The pursuit of organizational impact: hits, misses, and bouncing back

Abstract

ABSTRACT Conducting impactful research is a cornerstone of good academic practice. It increases the likelihood that research outcomes are used to generate positive change, e.g., by improving working lives, and delivering improvements in the management, operation, and performance of organizations. This, in turn, makes research relevant, representative, and credible. However, undertaking impactful research is challenging, especially when considered alongside other competing academic pressures and research goals. The purpose of this paper is to consider different approaches to creating impactful research in organizational psychology, and to propose that each approach can help meet different research goals. In particular, we introduce and reflect on the value of building long-term partnerships with organizations to create research impact, and consider lessons that we have learned from doing so. To do this, we conceptualize impact delivery as a socio-technical challenge, and demonstrate this using examples from our collaborations. We conclude with recommendations for those who seek to deliver research impact while grappling with these competing pressures.