Major grant from The Velux Foundations' humanities programme

The Velux Foundations grant: ‘Turning Theory into Action (TITAN): Undesirable Consequences of Implementing Organization and Management Theory’ is part of seven humanities research projects (with a total grant of dkk 40 million) providing new perspectives on i.a. our feelings, politics and religion. Professor Eva Boxenbaum and Professor Renate Meyer have received almost DKK 6 million in funding for their project.

The project starts on January 1, 2021 and lasts for four years. There are salary funds for a PhD student and two Post-docs, one of which is Virginie Svenningsen from the Department of Organization. The other two positions will be filled on January 1, 2022.

Grant owner: Professor Eva Boxenbaum, Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School (CBS). Grant cooperation with: Professor Renate Meyer, Permanent Visiting Professor at the Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School (CBS)

Abstract in brief
Organization and Management Theory aims at developing academic knowledge that is useful for organizational actors in pursuit of organizational and societal goals. Current debates focus on the presence or absence of such relevance, not on its nature. Prior research shows, however, that academic knowledge, even when relevant for practice, sometimes produce outcomes that are not anticipated and that on some occasions turn out to be undesirable for society. This situation occurred, for instance, when SKAT implemented tools inspired by New Public Management, which contributed to the dividend crisis. The current project aims at developing knowledge about how, and under which conditions, undesirable outcomes arise from academic knowledge when implemented in organizational practice. The purpose is to contribute to preventing, identifying and alleviating unanticipated consequences of academic knowledge that are undesirable for society.

Read more about the Velux Foundations humanities programme grant in the link above.