The Very Separate Worlds Of Academic And Practitioner Periodicals In Human Resource Management: Implications For Evidence-Based Management

It is hardly news that many organizations do not implement practices that research has shown to be positively associated with employee productivity and firm financial performance. Indeed, the failure to implement research-supported practices has been observed in nearly every field where there is a separation between those who conduct research and those who are in a position to implement research findings. The gap between science and practice is so persistent and pervasive that some have despaired of its ever being narrowed. Nevertheless, over the past decade or so, attempts to deal with the problem have evolved in the form of movements toward "evidence-based" practice in such fields as medicine, education, marketing, rehabilitation, and psychology. In the field of management, the nascent movement toward evidence-based practice is known as "evidence-based management, or EBM. For EBM to take root, it is necessary - though far from sufficient - that managers be exposed to, and embrace, scientific evidence.