A. (2006). Encouraging Consensus‐Challenging Research in Universities*. Journal of Management Studies, 43(8), 1643-1669.

    I wanted to write that paper because I was starting off my career and wanted to do consensus-challenging research, but I also wanted to understand the consequences of employing such a career strategy.  Much of what Dean and I discovered in that research has only intensified over the years as competitive pressures have made institutional incentives that much more uniform.  

    The challenge for me personally, however, is not the incentives and institutional pressures; instead, it is having the moral courage to conduct research that I believe is important and valuable even though I know the academy may not yet value it, at least not yet.  Will I be able to meet the high productivity bar of my colleagues whose research or approach is more mainstream?  Some of us are drawn to topics that are mainstream (count your blessings you lucky dogs), but some of us just have to let our freak flags fly.  What is the cost of doing research we care about and do we have the courage to pay this price? 

    Like other innovations, consensus-challenging research is uncertain.  Just like, routine must be the norm for innovation to mean anything, incremental, consensus building research has to be the norm for any notion of uncertain, consensus-challenging research to make sense.  Sometimes uncertainty bearing pays off economically, but more often it does not.  Therefore, uncertain payoffs are likely to be motivated by incentives that are not economic - e.g., intrinsic motivation such as intellectual curiosity or feeling like we have said something original if that's even possible.  Perhaps, this is how it should be.

    So, the real question for me is and has been through much of my career: how much is it worth to me in terms of institutional status, job security, promotion, or raises to forgo incremental publications and the accolades that come with those to write papers I care about?  What is the optimal blend that I might stay employed yet truly care deeply about what I write?  Can I live with socio-emotional costs of not being as productive as my colleagues?  

    For the most part, I have been blessed to be surrounded by colleagues who have valued me and what I do, but I also sought to work for institutions and with colleagues who I believed valued what I valued or at least had that capacity.

    Can the system be better?  Absolutely, it could be more forgiving.  We could lower the institutional costs of innovative research.  But, the system only has as much power as you and I choose to give it over our hearts and minds.  Great leaders throughout history ranging from Jesus to Gandhi to King to Mandella have confronted a similar choice between compliance and civil disobedience and have had the moral courage to choose civil disobedience despite consequences that dwarf what you and I face.  Changing the system starts first with having the moral courage to make peace with the worst possible outcome and yet still having the conviction to advance what we believe in.

    So, let us ask what we might change "out there" to make science more inclusive, but let us not forget to ask what we need to change in ourselves.  Like the entrepreneurs we study, meaningful work has a price, and may only be meaningful because it does.

    Best,
    Jeff       






    On Dec 3, 2015, at 8:54 AM, Amanda Elam <amanda.elam@gmail.com> wrote:

    Alex – How are you defining risky research?  I see a strong bias towards topics and methods that increase short term publication success for junior faculty. It's simply necessary to build a publication record and to make tenure.  However, risk does not necessarily equal innovation.  I believe that innovative research is rewarded by publication and citations.  As reviewer, I certainly appreciate and support innovative work. 
     
    Amanda
     
    Amanda Elam, PhD
    President, Galaxy Diagnostics
    Research Advisor, NC State University
    Research Director, Babson CWEL
    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Stewart, Alex
    Sent: Thursday, December 3, 2015 7:55 AM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: [ENTREP] Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?
     
    There's a story in today's Chronicle of Higher Education about a systemic problem in science: many people believe that risky, potentially curve jumping research should be done, but the entire system of hiring, P&T, and grants is skewed in favor of predictable results. I think we have similar issues despite our much lower reliance on grants.
     
    Fifteen years ago or so when I was PDW Chair for the ENTP division, I set about trying to find junior scholars (doctoral students or assistant professors) who were taking risks in their work, sinning bravely as they say. As I asked around among those who had been innovative themselves but now had doctoral students themselves, the answers were discouraging. Not that no names came up, but almost none. I am sure most of us can think of someone who has taken risks and survived - I think of Jeff Robinson at Rutgers for example. 
     
    But how many of us have systems in our departments and universities that can encourage risky work? Moreover, how many of us even have systems to encourage risky research among more senior scholars? That's at the local level. The culture of journals and their rankings - especially I would say in the UK - are hugely slanted against truly innovative work. Moreover, the increasing concentration of ownership among journals - you may have seen that Ashgate is now part of a large corporation - surely can't help. 
     
    Hopefully some people know of more encouraging signs.
     
    Alex
     
    Alex Stewart, Ph.D.
    Professor of Management
    Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship
    Marquette University
    Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
    Office: 414 288-7188
    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO! 
    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!


  • 4.  Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

    Posted 12-03-2015 11:16

    Alex,

     

    Thank you for bringing up this very important issue. Anne Tsui (2013: 378) summarized what is going on succinctly as follows: "faculty members are responding to the requirements of the measurement system. When only the number of papers in certain outlets count, rational and good people will do whatever it takes to meet the expectations." Moreover, she also wrote that "research has changed its focus and primary goal from producing knowledge to publishing papers, from improving practice to advancing a researcher's own career" (2013: 376). It seems that unless we change the way we measure and reward faculty performance, things won't change. But, is this possible? If yes, how should we do it, precisely?

     

    We recently offered a modest yet actionable proposal that we hope will get the conversation started regarding how to, VERY specifically, measure and reward faculty performance so that the type of impactful, meaningful, and "risky" research you describe will actually happen:

     

    ·       Aguinis, H., Shapiro, D. L., Antonacopoulou, E., & Cummings, T. G. 2014. Scholarly impact: A pluralist conceptualization. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 13: 623-639. [available at http://mypage.iu.edu/~haguinis/pubs.html]

     

    Also, Anne Tsui's article is the following:

     

    ·       Tsui, A. S. 2013b. Editorial: The spirit of science and socially responsible scholarship. Management and Organization Review, 9: 375–394.

     

    Cheers from the Iberoamerican Academy of Management conference in Santiago, Chile!

     

    --Herman.

     

    Herman Aguinis

    John F. Mee Chair of Management

    Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources

    Founding and Managing Director, Institute for Global Organizational Effectiveness

     

    Indiana University

    Kelley School of Business

    http://mypage.iu.edu/~haguinis/

     

     

    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Stewart, Alex
    Sent: Thursday, December 3, 2015 7:55 AM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: [ENTREP] Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

     

    There's a story in today's Chronicle of Higher Education about a systemic problem in science: many people believe that risky, potentially curve jumping research should be done, but the entire system of hiring, P&T, and grants is skewed in favor of predictable results. I think we have similar issues despite our much lower reliance on grants.

     

    Fifteen years ago or so when I was PDW Chair for the ENTP division, I set about trying to find junior scholars (doctoral students or assistant professors) who were taking risks in their work, sinning bravely as they say. As I asked around among those who had been innovative themselves but now had doctoral students themselves, the answers were discouraging. Not that no names came up, but almost none. I am sure most of us can think of someone who has taken risks and survived - I think of Jeff Robinson at Rutgers for example. 

     

    But how many of us have systems in our departments and universities that can encourage risky work? Moreover, how many of us even have systems to encourage risky research among more senior scholars? That's at the local level. The culture of journals and their rankings - especially I would say in the UK - are hugely slanted against truly innovative work. Moreover, the increasing concentration of ownership among journals - you may have seen that Ashgate is now part of a large corporation - surely can't help. 

     

    Hopefully some people know of more encouraging signs.

     

    Alex

     

    Alex Stewart, Ph.D.
    Professor of Management
    Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship
    Marquette University
    Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
    Office: 414 288-7188

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!


  • 5.  Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

    Posted 12-03-2015 11:58
    Interesting discussion but before we start changing a system that has worked pretty well for the better part of 100 years do we have any real evidence, not anecdotes,  that there is less 'risky' research being undertaken today and that research motivated by the need to publish is less impactful then the research of yesteryear? The observations surrounding the dearth of 'risky' research or the difficulty of publishing  'risky' research strikes me as potentially highly biased observations. I'm a contrarian by nature, so let's see some evidence to support the contentions, they are not even a well framed hypotheses at this point, that we have a dearth of 'risky' research and that our research is having less impact today then a decade or two or three ago.



    David Deeds
    Sandra Schulze Professor of Entrepreneurship
    Schulze School of Entrepreneurship
    Opus College of Business
    The University of St. Thomas
    1000 Lasalle Ave.
    214-682-5049(Cell)
    Minneapolis, MN

    On Thu, Dec 3, 2015 at 10:16 AM, Aguinis, Herman <haguinis@indiana.edu> wrote:

    Alex,

     

    Thank you for bringing up this very important issue. Anne Tsui (2013: 378) summarized what is going on succinctly as follows: "faculty members are responding to the requirements of the measurement system. When only the number of papers in certain outlets count, rational and good people will do whatever it takes to meet the expectations." Moreover, she also wrote that "research has changed its focus and primary goal from producing knowledge to publishing papers, from improving practice to advancing a researcher's own career" (2013: 376). It seems that unless we change the way we measure and reward faculty performance, things won't change. But, is this possible? If yes, how should we do it, precisely?

     

    We recently offered a modest yet actionable proposal that we hope will get the conversation started regarding how to, VERY specifically, measure and reward faculty performance so that the type of impactful, meaningful, and "risky" research you describe will actually happen:

     

    ·       Aguinis, H., Shapiro, D. L., Antonacopoulou, E., & Cummings, T. G. 2014. Scholarly impact: A pluralist conceptualization. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 13: 623-639. [available at http://mypage.iu.edu/~haguinis/pubs.html]

     

    Also, Anne Tsui's article is the following:

     

    ·       Tsui, A. S. 2013b. Editorial: The spirit of science and socially responsible scholarship. Management and Organization Review, 9: 375–394.

     

    Cheers from the Iberoamerican Academy of Management conference in Santiago, Chile!

     

    --Herman.

     

    Herman Aguinis

    John F. Mee Chair of Management

    Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources

    Founding and Managing Director, Institute for Global Organizational Effectiveness

     

    Indiana University

    Kelley School of Business

    http://mypage.iu.edu/~haguinis/

     

     

    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Stewart, Alex
    Sent: Thursday, December 3, 2015 7:55 AM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: [ENTREP] Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

     

    There's a story in today's Chronicle of Higher Education about a systemic problem in science: many people believe that risky, potentially curve jumping research should be done, but the entire system of hiring, P&T, and grants is skewed in favor of predictable results. I think we have similar issues despite our much lower reliance on grants.

     

    Fifteen years ago or so when I was PDW Chair for the ENTP division, I set about trying to find junior scholars (doctoral students or assistant professors) who were taking risks in their work, sinning bravely as they say. As I asked around among those who had been innovative themselves but now had doctoral students themselves, the answers were discouraging. Not that no names came up, but almost none. I am sure most of us can think of someone who has taken risks and survived - I think of Jeff Robinson at Rutgers for example. 

     

    But how many of us have systems in our departments and universities that can encourage risky work? Moreover, how many of us even have systems to encourage risky research among more senior scholars? That's at the local level. The culture of journals and their rankings - especially I would say in the UK - are hugely slanted against truly innovative work. Moreover, the increasing concentration of ownership among journals - you may have seen that Ashgate is now part of a large corporation - surely can't help. 

     

    Hopefully some people know of more encouraging signs.

     

    Alex

     

    Alex Stewart, Ph.D.
    Professor of Management
    Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship
    Marquette University
    Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
    Office: 414 288-7188

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!


  • 6.  Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

    Posted 12-03-2015 12:20

    There is a fine line between risky and dumb ... with the distinction often determined by the outcome. I applaud skilled seasoned scholars like Jeff who are willing to undertake 'risky' projects but fear for junior scholars, who have yet to develop those skills and lack seasoning, to do the same.  So let's do what Dave suggests: Get some data first!

     

    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of David Deeds
    Sent: Thursday, December 3, 2015 9:58 AM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: [ENTREP] Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

     

    Interesting discussion but before we start changing a system that has worked pretty well for the better part of 100 years do we have any real evidence, not anecdotes,  that there is less 'risky' research being undertaken today and that research motivated by the need to publish is less impactful then the research of yesteryear? The observations surrounding the dearth of 'risky' research or the difficulty of publishing  'risky' research strikes me as potentially highly biased observations. I'm a contrarian by nature, so let's see some evidence to support the contentions, they are not even a well framed hypotheses at this point, that we have a dearth of 'risky' research and that our research is having less impact today then a decade or two or three ago.


    David Deeds
    Sandra Schulze Professor of Entrepreneurship
    Schulze School of Entrepreneurship
    Opus College of Business
    The University of St. Thomas
    1000 Lasalle Ave.
    214-682-5049(Cell)
    Minneapolis, MN

     

    On Thu, Dec 3, 2015 at 10:16 AM, Aguinis, Herman <haguinis@indiana.edu> wrote:

    Alex,

     

    Thank you for bringing up this very important issue. Anne Tsui (2013: 378) summarized what is going on succinctly as follows: "faculty members are responding to the requirements of the measurement system. When only the number of papers in certain outlets count, rational and good people will do whatever it takes to meet the expectations." Moreover, she also wrote that "research has changed its focus and primary goal from producing knowledge to publishing papers, from improving practice to advancing a researcher's own career" (2013: 376). It seems that unless we change the way we measure and reward faculty performance, things won't change. But, is this possible? If yes, how should we do it, precisely?

     

    We recently offered a modest yet actionable proposal that we hope will get the conversation started regarding how to, VERY specifically, measure and reward faculty performance so that the type of impactful, meaningful, and "risky" research you describe will actually happen:

     

    ·       Aguinis, H., Shapiro, D. L., Antonacopoulou, E., & Cummings, T. G. 2014. Scholarly impact: A pluralist conceptualization. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 13: 623-639. [available at http://mypage.iu.edu/~haguinis/pubs.html]

     

    Also, Anne Tsui's article is the following:

     

    ·       Tsui, A. S. 2013b. Editorial: The spirit of science and socially responsible scholarship. Management and Organization Review, 9: 375–394.

     

    Cheers from the Iberoamerican Academy of Management conference in Santiago, Chile!

     

    --Herman.

     

    Herman Aguinis

    John F. Mee Chair of Management

    Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources

    Founding and Managing Director, Institute for Global Organizational Effectiveness

     

    Indiana University

    Kelley School of Business

    http://mypage.iu.edu/~haguinis/

     

     

    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Stewart, Alex
    Sent: Thursday, December 3, 2015 7:55 AM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: [ENTREP] Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

     

    There's a story in today's Chronicle of Higher Education about a systemic problem in science: many people believe that risky, potentially curve jumping research should be done, but the entire system of hiring, P&T, and grants is skewed in favor of predictable results. I think we have similar issues despite our much lower reliance on grants.

     

    Fifteen years ago or so when I was PDW Chair for the ENTP division, I set about trying to find junior scholars (doctoral students or assistant professors) who were taking risks in their work, sinning bravely as they say. As I asked around among those who had been innovative themselves but now had doctoral students themselves, the answers were discouraging. Not that no names came up, but almost none. I am sure most of us can think of someone who has taken risks and survived - I think of Jeff Robinson at Rutgers for example. 

     

    But how many of us have systems in our departments and universities that can encourage risky work? Moreover, how many of us even have systems to encourage risky research among more senior scholars? That's at the local level. The culture of journals and their rankings - especially I would say in the UK - are hugely slanted against truly innovative work. Moreover, the increasing concentration of ownership among journals - you may have seen that Ashgate is now part of a large corporation - surely can't help. 

     

    Hopefully some people know of more encouraging signs.

     

    Alex

     

    Alex Stewart, Ph.D.
    Professor of Management
    Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship
    Marquette University
    Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
    Office: 414 288-7188

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!

     

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!


  • 7.  Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

    Posted 12-03-2015 13:51
    What an interesting conversation. I don't think I have contributed to this list serve in nearly 10 years.  Many of my opinions on this subject have been expressed by other colleagues, perhaps in my opinion most eloquently by Jeff McMullen (coincidentally we studied together at the Univ of Colorado 15 years ago).

    I do not think that it is necessary for risky, ground breaking scholarship to only emerge from senior scholars. I have come to appreciate that the quality of mentoring scholars receive during their Ph.D. program has a big impact on the trajectory of most scholars and that may be a bigger factor in the capability of a scholar (even a junior one) to conduct ground breaking research.  Speaking of Jeff, he demonstrated an aptitude to theorize while we were still in the Ph.D. program. While all of us doctoral students at CU in those days had an embarrassment of riches regarding our mentors (i.e. Dean Shepherd, Julio DeCastro, Dale Meyer, Anne Huff, Tom Dean) Jeff emerged early as someone quite capable of groundbreaking research. My most frequent co-author these days, Pablo Muñoz, is one of the strongest theoreticians (and very strong in qualitative methods too) I have worked with in my career and he is only a few years out of his Ph.D.  His advisor was Dimo Dimov.

    Without having actual data, it has been my observation over the years, that our field has seemed to evolve towards the promotion of incremental research.  I wonder if this is a common trajectory for all fields that transform from nascent to growth stage and some level of maturity.  After all, just a few decades ago, our field was stuck in trying to predict what traits predict successful entrepreneurs. So the field has evolved and now has established theories and methodologies and is perhaps less open to "blue ocean" theories or new methods.  

    The real benefit of being a senior scholar, as Greg Fisher mentioned, is that we certainly have more latitude to explore and frequently less need to focus on volume of publications as opposed to impact.  As has been mentioned, there are tangible differences in incentives in different regions of the globe. I have been on the faculty in N.A., Europe and Latin American business schools and there is definitely a wide range of publication expectations (for both junior and senior scholars).  In North America I was expected to focus on A and B journals. In Latin America the focus was only on ISI (which I had never even heard of as a journal standard before moving there).  Now I am back in Europe where it is quite common to leverage the UK system of ABS. At my current institution (EADA Business School in Barcelona) they have 2 tracks. For active senior scholars we are expected to focus on ABS 3 and 4 journals (junior scholars are fine with ABS 1 and 2).  Incidentally, discussing impact, I find it interesting that the UK has implemented a mechanism, system-wide, whereby 25% of a scholar's evaluation is on impact which goes well beyond counting pubs.

    Carpe Diem!


    Boyd


    El 03-12-2015, a las 18:20, Bill Schulze <bill.schulze@ECCLES.UTAH.EDU> escribió:

    There is a fine line between risky and dumb ... with the distinction often determined by the outcome. I applaud skilled seasoned scholars like Jeff who are willing to undertake 'risky' projects but fear for junior scholars, who have yet to develop those skills and lack seasoning, to do the same.  So let's do what Dave suggests: Get some data first!
     
    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of David Deeds
    Sent: Thursday, December 3, 2015 9:58 AM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: [ENTREP] Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?
     

    Interesting discussion but before we start changing a system that has worked pretty well for the better part of 100 years do we have any real evidence, not anecdotes,  that there is less 'risky' research being undertaken today and that research motivated by the need to publish is less impactful then the research of yesteryear? The observations surrounding the dearth of 'risky' research or the difficulty of publishing  'risky' research strikes me as potentially highly biased observations. I'm a contrarian by nature, so let's see some evidence to support the contentions, they are not even a well framed hypotheses at this point, that we have a dearth of 'risky' research and that our research is having less impact today then a decade or two or three ago. 


    David Deeds
    Sandra Schulze Professor of Entrepreneurship
    Schulze School of Entrepreneurship
    Opus College of Business
    The University of St. Thomas
    1000 Lasalle Ave.
    214-682-5049(Cell)
    Minneapolis, MN
     
    On Thu, Dec 3, 2015 at 10:16 AM, Aguinis, Herman <haguinis@indiana.edu> wrote:
    Alex,
     
    Thank you for bringing up this very important issue. Anne Tsui (2013: 378) summarized what is going on succinctly as follows: "faculty members are responding to the requirements of the measurement system. When only the number of papers in certain outlets count, rational and good people will do whatever it takes to meet the expectations." Moreover, she also wrote that "research has changed its focus and primary goal from producing knowledge to publishing papers, from improving practice to advancing a researcher's own career" (2013: 376). It seems that unless we change the way we measure and reward faculty performance, things won't change. But, is this possible? If yes, how should we do it, precisely?
     
    We recently offered a modest yet actionable proposal that we hope will get the conversation started regarding how to, VERY specifically, measure and reward faculty performance so that the type of impactful, meaningful, and "risky" research you describe will actually happen:
     

    ·       Aguinis, H., Shapiro, D. L., Antonacopoulou, E., & Cummings, T. G. 2014. Scholarly impact: A pluralist conceptualization.Academy of Management Learning and Education, 13: 623-639. [available at http://mypage.iu.edu/~haguinis/pubs.html]

     
    Also, Anne Tsui's article is the following:
     

    ·       Tsui, A. S. 2013b. Editorial: The spirit of science and socially responsible scholarship. Management and Organization Review, 9: 375–394.

     
    Cheers from the Iberoamerican Academy of Management conference in Santiago, Chile!
     
    --Herman.
     
    Herman Aguinis
    John F. Mee Chair of Management
    Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources
    Founding and Managing Director, Institute for Global Organizational Effectiveness
     
    Indiana University
    Kelley School of Business
     
     
    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Stewart, Alex
    Sent: Thursday, December 3, 2015 7:55 AM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: [ENTREP] Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?
     
    There's a story in today's Chronicle of Higher Education about a systemic problem in science: many people believe that risky, potentially curve jumping research should be done, but the entire system of hiring, P&T, and grants is skewed in favor of predictable results. I think we have similar issues despite our much lower reliance on grants.
     
    Fifteen years ago or so when I was PDW Chair for the ENTP division, I set about trying to find junior scholars (doctoral students or assistant professors) who were taking risks in their work, sinning bravely as they say. As I asked around among those who had been innovative themselves but now had doctoral students themselves, the answers were discouraging. Not that no names came up, but almost none. I am sure most of us can think of someone who has taken risks and survived - I think of Jeff Robinson at Rutgers for example. 
     
    But how many of us have systems in our departments and universities that can encourage risky work? Moreover, how many of us even have systems to encourage risky research among more senior scholars? That's at the local level. The culture of journals and their rankings - especially I would say in the UK - are hugely slanted against truly innovative work. Moreover, the increasing concentration of ownership among journals - you may have seen that Ashgate is now part of a large corporation - surely can't help. 
     
    Hopefully some people know of more encouraging signs.
     
    Alex
     
    Alex Stewart, Ph.D.
    Professor of Management
    Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship
    Marquette University
    Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
    Office: 414 288-7188
    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO! 
     
    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!
    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!


  • 8.  Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

    Posted 12-03-2015 10:58
    Alex and colleagues, 

    The irony/intrigue of asking this question of entrepreneurship scholars is that the dilemma confronting junior (and other) scholars is very similar to that confronting entrepreneurs. I am a junior scholar and I can choose to engage in risky research by asking big questions and employing novel methods. If some of that work gets published and I manage to change the trajectory of the field, I will no doubt be rewarded with more citations, more recognition and a better (perhaps global) reputation which can lead to other rewards. If that work never gets published, or takes a long time to get published I may feel like a failure and not get tenure at a desirable school or have to jump around as I attempt to get that work accepted somewhere. 

    The alternative is to take less risk, to get involved in projects that have a clearer path to publication and to maintain some element of control over my publication record. This may enable me to get tenure, but it probably won't lead to to very high number of citations or a global reputation.  

    This is similar to the dilemma that entrepreneurs confront -- to develop a highly novel, risky, revolutionary venture, knowing that there is a high chance of failure but significant financial and other rewards for success, or to do something less risky, more incremental knowing there is less chance of failure but also lower financial and other rewards stemming from the venture. 

    However, we as scholars, do have some advantages over entrepreneurs (some of the same advantages afforded to VCs). Because we can work on multiple projects at a time, we can take more of portfolio approach, knowing one project is a high risk - high reward "home run" if it works, while others are lower risk - lower reward, "base hits" if they get published. Is this not the right approach for junior scholars? This is how I have chosen to think about my portfolio of research projects - some potential home runs and some base hits (and some strike outs unfortunately).   

    Additionally, we as scholars, have the tenure system. Is this not why tenure was created? So that we can have the freedom to pursue risky research and to do more novel things without the prospect of 3rd year review or tenure decision hanging over our head. I don't yet have tenure, but I do see it as a threshold that should allow me to be more risky i.e. to increase the number of revolutionary or risky projects in my portfolio. 

    In the end I think it boils down to a simple issue of risk and reward: there are rewards in this career for taking risks. However, we also have some mechanisms in place to make taking those risks a little more palatable.

    I recently read Richard Thaler's book entitled Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics and in that books he recounts the risks he took as an economist when introducing behavioral concepts into the field of economics. He has enjoyed great rewards for taking those risks and for being persistent when trying to get the early studies published. But he also published a few less risky, more familiar papers in the early part of his career to keep the promotion and tenure committee at bay. I think in our field Saras took some big risks early in her career and had to wait for those to bear fruit, but she changed peoples thinking when they did bear fruit.

    I think it is important for all of us to think about this issue. We need to account for where we are at in our careers, where we want to go and what sort of contribution we want to make. 

    Greg

     

    On Thu, Dec 3, 2015 at 8:54 AM, Amanda Elam <amanda.elam@gmail.com> wrote:

    Alex – How are you defining risky research?  I see a strong bias towards topics and methods that increase short term publication success for junior faculty. It's simply necessary to build a publication record and to make tenure.  However, risk does not necessarily equal innovation.  I believe that innovative research is rewarded by publication and citations.  As reviewer, I certainly appreciate and support innovative work.

     

    Amanda

     

    Amanda Elam, PhD

    President, Galaxy Diagnostics

    Research Advisor, NC State University

    Research Director, Babson CWEL

     

    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Stewart, Alex
    Sent: Thursday, December 3, 2015 7:55 AM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: [ENTREP] Can junior - or any - scholars undertake risky research?

     

    There's a story in today's Chronicle of Higher Education about a systemic problem in science: many people believe that risky, potentially curve jumping research should be done, but the entire system of hiring, P&T, and grants is skewed in favor of predictable results. I think we have similar issues despite our much lower reliance on grants.

     

    Fifteen years ago or so when I was PDW Chair for the ENTP division, I set about trying to find junior scholars (doctoral students or assistant professors) who were taking risks in their work, sinning bravely as they say. As I asked around among those who had been innovative themselves but now had doctoral students themselves, the answers were discouraging. Not that no names came up, but almost none. I am sure most of us can think of someone who has taken risks and survived - I think of Jeff Robinson at Rutgers for example.

     

    But how many of us have systems in our departments and universities that can encourage risky work? Moreover, how many of us even have systems to encourage risky research among more senior scholars? That's at the local level. The culture of journals and their rankings - especially I would say in the UK - are hugely slanted against truly innovative work. Moreover, the increasing concentration of ownership among journals - you may have seen that Ashgate is now part of a large corporation - surely can't help.

     

    Hopefully some people know of more encouraging signs.

     

    Alex

     

    Alex Stewart, Ph.D.
    Professor of Management
    Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship
    Marquette University
    Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
    Office: 414 288-7188

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!



    --
    Greg Fisher
    Assistant Professor
    Department of Management & Entrepreneurship
    Kelley School of Business HH3137
    Indiana University
    1309 E. 10th St.
    Bloomington, IN 47405-1701
    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Jeff Pollack (jeff_pollack@ncsu.edu) or John Bunch (jbunch@benedictine.edu). Ventures HO!