Scholarly Influence in the Field of Management: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Determinants of University and Author Impact in the Management Literature in the Past Quarter Century

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the universities and research scholars who have had the greatest impact on the field of management during the past quarter century and the factors that influence their impact. Using bibliometric techniques, the authors examined 30 management journals to identify the 100 most-cited universities and 150 most-cited authors from 1981 to 2004. The analysis included more than 1,600 universities and 25,000 management scholars across five individual time periods. The findings showed that (a) a relatively small proportion of universities and scholars accounted for the majority of the citations in the field; (b) total publications accounted for the majority of the variance in university citations; (c) university size, the number of PhDs awarded, research expenditures, and endowment assets had the biggest impact on university publications; and (d) total publications, years in the field, graduate school reputation, and editorial board memberships had the biggest effect on a scholar's citations.