The theory/practice gap: a problem for research in business schools?

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview and evaluation of the “theory/practice” gap in business and management research as it has been developed in relation to US and European business and management schools.

The paper combines theoretical and institutional analysis to construct a framework for analyzing the “theory/practice” gap and its wider implications.

The paper suggests that a “dialogical” rather than “linear” model of knowledge production and dissemination is the most analytically and practically useful way of approaching the “theory/practice” gap in business and management research.

The paper reviews and updates the “theory/practice” gap in business and management research and offers a more nuanced and realistic appreciation of how it might be resolved.