SOM Dean on Responsible Research Impact in the Second Asia-Pacific Responsible Research Summit

The Second Asia-Pacific Responsible Research Summit took place on October 29 at Sasin School of Management under the topic of “Responsible Research for Tomorrow’s Management.” The event was supported by the University of Queensland, Indian School of Business, and Tsinghua University in collaboration with the Community for Responsible Research in Business & Management (RRBM) and the organizers promoted the agenda of responsible research within the Business School research ecosystem. It was an opportunity for Deans, researchers, accreditors, publishers and policymakers to address credible and socially impactful research. The event encouraged their participants to learn from each other and share insights to shape the future of responsible Business Research in the Asia-Pacific region.

Prof. Dr. Yuosre Badir, Dean of SOM, took part in the event as member of a panel to discuss “The Best Practices of Senior Researchers and Deans.” In his allotted time, Prof. Badir shared his own research experiences and his definition of “impact.” He said, “Any responsible research should have an impact on people, community and the environment” which can be further adjusted in three different levels: national, regional and global.

When viewed under the lens of the national and regional level, problems and challenges facing society and business are unique to its area within the community, country or region. To achieve a higher level of “impact,” responsible research must be specific and relevant to the place where the research took place to effectively solve these problems and challenges affecting local businesses and communities. More importantly, responsible research must be communicated clearly and accurately to those who are affected and the best way to do so is to write the research in the local language of the community for the greatest impact.

However, this is not supported or encouraged by the current Higher Education System due to several factors:

• Top Journals have their own criteria on what constitutes as “responsible research” which may not be directly relevant to the country or region

• Research submitted to these Top Journals must be published and reviewed in the English language

• Business Schools are driven by Ranking Organizations. They are highly incentivized to have their research published in these Top Journals to fulfill ranking criteria and qualify for the higher university ranking

• Business Schools themselves do not promote a culture of multi-lingual responsible research and are not encouraged to do so.

To conclude, Prof. Badir said that to achieve high impact within the localities where the research is produced, there must be more support from Ranking Organizations, Top Journals and Business Schools to recognize and support the social impact of responsible research within their network of universities. Writing research in the local languages will lead to credible solutions and greater social impact for the local people and communities around the world.