10499: Co-Creating Excellence: Teams, Tools, and Strategies for Rigorous, Impactful Research

This professional development workshop (PDW) addresses a critical challenge facing early and mid-career academics: how to produce research that is both theoretically rigorous and impactful in practitioner contexts. In today's academic landscape, scholars are increasingly expected to demonstrate the relevance of their work to practitioners while maintaining high standards of academic excellence. This workshop provides strategies and tools for navigating this complex terrain. Over 2.5 hours, participants will explore key aspects of co-creating impactful research, focusing on ways of forming strategic and diverse teams, developing theoretical, practitioner-relevant research questions, and designing studies that yield data suitable for academic and practitioner outputs. Through a panel discussion, expert presentations, and interactive exercises, attendees will learn techniques for co-creating research that meets the needs of both academic and practitioner communities. The workshop will feature speakers experienced in bridging academic-practitioner divides across in the field of innovation and technology management. Participants will gain practical skills for enhancing the practitioner impact of their scholarship while maintaining academic rigour, and network with like-minded scholars interested in impactful, engaged research. This PDW aims to extend traditional academic publishing norms and foster a community of researchers committed to advancing both theory and practice. By providing tools to navigate the different timelines and expectations of academic and practitioner outputs, the workshop equips scholars to produce work that resonates beyond academia.