SIXRigor and Relevance in Organizational ResearchExperiences, Reflections, and a Look Ahead

PHILIP MIRVISAND EDWARD E. LAWLER III

THERE IS NOTHING so practical as a good theory.” “You cannot understand a system until you try to change it.” These are the practical dictums about the relevance of knowledge and its rigorous development offered by Kurt Lewin, the father of social psychology. They represent what we believe and do: in the case of Lawler, as an “applied scholar,” and Mirvis, his onetime grad student and longtime friend, as a “scholarly practitioner.” Our understandings and pursuit of Lewin’s twin precepts about knowledge gathering and use have evolved during a combined 70-plus years studying individuals and organizations.

In this chapter ...

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