The SIM Impact Committee explores how management research can create meaningful change across organizations, communities, policy, and practice.
By Sana Chiu, Catherine McDonald, Christine Soo, and the SIM Impact Committee
Impact in Action: Pathways for Advancing Scholarship Across Stakeholders ID:16493
Across management scholarship, questions of research impact have become increasingly important. Scholars are being asked not only to produce rigorous research, but also to demonstrate how their work contributes to organizations, communities, policymakers, and society more broadly.
Our PDW Impact in Action: Pathways for Advancing Scholarship Across Stakeholders (ID:16493) invites participants to explore what impactful research looks like in practice—and how it can be designed, communicated, and evaluated.
Why impact matters
Although research impact has gained prominence across universities and funding agencies, definitions of impact remain varied. Different disciplines, organizations, and stakeholder groups often emphasize different forms of contribution.
This workshop brings together scholars from diverse backgrounds to examine these different perspectives while exploring practical strategies for developing research that is both theoretically rigorous and socially meaningful.
Five perspectives on research impact
The workshop is organized around five interconnected dimensions:
ü Research Impact Across Contexts
ü Workplace impact
ü Community and societal impact
ü Policy and government impact
ü Industry perspectives
ü Methodological approaches to impactful research
These perspectives encourage participants to think broadly about how scholarship can engage multiple stakeholder groups while remaining grounded in strong theoretical foundations.
An interactive conversation
The workshop combines several formats designed to encourage dialogue and exchange. Participants will hear short panel contributions from scholars with diverse experiences before moving into a moderated fireside conversation and interactive roundtable discussions.
These conversations will explore both the opportunities and the tensions associated with impact-oriented scholarship, including questions of power, ethics, engagement, and unintended consequences.
The workshop concludes by synthesizing key insights and identifying practical approaches participants can apply to their own research.
Meet the panel: Julia Backmann, Zhijun Chen, Eduardo Hernandez Melgar, John Katsos and
Michelle Westermann-Behaylo
Strengthening scholarship through engagement
Ultimately, the workshop seeks to foster dialogue across disciplinary boundaries while equipping participants with practical tools for designing, communicating, and evaluating impactful research.
Whether participants are beginning to think about research impact or already working closely with external stakeholders, the session provides an opportunity to reflect on how scholarship can contribute to both academic knowledge and societal change.
Join the conversation on research impact and explore practical pathways for strengthening the societal contribution of your scholarship.