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Recommended Practices for Academics to Initiate and Manage Research Partnerships With Organizations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2018

Laurent M. Lapierre ,
Russell A. Matthews ,
Lillian T. Eby ,
Donald M. Truxillo ,
Russell E. Johnson  and
Debra A. Major
Laurent M. Lapierre*
Affiliation:
Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa
Russell A. Matthews
Affiliation:
Culverhouse College of Commerce, University of Alabama
Lillian T. Eby
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Georgia
Donald M. Truxillo
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Portland State University
Russell E. Johnson
Affiliation:
Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University
Debra A. Major
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Laurent M. Lapierre, University of Ottawa, Telfer School of Management, 55 Laurier Ave. East, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5Canada. E-mail: lapierre@telfer.uottawa.ca
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Abstract

Although academics can receive considerable training in selecting appropriate research designs, types of data to collect, and methods for analyzing data, as well as guidance on preparing scholarly manuscripts, there is a dearth of information on how to initiate and manage partnerships with organizations in order to conduct high-quality applied research, particularly when the research is quantitative in nature. In this article, we provide our own experience-based insights and recommendations to help academics more easily (a) initiate a research relationship with senior organizational leadership, (b) decide early whether to pursue or end a research collaboration with an organization, (c) keep the organization engaged during the study, and (d) maintain the relationship with the organization after data collection is complete. This information is proposed as a complement to traditional organizational research methods and as instrumental in the pursuit of research salient to the interests of organizational practitioners.

Keywords

field researchacademic-organizationresearch partnershipresearch methods
Type
Focal Article
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , December 2018 , pp. 543 - 581
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2018 

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