Action vs. Traditional Research: Organizational Change and Performance Improvement
Overview
This essay compares action research and traditional research approaches to organizational change, arguing that while both target organizational improvement, they differ fundamentally in urgency and methodology. Action research provides immediate, practical solutions to dynamic organizational issues, whereas traditional research offers long-term, quantitative analysis for sustained business growth. The paper concludes that integrating both approaches is essential for effective organizational performance.
What this essay covers
- Introduction establishing common ground and key differences between action and traditional research
- Comparative analysis of research methodologies, accuracy, and application to organizational challenges
- Discussion of 21st-century market dynamics and the case for action research in rapidly changing environments
- Conclusion emphasizing the need for incorporating both research approaches for business sustainability
Preview
Action vs. Traditional Research
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Action vs. Traditional Research
The common ground between action research and traditional research is targeting organizational change. However, the major difference between action and traditional research is the scale of urgency required to solve a given organization issue. On the one hand, action research is for an immediate solution to improve organizational performance. As a result, it is crucial in responding to dynamic and frequently emerging issues of “customer service, technology management, human resource management, supply chain management, and organization change” (Shani & Coghlan, 2019, p.2).On the other hand, traditional research is useful in analyzing the quantitative aspect of improving organizational growth, thus, pertinent in achieving the long-term goals of a business. It suffices to say, therefore, that action research is purposed to change situations, and traditional research is for implementing the organizational change effectively. Moreover, action research is a normal step that needs to be practical for each solution, while traditional research depends mostly on numerical analysis, thus requires more scientific methods (Shani & Coghlan, 2019). Action research gives the most accurate and exact results needed, whereas traditional research has no facilitation of accurate results due to its high probabilities of errors occurring (Shani & Coghlan, 2019).
As such, one of the reasons for a business to prefer an action research approach to the traditional model is the highly dynamic nature of the 21st-century market. The widespread use of the internet and improved technology to hasten production results in fast shifts in customers' interests and tastes.