Research Capacity Building in Action:

Framing Support and Balancing Tensions

Mike Wallace

AIM Associate Director for Capacity Building

EDAMBA Annual Meeting & General Assembly

2nd September 2008

Session Aims

1.Outline AIM’s approach to building UK management research capacity, with special reference to doctoral programmes

2.Consider implications for doctoral education in your contexts

3.Explore how doctoral education can be developed effectively in your organizations

AIM’s Approach to Management Research Capacity Building

• Research Council-funded cohorts of AIM Fellows (developing people not projects)- call for individual proposals- from academics at particular career stages- on broad pre-specified management topics- to do individual research- plus collective research-linked activities- plus offer capacity-building activities accessible to any UK researchers (management or methods topics)- support from international scholars- (Senior Fellows had doctoral students)

AIM Senior Fellows Cohort

• 16 individual academics• at a senior career stage (all professors)• Individual research on 3 management topics:

- sustained innovation- promising practices- productivity and performance

• Collective work on these topics including:- book by all Fellows targeting managers- group report for policy-makers on each topic

• Group capacity-building activities (‘converts’ workshop including doing a doctoral degree)

• Each supervised up to five doctoral students

Aim Phase 1 Cohorts of Fellows

Fellowship cohort

Number of Fellows

Career Stage

Topic Area Supervise doctoral students

Capacity building (doctoral students)

Senior 16 Senior private sector innovation, practices, productivity

Yes Yes

Public Service

11 mid-career, senior

public service improvement

No Yes

Ghoshal 9 mid-career private and public sector practices, innovation

No Yes

Aim Phase 2 Cohorts of Fellows

Fellowship cohort

Number of Fellows

Career Stage

Topic Area Supervise doctoral students

Capacity building (doctoral students)

Innovation (plus 8 research projects)

6 mid-career private sector innovation

No Yes

Services 6 mid-career private sector services

No Yes

Practices (call to come)

mid-career private sector management practices

No Yes

Supporting Researchers’ Learning

1. Individual Fellows’ learning by doing research2. Collective Fellows’ learning through group

research-related activities on these topics, supported by international scholars

3. Others’ individual learning (including doctoral students) by providing capacity-building activities, include international scholars

4. Collective Fellows’ learning as trainers by providing capacity-building activities

• (Doctoral students’ learning supervised by AIM Senior Fellows working on their management topics)

AIM Research Training Projects

Research Council-funded projects within the ESRC Researcher Development Initiative:

• Training management researchers as trainers- research methods teachers- doctoral student supervisors- mentors of early-career academics

2. Managing the training of management researchers as trainers- developing staff as teachers and supervisors- managing research training and doctoral

programmes

Progress with AIM Research Training Projects

• Workshop series, offered regionally, on:- Postgraduate research methods teaching- Supervising doctoral students- Teaching Systematic literature review- Teaching critical literature review

• Draft e-learning materials on ‘learning to think like an experienced management researcher’

• Conference on managing research training• Workshop on managing development of

research training and supervision

Developing Doctoral Education:

What Works?

1. In your experience,what support for developing doctoral education is effective?

2. What are the strengths and limitations of AIM’s contribution to developing doctoral education?

The Thinking Behind AIM’s Capacity Building Projects and Fellows’ Capacity Building Work

• Basis for research training proposals and oversight of Fellows’ capacity building proposals

• Developing an analysis linking:

- Career stages

- Roles and tasks

- Development needs

- Learning and learning support

Multiple Roles to Manage Research Training & Supervision

Development needs for different roles:

1. Primary researcher role2. Secondary researcher role as trainers of

postgraduate and doctoral students;3. Secondary researcher role as developers of

academics4. Managers of research training and doctoral

supervision programmes5. Deans and directors of research responsible

for managing the development of research training and supervision

Source of Development Need Career Stage

Role Task Doctoral student

Early career

‘Convert’ Mid

Career

Senior

Researcher write proposals,do research,publish outcomes

X X X X X

Trainer of students

teach methods,supervise students X X X X

Developer of academics

appraise and mentor colleagues X X

Manager of research training and supervision

manage research training, doctoral programme, staff development

X X

Dean / Head of School

recruit & retain staff,develop researchand teaching,develop staff capacity

X

Needs from Roles & Tasks at Career Stages

Source of Development Need RDI Activities to meet Needs

Role Task

Researcher write proposalsdo researchpublish outcomes

Logic of enquiry e-learning materials (postgraduate and doctoral students)

Trainer teach methodssupervise students

Workshop series on methods courses, systematic and critical literature reviewing, working with large datasets, supervising

Staff developer

appraise and mentor colleagues

Workshop series on mentoring early-career academics

Manager of research training and supervision

manage research training, doctoral programme, staff development

(assumed managers’ support, some managers attended workshop series)

Dean / Head of School

recruit and retain staff, develop research,

teaching, staff capacity

(advertised to deans / Head of Schools, they nominate participants, indicate endorsement, nominal financial contribution)

AIM RDI Project – ‘TrainingResearchers as Trainers’

Source of Development Need RDI Activities to meet Needs

Role Task

Researcher write proposals

do research

publish outcomes

Logic of enquiry e-learning extension materials (early-career researchers)

Trainer teach methods

supervise students

Initiative to deliver workshops locally - on supervision and co-publishing, research methods training, teaching critical literature reviewing, quantitative methods

Staff developer

appraise and mentor colleagues

Manager of research training and supervision

manage research training, doctoral programme, staff development

Workshops on importing new methods, managing research training and supervision, training early career researchers - proposals and publications

Dean / Head of School

recruit and retain staff, develop research, teaching, staff capacity

Today’s conference to raise awareness about managing research training and supervision, other RDI provision

AIM RDI Project – ‘Managing theTraining of Researchers as Trainers’

Building Management ResearchCapacity through Doctoral Education:

Identifying Development Needs

1. In your experience,

how (if at all) are the development needs identified of staff involved in providing and managing doctoral education?

2.What are the most important development needs of these staff,

and why?

Support for Individual and Collective Learning

1.Understanding and practical information

2.Skills exercises with feedback

3. Integration into the job with feedback

Potential of Learning Support ActivitiesActivities

for

Learning

Support

Extent of Learning Support

Individual Collective

Practical inform-ation

Skills exercises, feedback

Integration into job, feedback

Exchange practical information

Joint skills exercises, feedback

Joint integration into job, feedback

Intro session / handbook

X X

One-off workshop, conference

X X X X

Workshop series X X X X XMentoring / co-supervising

X X X X X X

Network X X

Modular Learning Support Sequence

Preparatory Work

Diagnose issues through reviewing practice, present knowledge

Problematize practice, stimulate thinking, e.g. through reading

Learning Support Sessions

Link learners’ experience and knowledge to present activity

Input on a new topic

Plan follow-up to integrate ideas from input into practice

Follow-up Work

Activity to support integration into practice

Prepare for next session – report back, diagnose etc

AIM RDI Learning Support ActivitiesActivities

for

Learning

Support

Extent of Learning Support

Individual Collective

Practical inform-ation

Skills exercises, feedback

Integration into job, feedback

Exchange practical information

Joint skills exercises, feedback

Joint integration into job, feedback

Intro session / handbook

X X

One-off workshop, conference

X X X X

Workshop series X X X X XMentoring / co-supervising

X X X X X X

Network X X

Building Management ResearchCapacity through Doctoral Education:

Meeting Development Needsthrough Learning Support

1. In your experience,how are staff supported in their learning who are involved in providing and managing doctoral education?

2.What are the most effective ways of supporting their learning,and why?

Balancing Tensions in Managing the Development of Doctoral Education

1. Planned medium term strategy vsvsflexible response to emerging need, interest and opportunities?

2. Open invitation to request development opportunities to meet self-identified needs vsvs link with needs identified by managers, maybe through appraisal?

3. Pick from external support vs develop school, university-level support?

4. Inclusivity, covering all staff vsvs elitism, concentrating on key roles (e.g.managing research training programme)?

5. Support for all career stages vsvs early career stage for potentially longer-term benefit?

6. Superficial practical information-giving vsvs in-depth sustained mentoring with feedback?

7. Single-purpose support (for role as trainer) vsvs dual-purpose training (for role as trainer and as researcher)?

8. Individuals vsvs collective support?

Managing the Development of Doctoral Education

1. In your experience, what (if any) tensions affect efforts to develop doctoral education?

2.How may any tensions be coped with effectively?