Towards Finding the Balance of Art and Science in Management : A Market Approach to Valuing Management Research

The management field is characterized by two countervailing perspectives that attempt to define what constitutes appropriate research valued by scholars and practitioners. Historically the field has moved from an emphasis on one or the other - from applied research and practice to basic research and theory and then back again. It is our contention that a shift toward emphasizing a basic research focus has occurred at the expense of applied research, but that as efforts to increase the emphasis on applied research increase, there may be a danger of moving too far in that direction. We summarize the tension between these and highlight potential pitfalls if either is carried too far. We suggest that these tensions result from competing markets and conclude with suggestions for encouraging diversity among research foci, concentrating on rigor rather than the particular focus of research activity, and making institutional changes to foster both forms of research