Management Research in India: Current State and Future Directions
Vol 24, No 2; Article by Naresh Khatri, Abhoy K. Ojha, Pawan Budhwar, Vasanthi Srinivasan, and Arup Varma; June 2012
Business schools in India are growing rapidly. However, if they have to make meaningful contributions to business education, research and practice, they must be rooted in high quality management research that is indigenous in its promptings and directions. Indian management research must provide cutting-edge knowledge and methods and valid indigenous theories to guide practice and to create a vibrant Indian research community. Few will disagree that the state of current management research is quite dismal. The authors of this article raise and debate several issues concerning the subject (which were also showcased in a symposium in the second Indian Academy of Management Conference hosted by the Indian Institute of
Management Bangalore in December 2011) including whether Indian management research should necessarily follow the American model; whether Western theories should be extrapolated to the Indian context or new indigenous theories should be developed; and how to build a critical mass of management scholarship on India and establish publications for disseminating such scholarship.
Abhoy Ojha, Professor, Organisational Behaviour & Human Resource Management, IIM Bangalore is sceptical of the unquestioned imitation of the American model, which he suggests has resulted from the ranking mania of business schools and research journals. In an attempt to fit their research to meet the publishing requirements of the so-called top-tier American journals, Indian management scholars are not really addressing research issues that are pertinent to Indian businesses and organisations. He characterises Indian management research in three streams - practice-oriented, positivist, and nostalgic - and advocates integrating the best elements of the three streams in advancing Indian management research.
Pawan Budhwar, Professor of International Human Resource Management and Associate Dean of Research, Aston Business School, UK, discusses the crucial role that the Indian Academy of Management, an affiliate of the Academy of Management, USA, can play in boosting Indian management research, education, and policy by spearheading the creation and dissemination of knowledge and providing a research infrastructure for scholars. Such an infrastructure would also provide a rallying point for the key stakeholders of management research in India. Dr Budhwar also talks about the future initiatives that the Indian Academy of Management has in the works to promote research on Indian management. Reiterating the imperative for Indian scholarship to be original and relevant to its context, Naresh Khatri, Associate Professor, Strategic Human Resource Management & Transformational Leadership, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA, points out that Indian scholarship has fallen between the stools of local relevance and international publication. It needs to move ahead confidently, guided by its own requirements instead of imitating Western models. Further, he is critical of the American model, which, he argues, has not served US businesses and organisations well. He goes on to suggest how Indian management research should proceed.
Vasanthi Srinivasan, Associate Professor, Organisational Behaviour & Human Resource Management, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, suggests organisational change processes to stimulate research in Indian business schools where the DNA has historically been shaped by teaching. Organisational support can be routed through changes in four HR systems - selection and socialisation, performance management, reward and recognition, and career growth and development systems. Further, she suggests, peer support and personal courage and conviction in one's approach to the indigenous context are essential.
Arup Varma, Professor of Human Resourcesand Industrial Relations, Graduate School of Business, Loyola University, Chicago, points out that rejecting so-called American models of research in pursuit of indigenous models would amount to missing the wood for the trees since Indian research and global standards are not mutually exclusive. He suggests that submission to international journals and collaboration with reputed scholars are some of the ways in which Indian research and publication can meet global standards.