Management Learning

Fifty years after Kurt Lewin invented the idea of action research, action research remains an umbrella term for a host of activities intended to foster change on the group, organizational, and even societal levels. This article explores both historical and contemporary definitions of action research and describes the process and goals of action research. Located in the tradition of Lewin, organizational action research involves cross-functional teams who address deep-rooted organizational issues through recurring cycles of action and reflection. A case example of an action research project involving two teams in a high technology corporation depicts the process in action.

My purpose in this article is to highlight characteristics of participatory research that distinguish it from other forms of research aimed at generating action. To this end, I will single out the central role that ordinary people play in motivating and sustaining research efforts, the nature of the knowledge generated, and the social change mechanism embedded in participatory research.

Action Learning draws its roots from different philosophies of learning and change, which in turn, influence its design and practice. This article identifies common factors and differences among three different ‘schools’ of practice (Scientific, Experiential and Critical Reflection). It then distinguishes Action Learning from the other action approaches in this volume.

Action science is designed to help people reflect on and improve social practices that shape inquiry, choice and action. It is based on an epistemology of practice as reflecting-in-action and has developed largely within the framework of the theory of action approach. A case example is used to illustrate how action might be redesigned in the moment and to suggest the causal factors that prevent people from acting more effectively. In action science we seek to alter these causal factors by engaging people in reflecting on dilemmas and inconsistencies in their logic of action.

Developmental Action Inquiry askes three types of questions together in one’s actions with others, with the normative aim of improving the timelines and transformational effectiveness of action. The three questions concern the first-person dynamics of one’s own awareness, the second-person dynamics of the immediate group with whom one is interacting, and the third-person dynamics of the larger institutions within which one’s action is situated. The article outlines the type of theory and practice that supports and reflects such inquiry, and highlights how different such integrated ‘research/practice’ is from empirical positivism.

Co-operative inquiry is a radically participative form of inquiry in which all those involved are both co-researchers and co-subjects. The methodology of co-operative inquiry is set out in a ‘Layperson’s Guide’ which might be used to introduce the method to a new group. This is followed by a reflection on the learning process of an inquiry group, particularly the process of research cycling, the importance of the peer group, and the paradoxical self-reflexive quality of attention. Finally, co-operative inquiry is compared with other action approaches.