The field of business administration is immersed in a soul-searching debate on the role of research.  One camp argues that the “scientific approach” is a necessary undertaking to promote a field that is inherently applied and multi-disciplinary.  Others argue that business administration research should be squarely grounded in reality and more attention should be placed on informing practice and generating ideas to cope with competition.  I do not see a disconnection between an applied multi-disciplinary perspective and a scientific approach.

The genesis of business administration research should be a business problem.  A multi-disciplinary investigation should be harnessed to shed light on that problem.  The business problem should then be converted into a research question.  It is only then that a basic research design can be identified.  At this point, the highest level of scientific rigor should be applied.  With this approach, the “topic” is rooted in reality and the “technique” is determined by the appropriate scientific approach.

Our journey will begin with a series of discussion on the various ways to address to shed light on a business problem (a literature review, a thing piece, a best practices study, a paired-comparison study, a case study, or an empirical [deductive or inductive] study).  Through the discussion, each student will become verse on converting a business problem into a research problem, identifying the research question which will address the research problem, designing a study to answer the question, conducting the study, reporting the results, and critiquing the study.  Each study is designed so that the deliverable is a manuscript, which will be submitted for publication in a business administration journal. 

The first semester will be spent on the discussion of business administration research and the preparation of a manuscript for critique and submission.  In the second semester, each student will submit his or her manuscript for an internal review (among the students who are participating in the mentorship program).  We regroup at this point to offer an opportunity for each student to present his or her work to the whole group, where we critique the content as well as the presentation style.  Each student is required to respond to the criticisms, either by incorporating the suggestions or providing an argument for why it is not necessary.  Each manuscript is then submitted for publication, and it is the student’s responsibility to take the manuscript through the review process and the eventual acceptance or rejection.

Priming, individual attention, and rigorous guidance are key elements of this mentorship.  A web portal will be designed to notify, select, support, evaluate, and celebrate this research initiative.  The overall goal of this initiative is to allow the student to pursue a business administration “topic” of his or her choosing and to provide the support for him or her to find an answer with a scientific approach.