Research concept
A solid research tradition is highly important from the perspective of the student, but we are of the opinion that our lecturers should also have been trained in an applied or academic research tradition and that a tradition of continuous reflection on day-to-day practices is considered standard. Therefore, most of the teaching staff have academic as well as practical experience in the field to offer the best of two worlds: mainstream academic research and the business practice.
Becoming a reflective practioner
1. Professionals often allow hype, “gut feeling”, hope, ideology, gurus, and success stories to find solutions and to shape their strategy rather than empirical data or theory. Therefore, ‘emotion’ often overpowers rationality. Here, rigorous and relevant research could lead to evidence-based professional practice.
2. It is good for students to get into the habit of taking the time to look at data, use logic, use theory, and have a disciplined thought-process as opposed to wishful thinking. This habit involves the competency (both skills and attitude) to ask critical questions and to investigate practical problems systematically.
3. In connection with the professional field: branches, organisations, communities of practice. Practice-driven research. Research on real-life problems and knowledge production make for better judgments and decisions in actual practice and for development of professional communities.
4. Connectedness and integration of education, action and research in every course and trait/attitude of every lecturer.
5. Research should be positioned in Pasteur’s quadrant, i.e. it needs to be both rigorous and relevant (Academy of Management Review, 2007). This makes the research-environment different from a regular academic faculty, which is not focused on executive education.
