Research by professionals: from a knowledge-intensive to a research-intensive PSF

Abstract

The famous VUCA world should lead to a conclusion that hardly appears in business conferences or in academic papers: the more ‘VUCA’ we become, the more we need serious investigation and methodical study. In other words, while everybody focuses on agility and creativity, research in management, business and organisation has never been needed so badly. Innovation sometimes comes from invention and intuition, but more often from research. However, research for a VUCA world will not look like research of the past century. It must be real time, relevant, informed by first-hand experience, data-savvy and in-depth. In short, next generation research will need the rigour of academia combined with the access and timelines of the business world. Knowledge-intensive industries, like Professional Service Firms (PSFs), are uniquely positioned to prototype and produce this new type of research. In fact, as effective leadership and thought leadership increasingly converge, transforming from a knowledge-intensive to a research-intensive organisation is not just a nicety for PSFs, but a necessity.

Keywords:

• Knowledge
• knowledge intensive industries
• PSF (Professional Services Firm)
• talent
• research
• thought leadership
• executive engagement
• executive education
• employer value proposition