Research-Teaching-Practice linkages: A challenge for Business Schools

Abstract

Changes in the global business environment are driving changes to the way business schools deliver higher education. However, the long debated gap between academia and industry (research-practice) remains unsolved. This paper explores the integration of research-teaching activities as an alternative to overcome the sometimes conflictual relationship between research and teaching and, more importantly, as a mechanism to reduce the research-practice gap. The aim of this research is to evaluate the extent to which it is feasible to integrate research-teaching in higher education. The practical suggestions to reduce the research-teaching gap proposed by Burke and Rau (2010) are tested in this paper through action research. This research provides empirical evidence on the relationships between research, teaching and practice which could help to improve academic performance, produce better managers for industry and consequently, build a bridge between academics and practitioners.