Van de Ven provides succinct, yet philosophically informed, summaries of alternative philosophical positions available to researchers.
Organization Studies
'Andy Van de Ven is internationally renowned for doing superbly crafted research that has made a difference in resolving societal problems. In this book, he teaches us all how to define problems, contribute to theory, offer resolutions, and communicate results ... Read morein ways that transform the knowledge-practice gap, making it into a well-travelled two-way street. Experienced researchers will find much to learn in this sophisticated guide to bridging the knowledge-practice gap and students will make it their methodology bible. My copy is already littered with passages marked by underlinings, folded corners, and Post-it notes.'
Joanne Martin, Merrill Professor of Organizational Behavior, Emerita, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
'This is another profound and practical piece of scholarship from Andrew van de Ven. He deserves credit for challenging the limitations of much current management research and for projecting a view of a more engaged and practical form of scholarship.'
Andrew M. Pettigrew, Professor of Strategy and Organisation, Said Business School, Oxford, UK
'For decades I've admired Andy's systematic application of the "diamond model" outlined in this book. Andy's impressive list of accomplishments, both as a scholar and as a trainer of scholars, speaks to why this is a long awaited field guide to what has become known as engaged scholarship. This book is a gold mine of practical, proven wisdom for anyone seeking to effectively bridge the realms of theory and practice. I suspect we are witnessing the birth of an organizational studies classic.'
David A. Whetten, Director, Brigham Young University Faculty Center
Without both rigor and relevance, business schools and their faculty will loose institutional legitimacy. Engaged Scholarship is a call to action and clear pathway for scholars. Van de Ven provides an insightful set of ideas where scholars can learn from the phenomena in service of insightful research that, in turn, affects practice. This co-production of knowledge opens up fundamentally new way for scholars in professional schools to conduct their research. This book is a wonderful and important contribution.
Michael L. Tushman, Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Professor Andy Van de Ven's (2007) tour de force provides a method of engaged scholarship for studying complex social problems that often exceed our individual skills to examine on our own. Engaged Scholarship is a participative form of research... Van de Ven (2007) is a landmark publication that offers potential for a paradigm shift (Kuhn, 1970) moving from reductionism (Pfeffer, 1993) and towards theoretical and methodological pluralism. It persuasively offers engaged scholarship as a better way than the current status quo of creating knowledge for social science and practice.
Joseph T. Mahoney
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