Chartered ABS awards grant for research into business schools and knowledge exchange
The Chartered ABS is delighted to announce the award of a research grant for an exploratory study into business schools and knowledge exchange. Following a competitive tendering process, the contract was awarded to a joint proposal between Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, and Manchester Metropolitan University Business School.
The Chartered ABS will periodically fund research of direct relevance to our strategic priorities and which will benefit our member business schools. This research project will be the first of its kind for the business school sector and will serve as a comprehensive review into the nature and impact of business schools’ KE activities. This is important given the conclusion of the Chartered ABS KE working group that the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) does not adequately represent much of the KE work currently undertaken by business schools.
The project will apply a mixed methods approach and will gather input from stakeholders with an interest in KE within the business school context. The final outputs will include a typology designed for use by business schools to understand their KE profile, and offer recommendations for policy, practice, and academia in relation to capturing impact. It will provide the sector with greater clarity on how to engage in KE both within the business school and university, and highlight best practice in promoting the impact of KE activities amongst multiple stakeholder audiences.
The project will be implemented by the following team of business school academics with significant experience of leading KE, in research, practice and policy:
Dr Padmali Rodrigo - Principal Investigator (Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University)
Dr Matt Sutherland - Co- Investigator (Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University)
Jennie Shorley - Co-Investigator (Manchester Metropolitan University Business School)
The research questions to be answered by the project include:
How do business schools define and measure KE and to what extent is this in line with KEF/Knowledge Exchange Concordat definitions?
How is KE in business schools led, governed, and delivered?
What resources (workload hours, professional support etc.) are allocated to KE activities?
How are business schools working with other parts of their institutions on KE activities? How did these relationships develop and what was the impact?
How are business schools engaging with businesses in the context of KE?
What are the main barriers to more effective KE activities by business schools and how might they be addressed?
What role might the Chartered ABS (or other networks) play in supporting business schools to develop and promote their KE activities?
The Chartered ABS and the research team looks forward to engaging with the business school community through this research over the next year. If you have any questions about the project, please email Ramin Bokaian (ramin.bokaian@charteredabs.org)