Frederik Anseel

• February 25, 2020
• Speaker: Prof Frederik Anseel
  
• Topic: Can We Accomplish Both Academic And Practical Impact (And If So, How To Organise For It)?
  

Management and business scholars regularly lament the lack of impact that our research has on industry, government and society. While these complaints are not new, what has perhaps changed in recent years is that the broader academic environment is increasingly shifting focus towards impact and engagement. These changes, often instigated by governmental and societal pressures, may start to challenge the traditional research model according to which most management and business scholars and business schools work.

Several strategies to combat this ‘relevance crisis’ have been proposed (e.g., Aguinis et al., 2010, ORM; Aguinis, Shapiro, Antonacopoulou & Cummings, 2014, AMLE; cRRBM, 2017), but the success of these proposals has been mixed or has not yet become entirely visible. This instigates the question: is it possible to aim for academic and practical impact at the same time in a systematic way? Research in the ‘hard sciences’ suggest a happy marriage between both (Bikard, Vakili, Teodoridis, 2018, Org Science). So, why is it so difficult for us and what can we do to make it work (better) for us? In this talk, Frederik will sketch the impact challenge (if there is one) with the aim of inviting others’ views and sharing experiences.

Frederik Anseel is Professor of Management and Associate Dean Research at UNSW Business School, Sydney. Previously, he was Vice-Dean Research at King’s College London (UK), Head of Department at Ghent University (Belgium) and has held visiting positions at ESSEC Business School (France), Bocconi University (Italy), and University of Groningen (The Netherlands). He currently serves as the President of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, with 2000 members the leading European association for evidence-based insights regarding people, work, and organization. He is an elected Fellow of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP).

Frederik studies the motivational microfoundations of why and how people contribute to organizational success. Recent work focuses on how individuals can overcome motivational obstacles during the innovation and entrepreneurial process to “keep their fire burning”. His research has been published in leading journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Research Policy, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Psychological Science. His work has also been featured in public media such as Harvard Business Review, BBC, Science, Nature, Psychology Today, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian. Apart from his work in academia, he has several years of industry experience by founding and managing two consulting firms, including one university spin-off, The Vigor Unit.