The challenges of creating actionable knowledge: An action research perspective

Construction Management and Economics

Volumn 27, Issue 7, 2009, Pages 683-694

  Sexton, Martin ^a   Lu, Shu Ling ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF READING   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Action research; Actionable knowledge; Mode 2 knowledge production

Indexed keywords

ACTION RESEARCH; ACTIONABLE KNOWLEDGE; COLLABORATION CAPABILITIES; KEY FACTORS; KNOWLEDGE FRAMEWORKS; MODE 2 KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION; RESEARCH PROPOSALS; STATE OF AFFAIRS; SYSTEMATIC PROCESS;

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY;

RESEARCH;

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY; INNOVATION; METHODOLOGY; POLICY IMPLEMENTATION;

EID: 70449447715     PISSN: 01446193     EISSN: 1466433X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/01446190903037702     Document Type: Article

References (92)

1. Abrahamson, E. (1996) Management fashion. Academy of Management Review, 21(1), 254-85.
2. Academy of Management Journal (2001) Special research forum: knowledge transfer between academics and practitioners. Academy of Management Journal, 44(2).
3. Adler, N.B., Shani, A.B. and Styhre, A. (eds) (2004) Collaborative Research in Organizations: Foundations for Learning, Change, and Theoretical development, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
4. Agrawal, A.K. (2001) University-to-industry knowledge transfer: literature review and unanswered questions. International Journal of Management Reviews, 3(4), 285-302.
5. Alexander, K., Kaya, S. and Nelson, M. (2003) Learning partnerships in facilities management-a new action research approach, in Proceedings of the CIB W89 Symposium: BEAR 2003, Salford, UK, 9-11 April, pp. 467-81.
6. Alvesson, M. (2003) Methodology for close up studies- struggling with closeness and closure. Higher Education, 46, 167-93.
7. Argyris, C. (1993) Knowledge for Action: A Guide to Overcoming Barriers to Change, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA
8. Argyris, C., Putnam, R. and McLaine-Smith, D. (1985) Action Science: Concepts, Methods and Skills for Research and Intervention, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
9. Arundel, A. and Geuna, A. (2004) Proximity and the use of public science by innovative European firms. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 13(6), 559-80.
10. ARUP (2003) Lambert Review: Business-University Collaboration. Response from ARUP, ARUP, London.
11. Babüroglo, O.N. and Ravn, I. (1992) Normative action research. Organization Studies, 13(1), 19-34.
12. Barrett, P.S. and Barrett, L.C. (2003) Research as a kaleidoscope on practice. Construction Management and Economics, 21, 755-66.
13. BERR (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) (2007) SME statistics for the UK and regions 2007: Table 4 UK industry and Table 5: UK sections. BERR, Enterprise Directorate Analytical Unit, available at http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/sme/ (accessed 12 April 2009)
14. BERR (2008) Strategy for Sustainable Construction, HMSO, London.
15. Blackler, F. (1995) Knowledge, knowledge work and organizations. Organization Studies, 16(6), 1021-46.
16. Box, S. (2009) OECD work on innovation-a stocktaking of existing work. STI Working Paper 2009/2, OECD, Paris
17. British Journal of Management (2001) Special issue on the relevance of management research. British Journal of Management, 12(S1).
18. Building Research & Information (1997) Special issue on the future of national building research organizations. Building Research & Information, 25(5).
19. Chesbrough, H.W. (2006) Open innovation: a new paradigm for understanding industrial innovation, in Chesbrough, H.W., Vanhaverbeke, W. and West, J. (eds) Open Innovation: Research a New Paradigm, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 1-12.
20. Coghlan, D. and Brannick, T. (2001) Doing Action Research in Your Own Organization, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
21. Cohen, W.M., Nelson, R.R. and Walsh, J.P. (2002) Links and impacts: the influence of public research on industrial R&D. Management Science, 48(1), 1-23.
22. Cook, S. and Brown, J.S. (1999) Bridging epistemologies: the generative dance between organizational knowledge and organizational knowing. Organization Science, 10, 381-400.
23. Coombs, R., Harvey, M. and Tether, B.S. (2003) Analysing distributed processes of provision and innovation. Industrial and Corporate Change, 12(6), 1125-55.
24. Crawford, K. (1995) What do vygotskian approaches to psychology have to offer action research? Educational Action Research, 3, 239-47.
25. Cronbach, L.J. and Suppes, P. (1969) Research for Tomorrow's Schools, Macmillan, London.
26. Cushman, M., Venters, W., Cornford, T. and Mitev, N. (2002) Understanding sustainability as knowledge practice, in Proceedings of the British Academy of Management Conference: Fast-tracking Performance through Partnerships, London, 9-11 September.
27. Dawson, P. (1994) Organizational Change: A Processual Approach, Chapman, London.
28. DIUS (2008) Innovation Nation, HMSO, London
29. Eden, C. and Huxham, C. (1996) Action research for the study of organizations, in Clegg, S., Hardy, C. and Nord, W. (eds) Handbook of Organization Studies, Sage, Beverly Hills, pp. 526-42.
30. EPSRC (2007) Connecting with Business: Knowledge Transfer and Economic Impact Strategy, EPSRC, Swindon
31. EPSRC (2009) Changes to Funding Applications to include Economic Impact-Guidance for Applicants, EPSRC, Swindon.
32. ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) (2008) Innovation Research Centre-Call Specification, ESRC, Swindon.
33. Etzkowitz, H. (2008) The Triple Helix: University-Industry- Government Innovation in Action, Routledge, London
34. Etzkowitz, H. and Leytesdorff, L. (1997) Universities in the Global Economy: A Triple Helix of Academic-Industry- Government Relation, Croom Helm, London.
35. Fairclough, J. (2002) Rethinking Construction Innovation and Research: A Review of Government R&D Policies and Practices, HMSO, London.
36. Gann, D. (2001) Putting academic ideas into practice: technological progress and the absorptive capacity of construction organizations. Construction Management and Economics, 19(3), 321-30.
37. Gavin, J.F. (1985) Observations from a long-term, survey guided consultation with a mining company. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 12(2), 201-20.
38. Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartz, S., Scott, P. and Trow, M. (1994) The New Production of Knowledge: The Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies, Sage, London.
39. Giddens, A. (1987) Social Theory and Modern Sociology, Polity Press, Cambridge.
40. Godin, B. and Gingras, Y. (2000) The place of universities in the system of knowledge production. Research Policy, 29, 273-8.
41. Greenwood, D. and Levin, M. (1998) Introduction to Action Research, Sage, London.
42. Hult, M. and Lennung, S. (1980) Towards a definition of action research: a note and a bibliography. Journal of Management Studies, 17, 241-50.
43. Johns, G. (1993) Constraints on the adoption of psychology-based personnel practices: lessons from organizational innovation. Personnel Psychology, 46, 569-92.
44. Kemmis, S. and McTaggert, R. (1990) The Action Research Planner, Deakin University Press, Geelong.
45. Kline, S. and Rosenberg, N. (1986) An overview of innovation, in Landau, R. and Rosenberg, N. (eds) The Positive Sum Strategy: Harnessing Technology for Economic Growth, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, pp. 275-305
46. Lambert Report (2003) Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration, HMSO, London.
47. Lu, S. and Sexton, M.G. (2006) Innovation in small construction knowledge-intensive professional service firms: a case study of an architectural practice. Construction Management and Economics, 24(12), 1269-82.
48. Lu, S. and Sexton, M.G. (2009) Innovation in Small Professional Practices in the Built Environment, Innovation in the Built Environment (IBE) Book Series, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.
49. MacLean, D., MacIntosh, R. and Grant, S. (2002) Model 2 management research. British Journal of Management, 13(2), 189-207.
50. Major, E. and Cordey-Hayes, M. (2003) Encouraging innovation in small firms through externally generated knowledge, in Shavinina, L.V. (ed.) The International Handbook of Innovation, Pergamon, Amsterdam, pp. 667-79
51. McCutcheon, G. and Jurg, B. (1990) Alternative perspectives on action research. Theory into Practice, 24(3), 140-50.
52. McMillan, S. and Hamilton, R. (2003) The impact of publicly funded basic research: an integrative extension of Martin and Salter. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 50(2), 184-91.
53. McNiff, J. (2000) Action Research in Organizations, Routledge, London.
54. Mohrman, S.A., Gibson, C.B. and Mohrman, A.M. (2001) Doing research that is useful to practice: a model and empirical exploration. Academy of Management Journal, 44(2), 357-75.
55. Mowday, R.T. (1997) Presidential address: reaffirming our scholarly values. Academy of Management Review, 22(2), 335-45.
56. NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) (2007) Hidden Innovation: How Innovation Happens in Six 'Low Innovation' Sectors, NESTA, London
57. Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, H. (1995) The Knowledge-creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation, Oxford University Press, New York.
58. Nutley, S.M. and Davies, H. (2000) Making a reality of evidence-based practice: some lessons from the diffusion of innovations. Public Money and Management, 20(4), 35-42
59. OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) (2002) Benchmarking Industry-Science Relationships, OECD, Paris.
60. Pettigrew, A. (2001) Management research after modern- ism. British Journal of Management, 12(Special Issue), S61-S70.
61. Porter, L.W. and McKibbon, L.E. (1988) Management Education and Development: Drift or Thrust into the 21st Century, McGraw-Hill, New York.
62. Powell, W.W. and Owen-Smith, J. (1998) Universities as creators and retailers of intellectual property, in Weisbrod, B. (ed.) To Profit or Not to Profit, Cambridge University Press, New York, pp. 169-94.
63. Reason, P. and Bradbury, H. (2008a) The Sage Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice, Sage, London.
64. Reason, P. and Bradbury, H. (2008b) Introduction, in Reason, P. and Bradbury, H. (eds) The Sage Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice, Sage, London, pp. 1-10.
65. Rothwell, R. and Zegfeld, W. (1982) Innovation and the Small and Medium Sized Firm, Printer, London
66. Ryle, G. (1949) The Concept of the Mind, Hutchinson, London
67. Rynes, S.L., McNatt, D.B. and Bretz, R.D. (1999)
68. Academic research inside organizations: inputs, processes, and outcomes. Personnel Psychology, 52, 869-98
69. Rynes, S.L., Bartunek, J.M. and Daft, R.L. (2001) Across the great divide: knowledge creation and transfer between practitioners and academics. Academy of Management Journal, 44, 340-55.
70. Sackett, P.R. and Larson, J.R. (1990) Research strategies and tactics in industrial and organizational psychology, in Dunnette, M.D. and Hough, L.M. (eds) Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2nd edn, Vol. 1, Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA, pp. 419-89
71. Sainsbury Report (2007) The Race to the Top: A Review of Government's Science and Innovation Policies, HMSO, London.
72. Salter, A.J. and Martin, B.R. (2001) The economic benefits of publicly funded basic research: a critical review. Research Policy, 30(3), 509-32.
73. Sandelands, L. (1990) What is so practical about theory? Lewin revisited. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 20, 235-62.
74. Sexton, M. and Barrett, P. (2003) Appropriate innovation in small construction firms. Construction Management and Economics: Special Issue on Innovation in Construction, 21, 623-33.
75. Sexton, M., Barrett, P. and Aouad, G. (2006) Motivating small construction companies to adopt new technology. Building Research & Information, 34(1), 11-22.
76. Shotter, J. and Gustavsen, B. (1999) The Role of Dialogue Conferences in the Development of Learning Regions: Doing from within Our Lives Together What We Cannot Do Apart, Centre for Advanced Studies in Leadership, Stockholm.
77. Smith, D. and Katz, S. (2000) HEFCE Fundamental Review of Research Policy and Funding: Collaborative Approaches to Research-Final Report, HEFCE, London.
78. Starkey, K. and Madan, P. (2001) Bridging the relevance gap: aligning stakeholders in the future of management research. British Journal of Management, 12, S3-S26.
79. Storey, D.J. (2000) Six steps to heaven: evaluating the impact of public policies to support small businesses in developed economies, in Sexton, D. and Landstrom, H. (eds) Handbook of Entrepreneurship, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 176-94.
80. Styhre, A., Josephson, P.-E. and Knauseder, I. (2004) Learning capabilities in organizational networks: case studies of six construction projects. Construction Manage- ment and Economics, 22, 957-66.
81. Susman, G.I. (1983) Action research: a sociotechnical systems perspective, in Morgan, G. (ed.) Beyond Method: Strategies for Social Research, Sage, London, pp. 95-113
82. Susman, G.I. and Evered, R.D. (1978) An assessment of the scientific merits of action research. Administrative Science Quarterly, 23, 582-603.
83. Thomas, K.W. and Tymon, W.G. (1982) Necessary proper- ties of relevant research: lessons from recent criticisms of the organizational sciences. Academy of Management Review, 7, 345-52.
84. Tranfield, D. and Starkey, K. (1998) The nature, social organization and promotion of management research: towards policy. British Journal of Management, 9, 341-53.
85. Van de Ven, A.H. (2000) Professional science for a professional school, in Nohria, N. (ed.) Breaking the Code of Change, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, pp. 393-413.
86. Von Krogh, G., Roos, J. and Slocum, K. (1994) An essay on corporate epistemology. Strategic Management Journal, 15, 53-71.
87. Weick, K.E. (1979) The Social Psychology of Organizing, 2nd edn, Random House, New York.
88. Weick, K.E. (1995) Sensemaking in Organizations, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
89. Weick, K.E. (2001) Gapping the relevance bridge: fashions meet fundamentals in management research. British Journal of Management, 12(Special issue), S71-S75.
90. Weiss, C.H. (1979) The many meanings of research utilization. Public Administration Review, 39(5), 426-31
91. Worrall, L. (2008) Management research and management practice: is the relevance gap closing? International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, 3(1), 1-18
92. Zarli, A. (ed.) (2004) ICCI Final Report: Innovation Co-ordination, Transfer and Deployment through Networked Co-operation in the Construction Industry, VTT, Finland.