Rigor and Relevance in Asian Management Research: Where Are We and Where Can We Go?

Abstract

Has our collective research effort focused on management in Asian contexts addressed salient questions and produced useful results? Where are we in terms of deepening and broadening our understanding of the antecedents, manifestations and implications of phenomena that are relevant in this region? What contributions have we been able to make to general theory and practice? Where should we be moving in terms of research focus, methodologies and contributions? This paper draws on 840 articles from 30 journals to assess the state of management research in Asian contexts. The basic conclusions are that too much of the research effort has been limited to simplistic comparisons, correlational analyses providing no insight into underlying processes, and skewed, idiosyncratic sampling. The result has been a lack of theory development and contribution to conceptual discourse beyond an audience specifically interested in Asia, with little relevance for management practice. This analysis points to clear recommendations for increasing both the rigor and relevance of this collective research effort, while at the same time acknowledging the considerable institutional and cognitive barriers to moving forward.