The role of funding bodies in the creation and diffusion of management fads and fashions

Previous authors have questioned the notion of scientific rationality and m ethod in understanding the ways in which knowledge is produced through acad emic research. These critiques make clear that the production of academic k nowledge cannot be separated from the context in which it is produced. In t his paper, we focus on the ways in which the meso-level context, in particu lar in terms of relations between a research funding body and a research te am, shapes this process of knowledge construction. It is argued that the lo gics used by funding bodies to promote knowledge creation and diffusion are not only at times unrealistic and inappropriate but also contradictory and conflated. Using two case examples of academic management research, this p aper argues that, instead of stimulating innovation, the policies of fundin g bodies may at times encourage the creation and diffusion of just those ty pes of management fads and fashions that academics tend to be very critical of. This is especially likely where research is carried out in multidiscip linary and multinational teams.