Academy of Management Perspectives

A design-thinking perspective that focuses not only on what is but on what can be for management field.

“An A is an A:” Design thinking and our desired future.  Academy of Management Perspectives 22 May 2019, Herman Aguinis, Chailin Cummings, Ravi S. Ramani and Tom Cummings

In the context of the current dissatisfaction in the management field regarding the “An A is an A” way of categorizing and valuing research, design thinking involves creating a more desirable future. This paper adopts a design-thinking perspective and focuses not only on what is but on what can be.

In this more desirable future, the authors are able to (a) more clearly define and measure research performance, (b) consider and align the interests of internal and external stakeholders, and (c) do this through the active involvement of leadership in our field. They describe knowledge that management scholars have created to enable us to turn this more desirable future into a reality.