Where are we going and what are we doing? Two seemingly opposing views with a unified message about the discrepancy between organizational behavior theory and business practice

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the need for critical review and realignment of business education as well as business practices to contemporary needs.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyzes two compelling presentations from distinguished scholars in which they made a seemingly contradictory statement about the discrepancy between business education and practice. Subsequently, a critical analysis of the presentations is applied, through which some remarkable similarities emerge.

Findings

The paper finds that: there is a discrepancy between what business education knows and what it does; there is a discrepancy between what business knows and what it does; and the discrepancy on both ends should be attributed to multiple reasons, of which the most important one is: the resistance to adopt the change that epitomizes contemporary circumstances.

Practical implications

Management and organizational behavior scholars should rethink their stance toward educating and preparing today's business students for the ambiguous workplace that awaits them. At the same time, business practitioners should start adopting reward practices that fit today's predominantly organic work environments.

Originality/value

This paper presents a viewpoint that is still rejected and considered unpopular among large groups of scholars who insist on a quantifiable and highly theoretical underpinning of their teachings, even though they are confronted with an increasing gap between their teachings and writings, and the highly volatile reality.

Citation

Marques, J.F. (2012), "Where are we going and what are we doing? Two seemingly opposing views with a unified message about the discrepancy between organizational behavior theory and business practice", On the Horizon, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 24-33. https://doi.org/10.1108/10748121211202044