Insider Action Research Research Articles

A self-study using action research: changing site expectations and practice stereotypes

Practice is not created and developed by individual teachers but is subject to what Kemmis and Grootenboer called ‘extra-individual conditions’ and cultural histories. The ‘expectations’ around teaching do much to create stereotypes and conformity around how to teach and how to act in schools. This paper explores a teacher’s longitudinal self-study of pedagogical and curricular change through reflective practice and ‘insider’ action research. The findings show that pedagogical and curricular change is more than a personal desire to do something differently. Instead, it is a process of acknowledging expectation – student, teacher, institutional, and subject – and finding ways of working within, around and between these. Furthermore, insider action research is shown as a tool for positioning the practitioner in the ‘betweenness’ of theory and practice. However, the paper concludes that while insider action research is a vital ingredient in sustained curriculum renewal, it needs to be hand-in-hand with collaboration with significant others inside and/or outside the school, and it needs to engage in a critique of the extra-individual conditions as part of the reflective process.

Developing a reflective practice in instructional design

It is generally accepted as true that nobody is an expert from the very first try. However, most people expect that an adequate amount of years of experience result in building expertise. They may be right, especially if those years were spent not only acting and experimenting, but also reflecting on the actions and learning from these reflections. This study, grounded in the author's everyday practice, is aiming to explore how instructional designers of online courses can be supported by using Web 2.0 tools to develop a reflective practice, and to form a community where they can exchange ideas, confront theories, identify problems and find solutions. The group is formed by people with backgrounds more or less connected to education, such as former trainers, school counsellors, psychologists, project managers, technical writers, graduates in public administration, etc. Having neither formal training in instructional design, nor experience in such a domain, they have no other choice than learn on the job. The approach taken is insider action research (AR), as the author has a responsibility concerning the work quality and productivity of instructional designers. Each AR cycle builds on the findings from the previous one, and enlarges the scale of the study while focusing the investigation. The pragmatic goal of the project is to succeed in building a community of practitioners that is autonomous, and has a core that is solid enough to integrate newcomers. The first action research cycle was exploratory and identified early issues of interest. The second cycle is currently in the analysis phase. The third cycle will run in 2012 based on the findings of the current one. The contribution this study seeks to make is to place knowledge about collective reflection, public vs. personal theories, and use of blogs as learning journals into the context of workplace learning and professional development with the goal to improve practice. Through this study, I aim to: (1) improve my understanding of the process of developing as a professional in the workplace, particularly on developing reflective skills, (2) analyse the impact of support actions and select the ones that facilitate the formation of a community of practice among instructional designers, and (3) identify potential differences of approach in offering and receiving support according to personal factors such as personal experience and other factors that may emerge.

Verification of the effectiveness of the Integrated Product Development paradigm for the development of sports equipment — A case study

The sporting goods companies face significant challenges. To be successful on the market it is essential to follow a structured systematic product development process. A potential approach is the Integrated Product Development (IPD) paradigm. In this paper Insider Action Research (IAR) is used to verify the effectiveness of the IPD in a case study. It is shown that IPD is a potential development paradigm for the sporting goods industry to support a systematic development process for a successful product development in sports.

Tensions and dilemmas experienced by a change agent in a community–university physical activity initiative

This article presents a case study of a community–university physical activity initiative in which the author operated as a change agent responsible for facilitating community intersectoral collaboration, capacity, and autonomy. Change agents in community–institution initiatives typically work with communities or organizations to initiate and maintain a change effort. Using a first-person, insider action research approach, the change agent examined a set of dilemmas and dynamics she faced throughout the course of the initiative, and framed these in terms of tensions occurring along three continuums: (1) process–product, defined by the challenge of finding a balance between building capacity and delivering concrete and timely results; (2) insider–outsider, linked to the duality of roles of the change agent and community partners, and ensuing conflicts of identity, territory, loyalty, and accountability; and (3) bottom-up/top-down, associated with the difficulty of respecting local circumstances and needs while simultaneously operating within set parameters. The author critically reflects on the role of institutions involved as partners in community–institution initiatives, and draws attention to the complexity of the change agent's role in such initiatives. Recommendations for practice are offered, including the need for community–institution initiatives to provide sufficient time and resources for community capacity-building processes to develop, properly support change agents in their multiple roles and core functions, and develop their own capacities to engage in community capacity-building and change.

Juggling Multiple Roles or Falling Between all Stools? Insider Action Research in a Collaborative Agricultural Research Program in Southeast Asia

Summary Action research has been part of the methodological spectrum of the social sciences for a long time. After an initial boom period in the 1970s and 1980s, however, the discussion has now abated somewhat. At present, action research is promoted mainly in two applied fields: In the context of organizational research and in development-oriented agricultural research, commonly under the label ‘participatory research’. In this paper, we analyze the potential of action research by individuals within their own organization, drawing on a collaborative research program. The objective of this program is to enhance action research approaches in agricultural research and explore their potential, while at the same time critically examining their limitations. Thereby, researchers and the institutional innovation process become the central focus of the research. The project thus operates at the interface between organizational research, organizational anthropology, sociology of knowledge, and agricultural researc...

Seamless healthcare delivery systems

Taking the physician sourced observation that "wasting time is always more expensive than saving it" leads naturally to the conclusion that effective and efficient patient-centred healthcare delivery systems are highly desirable targets for the National Health Service (NHS) and similar providers. But has "joined up healthcare" even been achieved, and if so, how? What procedures must be in place to maximise the chances of its occurrence? This paper aims to investigate these issues. This paper answers these questions experientially via "Insider Action Research" projects plus careful critique of published case studies. Recurring themes for effective improvement of healthcare delivery organisations emerge in the paper, as do identification of the inevitable barriers to change. The paper takes stock of NHS service developments in a broader theoretical light.

Social enterprise resisting social accounting: reflecting on lived experiences

PurposeThe advantages of using social accounting (SA) by social enterprises are widely evident (e.g. Social Audit Network, New Economics Foundation). The data gathered by the authors, through introductory SA workshops and training attended by 30 organisations and a single case study, are used with the purpose of demonstrating that the barriers and resistance to SA are widespread.Design/methodology/approachThe paper focuses upon the analysis of the lived experiences of SA discussed by 31 workshop participants and the more detailed experience of one participant organisation over two years. An action research approach was used across the training project, with insider action research used with the single case organisation.FindingsThe research develops a deeper understanding of the issues (real and perceived) surrounding the barriers and resistance to SA, how they could be overcome and leads to the formulation of mechanisms to address them.Research limitations/implicationsThis work is based upon a project working with a sample of social enterprises and gives a view of the lived experiences of practitioners approaching SA for the first time, it does not claim generalisability.Practical implicationsThe research is of use to social enterprise practitioners and trainers struggling with decisions as to how to approach SA whilst overcoming barriers and resistance. If SA is appropriate then these insights should aid the development of a “model” of SA that is fitting. It also furthers an understanding around the issues of accountability and value measurement within social enterprise and how this needs to be supported at an organisational and government level.Originality/valueUnderstanding of resistance in the context of social enterprise this offers a unique understanding for other social enterprises to reflect upon their own organisation and determine, if SA is suitable for them. If SA is appropriate for their organisation, then these insights should aid the development of a “model” of SA that is fitting for their organisation.

Aspects of consideration in product development research

One reason for conducting research on product development processes is to improve the usability in methods and tools for companies to be more competitive and efficient. However, the transfer of research findings over to industry has been shown to be slow and incremental, which could be seen as a result of bad usability and/or low acceptability in research findings from studies on industrial product development processes. According to our research and practice experience, we have found that, to grasp what really happens on a daily basis in a development project, to get the opportunity to reflect upon it, and to understand the complex nature of a development process, it is necessary to conduct insider action research (IAR), which is a qualitative approach. So far, the traditional outsider perspective using a quantitative research approach has been dominant. Conducting IAR means that the researcher is present and intervenes most of the time in a development project either as project leader, team member or observer. To improve the opportunities for implementation of research findings (which is an important issue for society as a whole) and to guarantee trust in presented research findings, IAR has proved to be efficient in the studied projects. As the research situation becomes unique for each product development process, trust in the research findings is strongly related to the presence of the researcher in the development process. Reliability and credibility in terms of provable data can be filed in diaries, email communications, and so on, and saved to be available if required.

Insider action research: opportunities and challenges

PurposeWithin the context of the changing nature of research and of universities, insider action research provides a particular expression of action research that poses considerable challenges to those engaging in it. The purpose of this article is to address the challenges of insider action research.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on such research undertaken in Sweden.FindingsInsider action researchers need to confront the issues pertaining to preunderstanding, role duality and organizational politics. Attention to experience, understanding and judgement which leads to action, provides a methodology through which they can affirm what and how they know. They need to do so in a critical realist approach which challenges them to transcend their own subjectivity through the quality of how they are attentive to the data, intelligent in their understanding, reasonable in their judgements and responsible in their actions. Such transcendence provides the criteria for a rigorous epistemology and quality action research.Originality/valueThis paper brings the work of Bernard Lonergan to the field of action research and insider action research in particular and addresses in concrete terms how his critical realist approach may be actualized in practice by those engaging in insider action research.

Insider action research

Insider action research is viewed as a means and an end in the development of new organizational capabilities. Building on the literature that is based in the fields of business strategy, insider action research, learning mechanisms and organization development, we develop a model of new organizational capabilities development. Three longitudinal action research projects within AstraZeneca are described and examined using the model. Many of the challenges faced by the insider action researcher, such as linking IAR project to business strategy, pre-understanding, acting in a political landscape, managing multiple roles, designing and managing a variety of learning mechanisms, and the ongoing need to maintain balance between opposing forces are identified and discussed. Directions for future research and recommendations for insider action researchers are presented.

Developing a pedagogy of opportunity for students and their teachers

This article examines an action research study of a collaboratively constructed professional development program for teachers in an urban elementary school. Through the use of qualitative and quantitative methods, Wirth, a teacher and Literacy Leader for over 25 years within the research setting, studied the structure and process of this initiative and explored the issues that emerged from her work as an insider action researcher. The article examines this research process in order to explore the systemic, institutional, personal, and professional implications of engaging in school-based, practitioner-driven research that works within an action research paradigm. Key themes discussed are: 1) the contextual, relational, and systemic issues of insider action research in terms of negotiating roles as a colleague, researcher, and school leader; 2) navigating the practical and ideological spaces between facilitating change and not imposing beliefs and values; and 3) reflexivity and methodological adaptations around issues of power and authority.

Insider action research doctorates: Generating actionable knowledge

The aim of this article is to contribute to understanding of the issue raised when executives do action research in their own organizations for doctorates. There are a number of significant challenges for those executives considering action research in their own organization, which are explored under the headings of, preunderstanding, role duality and organizational politics. The article reflects on the executive action research doctorate in terms of the engagement of the individual manager–researcher in first person inquiry, the collaborative activities with others in second person inquiry and the third person contribution of actionable knowledge to the practitioner and academic communities.

Spreadsheets and the financial planning process: a case study of resistance to change

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify and explain the barriers that prevented the case study organisation, a UK manufacturing and R&D subsidiary of a European transnational company, from improving its spreadsheet‐based financial planning process.Design/methodology/approachThis is an insider action research case study, using qualitative semi‐structured interviews to ask accountants their opinions on budgeting and whether the present spreadsheet‐based budgeting system could be improved. In addition, a quantitative questionnaire was used to ask managers their views on whether budgeting was a help or a hindrance.FindingsChanges to the existing financial planning process were not implemented because they threatened to alter the existing distribution of power within the finance organisation.Research limitations/implicationsThe research project could not have proceeded into an implementation of change cycle due to financial constraints and because the manufacturing sites where the study took place were closed down. Further research into the organisational politics and culture of the case study organisation would have been an interesting challenge.Practical implicationsConsistent with previous research that existing power distribution and organisation cultures may stifle creativity and be the cause of resistance, preventing changes to accounting systems being implemented.Originality/valueWhy management systems are resistant to change has occupied researchers in recent times. However, there has been a dearth of action research on budgeting and financial planning, particularly insider action research. This paper contributes to the developing body of action research literature on management accounting systems.

Going Green from the Inside: Insider Action Research at the Volvo Car Corporation

Various forms of action research have been proposed as remedies for the one-sided focus on theoretical interests existing in Business School research. Among other conceptual elaborations, Insider Action Research (IAR) suggests that action research needs to be supported by an insider's view of activities in order to achieve any substantial contribution to practice and theory. Even though the IAR model is potentially capable of overcoming a number of practical, political, and epistemological problems, it has been explored relatively little in terms of practical examples and lessons. This paper presents the account of an Insider Action researcher at the Volvo Car Corporation, aimed at studying the development of environmental strategies and “eco-benign” automobiles “from the inside”. The paper suggests that even though IAR remains a promising model, the political ingenuity and savoir-faire of the insider action researcher must not be underrated.

Political entrepreneurship in action research: learning from two cases

PurposeTo discuss political entrepreneurship as a capability to enable durable insider action research projects.Design/methodology/approachThe two authors utilize auto‐ethnographic methods in order to evaluate and draw inferences from their own actions as insider action researchers. The paper draws on action research theory and theories on political entrepreneurship.FindingsPolitical entrepreneurship is an important factor behind success or failure in action research projects, but has, despite this, been scarcely discussed in the action research literature. Findings indicate that a political entrepreneurship repertoire consisting of capabilities to find red‐hot issues for one's research, to use the inside of the organization in the research efforts, to use and diffuse the research results, and, finally, to work on the positioning of one's relational platform.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based upon case studies in two organizations. Its implications may be further developed through studies in a wider array of settings.Practical implicationsThe study provides valuable knowledge for organizations intending to participate in (insider) action research as well as for (insider) action researchers.Originality/valuePolitical entrepreneurship in action research is scarcely discussed in action research theory – and hence the paper addresses an important research gap. Moreover, the presented implications have a certain practical value for organizations and researchers.

Call for papers Special issue: insider action research

Call for papers Special issue: insider action research

Practitioner Research for Organizational Knowledge

Insider action research is a relatively neglected form of research on organizations. Insider research is valuable because it draws on the experience of practitioners as complete members of their organizations and so makes a distinctive contribution to the development of insider knowledge about organizations and organizational change. We are all insiders in our own families and organizations and a distinctive quality of knowledge generalizable to that experience can come from insider action research. Within insider research, action research has a particular contribution to make to organizational research as it generates useful knowledge about how organizations manage change and how key actors perceive and enact their roles with regard to change. Two distinct patterns within action research may be seen. Mechanistic-oriented action research encompasses traditional action research as expressed in organization development and participatory action research, leading to pragmatic outcomes such as the management of change or problem resolution. Organistic-oriented action research is more complex and subversive because it is guided by a primary aspiration to study the inquiry process and help it transform through increasingly intensive learning in action.

Research on dynamic systems—some considerations

Dynamic systems are systems within which changes occur all the time. Such systems are organisations, innovation projects, etc. It is a well-known fact that interaction and commitment from a range of professions is needed to achieve competitive results in product development projects. Especially when innovative development is carried out, it is of the utmost importance that product developers interact intensively in every link from sub-suppliers to customers, users and society if they are not to lose important signals from any part of the chain or be unaware of important and unforeseen events that will inevitably take place during a development process. Dealing with product development therefore means dealing with complex adaptive systems for which unpredictability increases with the number of people involved and the longer the development process takes. As a consequence, researchers must consider different approaches to research in order to improve their knowledge of practical product development and to produce useful theories for practitioners acting in a dynamic world. This paper deals with such considerations. One conclusion is that the most information-intense situation is reached if researchers act as project leaders of product development projects, which is called performing Participation or Insider Action Research (IAR). This line of action does, however, present a complication in that performing IAR often demands that researchers have some practical industrial experience in advance.

Action research from the inside: issues and challenges in doing action research in your own hospital.

Nurses are increasingly engaging in action research projects to improve aspects of nursing practice, education and management and contribute to the development of the profession. Action research involves opportunistic planned interventions in real time situations and a study of those interventions as they occur, which in turn informs further interventions. Insider action research has its own dynamics which distinguish it from an external action researcher approach. The nurse-researchers are normally already immersed in the organization and have a pre-understanding from being an actor in the processes being studied. There is a paucity of literature on the challenges that face nurse action researchers on doing action research in their own hospital. The aim of this article is to address this paucity by exploring the nature of the challenges which face nurse action researchers. Challenges facing such nurse-researchers are that they frequently need to combine their action research role with their regular organizational roles and this role duality can create the potential for role ambiguity and conflict. They need to manage the political dynamics which involve balancing the hospital's formal justification of what it wants in the project with their own tactical personal justification for the project. Nurse-researchers' pre-understanding, organizational role and ability to manage hospital politics play an important role in the political process of framing and selecting their action research project. In order that the action research project contribute to the organization's learning, nurse action researchers engages in interlevel processes engaging individuals, teams, the interdepartmental group and the organization in processes of learning and change. Consideration of these challenges enables nurse-action researchers to grasp the opportunities such research projects afford for personal learning, organizational learning and contribution to knowledge.

Insider Action Research Projects

Managers are increasingly undertaking action research projects in their own organizations. Action research involves opportunistic planned interventions in real time situations and a study of those interventions as they occur, which in turn informs further interventions. Insider action research has its own dynamics, which distinguish it from an external action researcher approach. The manager-researchers are already immersed in the organization and have a preunderstanding from being an actor in the processes being studied. Challenges facing such manager-researchers are that they need to combine their action research role with their regular organizational roles and this role duality can create the potential for role ambiguity and conflict. They need to manage the political dynamics, which involves balancing the organization's formal justification of what it wants in the project with their own tactical personal justification for the project. Manager-researchers' preunderstanding, organizational role and ability to manage organizational politics play an important role in the political process of framing and selecting their action research project. In order that the action research project contribute to the organization's learning, the manager-action researcher engages in interlevel processes engaging individuals, teams, the inter-departmental group and the organization in processes of learning and change. Consideration of these challenges enables manager-action researchers to grasp the opportunities such research projects afford for personal learning, organizational learning and contribution to knowledge.