As a Management School, we take pride in our research excellence. When the Research Excellence Framework (REF) results were published this year – assessing the research outputs, impact and environments of all business schools in the UK – it gave us great satisfaction to be rated as the best for both our research power and environment. But the nature of academic research is always evolving. In recent years, it has become much more important that our work should make an impact on the wider world beyond academia, that it should not be restricted in significance only to those few within the walls of universities. We have a long tradition of making an impact on our region and its economy. We are not just a building – or a number of buildings – that happen to be located in Lancaster, cut off from the surrounding area and its people, its businesses. Across the Management School, we strive to create credible and useful research that improves lives and finds solutions to critical future issues. Fromworking with the National Health Service in the UK to improve leadership practices andmental health among frontline staff, to tackling issues of sustainable business practices at local, regional, national and international levels, to addressing gender and racial inequities – our work is at the heart of what matters. We must ensure it continues to be so. If we are to remain relevant, it is not just a matter of what we research, but how we do it. We cannot live and work within an academic bubble. Rather, we must engage with those outside of university – those most likely to be affected by our work if we are to make that real impact. Like everyone else, we read, listen to, and watch the news, so we know what is happening in the world, where the problems and challenges are, and where solutions need to be found. We listen to the policy concerns of governments, we work with those policy-makers, engage with local practitioners, and collaborate with organisations with the ability to influence broader patterns of practice. Whenwe understandwider concerns and are able to frame our expertise in theory around those real-world issues, thenwe are able tomake a real difference. We can generate important theoretical insight, but importantly this insight can drive change in theworld – both for the partners weworkwith and for thewider business world, for consumers, for policy-makers, for communities. THE FUTURE – NOW We ask our researchers to anticipate what the future might bring, and to engage with our responsible management agenda. This is not seeking clairvoyance, nor asking them to work miracles, rather understanding the world as it is now, and identifying areas where change is needed and where we can help. We use the AREA framework to guide Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) to help us: • Anticipating change by understanding opportunities for impact; • Reflecting on the purposes and implications of research; • Engaging with diverse stakeholder communities; • Acting to connect non-academic communities with the research process. This framework will often lead us towards participative research, identifying and engaging with those affected by our work. It means we work together on the process, collaboratively shape our direction, rather than presenting themwith the end results, only for them to question where our work fits in with, or how it helps to resolve, their issues. We employed this framework on the MANY project in North Yorkshire, communicating with and learning from local rural communities as we looked at whether they wanted 5G technologies, and where and how they might work best for them. Not all our research can be participative. Sometimes we might be working on models or conducting important analysis. But what we choose to model, what we analyse, might be framed by these broader considerations and conversations. The real value of theory is in capturing a relationship between what you can do to affect change and what form that change might take. We can use theory to move ideas fromwhat works in one place, to help people in another think through what might work for them. Take the area of green finance, you might be working on models from existing datasets. But in order to get to that stage, you know that green finance is an important issue. You will have read policy documents, engaged with businesses to understand their concerns, and that will frame how you approach and talk about the area you are enquiring into. BUILDINGONOUR STRENGTHS Our research expertise has both breadth and depth. We have particular strengths in the areas of Sustainability, Social Justice, and Innovation in Place. Sustainability: Environmental, economic and social sustainability are essential for the conservation of our planet. Our research allows us to create pathways to an inclusive, fairer society. We work on everything from sustainable accounting to SME engagement, and our enduring work has practical applications in tackling the challenges of achieving net-zero and reducing carbon footprints. 8 |
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