Action research within management studies Suzanne Grant WMS

 Management is not restricted to business/corporate activities and environments.  Management at its most basic is ‘planning, leading, organising, controlling’ and hence occurs across ALL organisations, be they profit, not for profit, government, hybrid, social enterprise, formal or informal.

 Quantitative vs Qualitative  Use of software for qualitative analysis  How do we capture, and honour, the social dimensions?

1) Contributes to management research and associated methodologies – which are increasingly cross discipline 2) Contributes to practice. E.g. marketing, tourism, human resource management, organisation development

 Provides an opportunity to move beyond ‘consulting’… towards collaborative practice, and provides a tool for activities such as strategic planning and change management  If stakeholders are involved with planning and instigating change, it is more likely said change will be successful, and better accepted by stakeholders

 Focus on what is good, what is possible, what are the life giving forces in the organisation  Challenges problem oriented focus, and encourages ‘vocabularies of hope’  Utilises storytelling, lends itself well to snowball and waterfall techniques

 Constructionist principle: Knowledge, language and action are inextricably linked.  Principle of simultaneity: Inquiry is intervention. Seeds of change are sown in the very first question we ask.  Poetic principle: A story of an event is constantly being co-authored and re-authored. Endless interpretations are possible.

 Anticipatory principle: Image of the future guides current behaviour. You move in the direction of what you study.  Positive principle: The more positive the questions or approach, the more successful and long term the change effort will be.

 Process can take many forms, e.g. Cooperrider & Whitney’s (2000) 4 D cycle: Discovery, Dream, Design, Destiny  Intent is more important than the mechanics of a set process  Reflection is crucial.

 Business development  Strategic planning  Community development  Evaluation tool e.g. Performance appraisals Applications beyond Management: - Religious Forums - Community Policing - Education