Five-step roadmap to get the best out of doctoral programmes: Ignition, Development, Enrichment, Attribution & Selling
On Day 2 of IMRDC 2016-17, University of Groningen professor Sathyajit Gubbi urges researches to be bold in coursework and critique and to look for unusual events and patterns in real world
12 January, 2017, Bengaluru: “Where business grows, research follows, and India is preeminent in the field of research today. And all of you have a significant role to play, both at a national and international level, in the domain of research in our country,” said Prof. Sathyajit Gubbi, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, while speaking on ‘Academic Research: From Inspiration to Publication’, at IIMB, today. Prof. Gubbi was delivering an invited lecture on Day 2 of the two-day 8th IMR Doctoral Conference (IMRDC), organized by Indian Institute of Management Bangalore’s IIMB Management Review (IMR) and the Office of the Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) at IIMB.
Prof. Gubbi recommended a five-step roadmap to get the best out of doctoral programmes and get research work published in top international journals: Ignition, Development, Enrichment, Attribution & Selling, which sum up to the acronym IDEAS.
“Be bold in doctoral coursework and critique, look for unusual events and patterns in real world. Systematic review, spanning and summarizing is essential. Literature review if done well will serve you well down the line,” he offered.
Highlighting the importance of collaborative work in research, he explained: “Committed collaboration with complementary skill sets is another vital element. But you also need to look into the pros and cons of collaborative work, like, personality clashes, time zones and availability, alignment of goals and aspirations, etc., which have to be worked out professionally. While doing work in partnership, make a few things clear at the beginning, such as, first authorship, duration of availability, roles and responsibilities, etc. Research is an uncertain process – luck favours the prepared!”
He advised the budding researchers to diversify and have multiple ideas for their papers. “Do remember that research ideas have shelf life, some ideas mature very late while others have no future and have to be scrapped. Also, it is important to have conviction in what you are doing. Make a blueprint and fill in the details for your paper, do the routine stuff, stay simple and focussed, avoid multiple theoretical lenses, see if the hypotheses are novel and extend from the core idea. Meticulous and systematic documentation is crucial. See if your sample is apt for testing your model. In data driven research, it helps to work on theory and empirics in parallel. There is no gain without pain, so follow good practices, seek help from experts when needed and take regular backup of data,” he elaborated.
Regarding modelling and testing, he suggested, “Look for patterns, see if the main premise is getting support, look for consistency and practicality of results and long term outcomes.”
Emphasizing the importance of conferences and feedback, he said: “Target international conferences with a blind review process - that will push you to do a full paper draft within the stipulated timeframe. Networking is vital too. You should also seek peer group feedback – within the doctoral community, from seminars of neighbouring institutions, as well as friendly reviews for proofreading and constructive critique. Anchor your paper, focus on the kind of audience, which stream of knowledge, why your paper is important or relevant, what is new or novel in your ideas, etc. Practical implication should be there.”
Explaining the importance of the submission aspect, he said: “How you script the paper and communicate is extremely important, which includes language issues, consistency, simple and clean presentation and journal style.” Regarding the review process, he suggested to treat the reviewer as an ally but be aware of spoilers. “Focus on refining your work. Continuous progression of overall quality is needed, so read and re-read and pay heed to suggested improvements. Finally, networking is crucial, tap every opportunity to connect to the international community. Enthusiastic supervision and mentoring have a role to play for you to raise the bar.”
Prof. Debasis Mishra, from the Economics and Planning Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, spoke on ‘Recent Developments in Auction Design’. With the help of statistics, data crunching and analysis, he spoke at length about auctions in practice, auction theory and empirics, auction design, standard auction formats, auctions and game theory, multi object auction environment, etc.
The day also included paper presentations on Production & Operations Management (POM), Economics, Public Policy, Organizational Behaviour & Human Resources Management (OB & HR), Corporate Strategy & Policy (CSP), and Entrepreneurship as well as fast track presentations on Decision Sciences & Information Systems (DSIS), Public Policy, Finance, Economics, and POM.
The two-day event wrapped up with the valedictory ceremony and certificate presentation.