RESEARCH ADVISORY BOARDS TO FACILITATE ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH

The authors argue that the currently dominant paradigm for the design, conduct, and evaluation of organizational research is limited. Those limitations hamper the generation and accumulation of significant rese arch and may result in a variety of other dysfunctional consequences. Collaborative approaches to the research process are presented and one , termed the research advisory board (RAB), is discussed in detail. Th e RAB, a group of scholars who provide guidance with a research projec t from its early stages, is seen as a mechanism to counter some limita tions of the current process. As such, it would complement current pro cedures to yield a new, more constructive paradigm. We believe RABs wo uld generally improve the quality of research, sharply increase the nu mber of problems that are identified at research stages where they are correctable, lead to early recognition of fatal flaws, potentially in crease research creativity, and provide a more level playing field for organizational researchers who do not have other access to collaborat ive mechanisms.