In Search of Evidence

Managers’ Attitudes and Perceived Barriers
than their own, which points to the possibility that, according to the Theory of
Planned Behavior, social norms may constrain them from applying evidence-based
management to their daily practice (Ajzen, 1991). Such conditions suggest that it is
likely to be easier for managers to engage in evidence-based management where
they are in senior positions within their organizations or where they work with
others who are like-minded. Educating a new generation of managers to engage
in evidence-based management is important to the development of like-minded
colleagues and the development of norms supporting evidence use.
Importantly, most managers we sampled appear to have an interest in research
and feel that topics researchers investigate are of practical relevance. This is an
important message to researchers — i.e. that practitioners might be more receptive
to their work than they had previously assumed, suggesting that they should
seriously consider putting more effort into communicating their findings effectively
for multiple audiences, rather then solely focusing on the academic community.
However, given that most managers do not read academic journals and do not
have access to research databases, one might wonder if managers are sufficiently
familiar with research topics being investigated to adequately answer this question.
For instance, managers may have positive attitudes to research in general, but
when presented with actual research findings may feel that they are not especially
meaningful. In addition, they may even feel negative about research that
challenges their particular practices. Further, our findings suggest that the way in
which relevance is defined and measured plays a role in determining the perceived
relevance of research evidence for practicing managers. To remedy this, researchers
might consider focusing on the types of beliefs that are most consequential for
decision-making (e.g., reactions to specific research evidence as encountered in
practice).
Our study indicates that lack of time is perceived as the most important barrier
to the uptake of evidence-based management. It implies that the role of senior
management in terms of promoting and developing an organizational culture in
which practitioners have time to consult scientific evidence before making an
important decision may be an essential prerequisite. This implication is in line with
the findings from a recent systematic review that examined the relation between
evidence-based nursing implementation and leadership among nurses, suggesting
that leadership and culture are the most important factors for the implementation
of evidence-based practice (Flödgren, Parmelli, & Doumit, 2011), and consistent
with the Theory of Planned Behavior’s prediction that the implementation of
evidence-based practice is partly determined by contextual barriers. However, lack
of time may also be a barrier that lies at the personal level, suggesting that