Is management evidence-based decision making?
A large part of management decisions are based on the individuals personal experience or at best, based on the groups collective experience. They are often not based on available evidence, when by doing so we would be taking well informed decisions.
In some occasions, time and budget limitations forbids us to run a more thorough study of a situation. But unfortunately its part of our management culture not to apply a scientific method even if we could, and instead of testing a concept or searching for evidence before applying it broadly, common sense or trial and error is the standard methodology.
If we take a look at other sectors like medicine, it’s an obligation to stay in touch with the latest research and to test empirically if a proposed solution works before using it. Why is it that in management this is not the case?
To be fair, business schools teach us case studies about other companies and organizations benchmark other successful ones. However, in many cases their own successes are results of trial and error. When their ideas are copied and applied to another company, chances are they won’t work as well due to environmental differences. As we don’t truly understand its workings and the factors necessary for its success, we fail in adapting it.
Studies have shown that there is a significant misalignment between research and practice regarding many managerial and HR tasks (Rynes, Colbert & Brown, 2002). There is a huge knowledge gap between academia and practice, as managers, on average, are skeptical or unaware of research findings (Sanders, Van Riemsdijk and Groen 2008), and academics are not succeeding in communicating and influencing the behavior of managers. As a consequence, managers are creating a suboptimal organizational setting and climate, which affects negatively its performance (Borucki & Burke, 1999), and results in employees that are disengaged and far from their full potential.
This knowledge gap is increasingly important, due to the accelerating speed of change and the evolving nature and motivations of work. A 50 year old managers common sense is not enough to lead a company of Generation X and Y. Companies are not adapting fast enough their management practices, thereby missing potential value.
Given these findings, research related to behavioral science and evidence based management can offer very valuable contributions to practitioners. This doesn’t mean that an expert in the organization shouldn’t be heard. It means that the professionals experience should be complemented with a study of available information within the organization and an analysis of relevant scientific publications.
Further evidence on how to go from a traditional to an evidence based management culture would be of great value. Until then we can start following one of the golden rules of the Lean methodology for continuous improvement: Question the assumptions. And check if they are based on credible facts or on a set of beliefs. We are often biased to assign to both the same level of credibility.
“The confidence that people have in their beliefs is not a measure of the quality of evidence, it is a judgement of the coherence of the story that the mind has managed to construct”
Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize in Economics
Author: C. Criado-Pérez #
References #
Borucki, C. C., & Burke, M. J. (1999). ‘An examination of service related antecedents to retail store performance.’ Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 20, 934-962
Rynes S. L., Colbert A. E. & Brown K. G. (2002). ‘HR professionals’ beliefs about effective human resource practices: Correspondence between research and practice.’ Human Resource Management, 41, 149-174
Sanders K., Van Riemsdijk M., & Groen B. (2008). ‘The gap between research and practice: a replication study on the HR professionals’ beliefs about effective human resource practices.’ The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19, 1976-1988