Formal Research vs Business Proposals

Concerning the disconnect between academia and the business world, the classic adage comes to mind: “He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches” (Shaw, 1903). However, this essay does not aim to address whether or not academicians are fundamentally incapable of functioning in real-world business application, but rather compare and and contrast the theoretical and practical differences between “formal research” and “business proposals”. As a two-part essay, the discussion will continue, then, to examine the effects of human resources outsourcing (HRO) on leadership performance and employee commitment. Research is “simply the process of finding solutions to a problem after a thorough study and analysis of the situational factors” (Sekaran & Bougie, 2010). While individuals use research as a means of making informed decisions – professionally and personally – the idea of formal research is arguably most associated with images of academic or scientific fields. The inherent impracticality of formal research application to business management is the disconnect between the two disciplines. As M. Ronald Buckley, et al., noted in “The Disconnect Between the Science and Practice of Management” (Business Horizons, 1998), “The major academic goals of business scholars are publication and tenure … academics are trained to generate knowledge in our disciplines, not solve organizational problems”. For this reason, academicians are often thought to be out of touch with the “real world”. Contrastingly, the purpose of a business proposal is to present an idea. It does not necessarily require the support of formal research, but the ability to influence others. This points out a clear cut difference between theoretical findings of research and practical application of business proposals: the later, much more than the sooner, requires an understanding of human nature, be it increasing productivity and employee morale, or a new product launch. This is not to say that research has no

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