Discussion: View Thread

A new startup for the research-practitioner gap...

  • 1.  A new startup for the research-practitioner gap...

    Posted 03-02-2016 12:07

    Dear Entrepreneurship Colleagues,

    It's been widely lamented that our research has little impact on management practice.


    In an effort to better disseminate the knowledge researchers develop, I have helped build a web application that makes empirical research findings more accessible and interactive for students, scientists, and the general public. Reflecting Shapiro et al.'s (2007: 263) mandate that narrowing the gap involves "all of us," Knowtro (short for knowledge transfer optimization) relies on a growing collective of scholars, practitioners, students, statisticians, and others that help the platform expand by crowdsourcing new empirical relationships from a variety of research disciplines daily. It includes tools to find, load, track, and manage research findings, and to collaborate with others. It's free to use and available at www.knowtro.com


    As part of our effort to 'crowdsource' peer-reviewed knowledge, we've launched a KickStarter campaign at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/906988977/knowtro-knowledge-simplified (or just go to www.kickstarter.com and search knowtro). 

     

    Last, I am a scientist, so I understand the limitations of 'simplifying' research findings, the dubious nature of causality (particularly in any single study), and the concerns that people just won't understand it. As an entrepreneur, I also recognize that in the absence of rigorous research findings, everyday folks are expected to make sense of a flood of blogs, top ten lists, opinions, and hearsay. Our goal is simply to 'raise the bar' in terms of access to and awareness of rigorous research.   

     

    Best,


    Sean R. McMahon, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship

    Love School of Business

    Elon University

    smcmahon2@elon.edu


    Reference: Shapiro, D. L., Kirkman, B. L., & Courtney, H G. 2007. Perceived causes and solutions of the translation problem in management research. Academy of Management Journal, 50: 249-266.

    ************************************** 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 Kevin Cox (kcox24@my.fau.edu). Ventures HO!