In Search of Evidence

Chapter 7
management, and only a small minority (6%) had a negative attitude. Interestingly,
most respondents perceived their colleagues’ attitudes towards evidence-based
management to be less favorable than their own. The responses showed that a
large majority (75%) feels that managers and consultants can improve the quality
of their work and advice to clients by using evidence-based practices. In addition,
63% agreed that in formal education more attention should be paid to evidencebased
management.
Table 3: Managers’ perceived relevance of research findings (n = 1,566)
Statement
Managers and consultants have no interest in scientific
research.
The results of scientific research are theoretically sound, but
do not work in practice.
Researchers investigate topics that are of no practical
relevance.
Scientific research is conducted by researchers who are too
far removed from the day-to-day work of a practitioner.
Every organization is unique, hence the findings from
scientific research are not applicable.
Strongly
disagree/
somewhat
disagree
%
Neither agree
or disagree
%
Strongly
agree/
somewhat
agree
%
54 23 23
60 21 19
55 25 20
39 22 39
72 13 15
RQ 4: What do managers perceive as personal or contextual barriers towards the
use of research findings?
Most respondents (60%) reported that they perceived lack of time to read
research articles to be the main barrier to doing so. (Examples of responses include,
‘It is difficult to sit down, concentrate and find time to really read and digest.’) This
was followed by the perception that managers and consultants have little
understanding of scientific research (56%) and that research articles are unreadable
(42%). Other barriers mentioned to using research findings were organizational
culture (‘You need to be in a company that respects the need for research’),
accessibility (‘It is difficult to locate research papers, and I don’t know where to
look’), and awareness (‘I did not know research findings were available and
accessible — are they?’).