Ensuring a Research Culture

The success of a business school depends on its academic citizenship, which is the cornerstone of the school’s research culture. Many business schools are seeking ways to build or maintain a strong research culture, so as to achieve the rewards and renown associated with being a high-quality research institution. Every business school is different and there will not be a one-size-fits-all solution. However, with an understanding of the fundamentals of a strong research culture, and with some consideration of how to achieve them, a business school can devise a plan for achieving a research culture that will reap long-term rewards. We propose a model, based on Kurt Lewin’s three-step model of organizational change, as a guide to developing and executing a game plan designed to support a successful, healthy research culture, driven and held together by academic citizenship. We address the growing importance of a strong research culture, outline specific actions that can be taken to improve academic citizenship across several dimensions and foster a robust research culture, and discuss actions that can be used to freeze the research culture in place and ensure its longevity.