Managing Research in Business and Management Subject Areas: Comparative Case Studies of Selected Business Schools in Thailand and New Zealand | |
| Author | Bhusaba Taecharoen |
| Call Number | AIT RSPR no.SM-10-17 |
| Subject(s) | Business--Research Subject heading--Management Research--Management |
| Note | A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Research or knowledge creation is a key function of business schools which has to be carefully managed to contribute to good research performance and worthwhile investment. This research studies the management of research activities in business schools through the theoretical framework of organizational control, which has been growing in the literature for research management in R&D organizations, industries and universities. The focus of this study is on the three major types of organizational control—input, behavior and output control—which are implemented as parts of research strategies and policies in business schools. It also investigates the influence of two key external environments—the national system(s) for higher education research and international accreditations of management education—on the research control measures used in business schools. By means of a cross-country comparative study, four business schools in Thailand and New Zealand were selected as case studies for comparing different types of control measures used in managing research and the impacts of external environments which vary between different institutions and countries. Information from two phases of data collection—document analysis and semi-structured interviews—confirms that all three types of organizational control measures were implemented concurrently but to varying degrees in managing research activities in the selected business schools. Findings also demonstrate that the external environments play a vital role in influencing, to varying levels, the implementation and amount of control over research activities in all selected business schools. If an institution places significant emphasis on research function and the influence of external environments is strong, it tends to employ a large number of control measures across the three types, to implement various control elements—i.e. planning, measurement, feedback, and evaluation and reward—for individual control measures, and to strengthen the amount of control through tightening existing control measures or through using different control types simultaneously. Based on the findings, implications for designing a control system for research management in business schools and higher education institutions in general as well as observations about the use of certain control measures are proposed. |
| Year | 2010 |
| Type | Research Study Project Report (RSPR) |
| School | School of Management (SOM) |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Master of Business Administration (MBA) (Publication code=SM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Do Ba Khang; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Igel, Barbara;Winai Wongsurawat; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | RTG Fellowship; |
| Degree | Research Studies Project Report (M.B.A.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2010 |