The Role of Funding Bodies in the Creation and Diffusion of Management Fads and Fashions

Abstract

Previous authors have questioned the notion of scientific rationality and method in understanding the ways in which knowledge is produced through academic research. These critiques make clear that the production of academic knowledge cannot be separated from the context in which it is produced. In this paper, we focus on the ways in which the meso-level context, in particular in terms of relations between a research funding body and a research team, shapes this process of knowledge construction. It is argued that the logics used by funding bodies to promote knowledge creation and diffusion are not only at times unrealistic and inappropriate but also contradictory and conflated. Using two case examples of academic management research, this paper argues that, instead of stimulating innovation, the policies of funding bodies may at times encourage the creation and diffusion of just those types of management fads and fashions that academics tend to be very critical of. This is especially likely where research is carried out in multidisciplinary and multinational teams.

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