The Importance of Scholarly Research in Business, Economics, and Finance

Liz Barlow, Senior Commissioning Editor, Scholarly Business

To answer the question of why scholarly research is important in Business, Economics and Finance, I wanted to draw on an example of one of the most important areas of research today.

After what seems like decades of irresponsible leadership and business conduct, with profits placed high on a pedestal and little regard to the long term outcomes, business and economies around the world have been left on the brink. Responding to this fundamental need for change in the way organizations are run, sustainability – both in terms of long term business health and in environmental and societal terms - is firmly top of the agenda for business and management research.

The challenge for such research is well acknowledged; every practitioner knows that they should be more responsible, what's more is they probably also know why it's important. We might naturally ask therefore, how can this seed of knowledge be encouraged and engaged in before being converted to practice and implemented successfully? The answer starts and ends with scholarly research.

There is some wonderful, pioneering work being carried out on this topic as we speak; research that goes beyond the usual and much repeated theories of responsible management; indeed research that not so much prods but explodes the status quo of traditional business functions and models – from the supply chain to organizational design, branding to innovation. By completely re-thinking the way that organizations are run scholars are proposing some ground-breaking ideas backed up by qualitative and quantitative data. Importantly, these are ideas that exist because of the commitment to funding and the value that is placed in such areas.

For me scholarly research goes beyond citations and impact factors. Topics such as sustainability should be (and are being) actively supported by funders as a priority and communicated by Policy Makers around the world. It can directly affect change and transformation in our economies and more importantly, set a precedent for best practice to the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Liz can be contacted at liz.barlow@palgrave.com.