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The Narrative of ‘Evidence Based’ Management: A Polemic

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  • Kevin Morrell

Abstract

abstract ‘Evidence based’ management is a popular contemporary account of the relationship between research and practice in management studies. This paper critically examines the implications of this account from the perspective of Formalism: a narratological approach to critique that focuses on how narratives are made compelling, and hence powerful. Compelling narratives deploy devices that establish (i) credibility and (ii) defamiliarization. Using this approach the paper identifies and examines different ideological strands in the nascent literature on evidence based management: pragmatism, progress, systematization, technique, accumulation. These are the means by which advocates of evidence based approaches construct a compelling story about the value of this approach. Prior criticism of the evidence based approach has centred on epistemological and technical issues. The aim here is to use an aesthetic mode of criticism to highlight political and moral implications. These are important given the relationship between claims to knowledge and the use of power; and the interaction between management research, and management as practice.

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  • Kevin Morrell, 2008. "The Narrative of ‘Evidence Based’ Management: A Polemic," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 613-635, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:45:y:2008:i:3:p:613-635
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00755.x
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    2. Bezzina, Frank & Cassar, Vincent & Tracz-Krupa, Katarzyna & Przytuła, Sylwia & Tipurić, Darko, 2017. "Evidence-based human resource management practices in three EU developing member states: Can managers tell truth from fallacy?," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 688-700.
    3. Abiye Tob-Ogu & Niraj Kumar & John Cullen & Erica E. F. Ballantyne, 2018. "Sustainability Intervention Mechanisms for Managing Road Freight Transport Externalities: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Matthias Fink & Rainer Harms & Isabella Hatak, 2012. "Nanotechnology and Ethics: The Role of Regulation Versus Self-Commitment in Shaping Researchers’ Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(4), pages 569-581, September.

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