FACULDADE DE ECONOMIA
UNIVERSIDADE NOVA DE LISBOA
Doing Exemplary Research
February 2011:
Academic Year 2010/2011
PhD Program
Instructor: Stewart Clegg
Short Biography: Stewart Clegg holds a Ph.D. in Management (University of Bradford) and is
a Fellow of the British Academy of the Social Sciences; a Distinguished Fellow of the
Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management; a Fellow of the Academy of the
Social Sciences in Australia; a Distinguished Fellow of the institute of Advanced Study,
Durham University; a Montezolomo Fellow of the University of Cambridge; an Erasmus
Mundos Fellow of the European Union at the University of Umea, and a Fellow of the Aston
Academy. He teaches regularly abroad at institutions such as EM-Lyon, Copenhagen
Business School, the Vriej Universiteit of Amsterdam, and Maastricht University. He has
published widely in the best journals in his field and is a recipient of several awards and
honors, including the George R Terry Award for Outstanding Contributions to Management
Knowledge and the Academy of Management Practice Theme Committee Impact Award.
Author and editor of about fifty books.
Contacts: s.clegg@uts.edu.au
1
COURSE AIMS
The subject will introduce students to the processes of producing exemplary
research. Exemplary research is well conceived, well executed, and well written. It is
what scholars should aim to do. The purposed of the subject is two fold: 1) to
introduce research students to the ideas and techniques that underpin particular
examples of “exemplary research”; and, 2) help research students apply these ideas
in the execution of their own research. Students will not only critically evaluate
examples of research but also explore the practice of research to identify key
strategies and potential pitfalls that will affect their research process and timing.
Emphasis will be placed on practical issues related to exemplary qualitative research.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
A. Knowledge and Understanding. On successful completion of this coursestudents should be ableto:
After completing this subject, students should be able to identify the criteria for
doing exemplary research and be able to:
1. Apply and defend exemplary criteria to your choice of excellent research;
2. Develop critical interrogative skills vis-à-vis exemplary research;
3. Use exemplars as templates for the research design that you will follow in your
own research;
4. Be able to write elegant and pleasing prose.
B. Subject-Specific Skills:
 ________________________________________________________________________
Be able to buildtheir research onthe best available models
C. General Skills:
 ________________________________________________________________________
Debating, questioning, challenging, andengaging in academic life
TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS
Teaching Strategies
2
OVERVIEW
It is important to read this carefully before the first class, especially for the
following reasons:
1. To draw my attention to any matters in the outline that are not as clear as they
might be for you and which require interpretive advice from me.
2. To be clear about the preparation that you will be expected to have done prior
to us first meeting: read this carefully and come to the class prepared. No
excuses allowed for non-preparation.
ContributiontoCourse
One of the hardest things for new research students is defining the parameters,
requirements, and appropriateness of the topic that interests them. Common
mistakes include thinking in too general or too broad terms; failing to judge the
differential quality of preceding research; failing to identify a research focus that
makes a contribution, and failing to develop a research design that is
methodologically and theoretically well-articulated. It is easy to start from
assumptions that turn out, too late, not to have been exemplary! The objective of
this subject is to help students try and combat this tendency thereby, improving the
quality of their research and enhancing their ability to complete their research
within the allotted time.
ASSESSMENT
Three papers – see subject outline
COURSE CONTENT
List the main topics covered in the course:
1st class: How to do exemplary research and write it up
2nd class: Official exemplars: Analysis of strengths andweaknesses
3rd class: Official exemplars: Analysis of strengths andweaknesses
4thclass: Personal Exemplars
5th class: Personal Exemplars
6th class: Wrap up: Questions and learning
BIBLIOGRAPHY RESOURCES*



Frost, P., and Stablein, R. (1993) Doing Exemplary Research,
London: Sage.
Stephen Barley et al (1988) “Cultures of Culture: Academics,
Practitioners and the Pragmatics of Normative Control”, ASQ, 33, 24-60.
Gersick, C. J. G. (1988) “Time and transition in Work teams: Towards a
New Model of Group development, Academy of Management Review, 11,
67-8
3





Meyer, A. D. (1982) “Adapting to Environmental jolts”,
ASQ, 27, 515-537
Sutton, R. I & Rafaeli, A. (1988) “Untangling the
relationship between displayed emotions and organizational sales: the
case of convenience stores”, AMJ, 31, 461-487
Jermier, J. (1985) “When the Sleeper Awakes: A Short Story
extending themes in Radical Organization Theory”, JOM, 11, 2, 67 — 80
Barron, James N., et al (1986) “War and Peace: The Evolution of Modern
Personnel Administration in U. S. Industry”, AJS, 92: 350-383.
Latham, Gary P. et al (1988) “Resolving scientific disputes by the joint
design of crucial experiments by the antagonists: Applications to the ErezLatham dispute regarding participation in goal –setting”, JAP, 73,753- —
772.
* The library should have these available on Closed Reserve for consultation. I will make a CD available
with the journal readings on it.
4
SEMINAR AND ASSESSMENT TASKS
For the first day:

Professor Clegg will make a presentation and lead a seminar discussion on “How to
Write”

This will be followed by seminar presentations by all students in the seminar, who
will have written a brief essay of no more of 500 words on the essence of good
writing, in order to practice the skills of writing. To do this you will have read one or
other of Watson (2003) and Redman (2001), or some other appropriate text or website references. Having done this, the expectation is that all subsequent written
work will be exemplary, with respect to style, structure, aesthetics, and technical
details such as punctuation, spelling, grammar, syntax, etc, and marks will be
deducted to the extent that it is not.

At the first seminar you will also:
o
Choose an official exemplar from those in the Frost & Stablein book to
defend, extend and critique at the next meeting.
o
You will identify:
o
-
Citations of the chosen work
-
Extensions of the chosen work by the authors and others
-
Critiques of the chosen work to see what has been made of it by the
literature.
You will analyse:
-
o
How the work in question was possible – what were the
assumptions about science, knowledge, etc, that grounded it?
You will do these things to develop skills in tracing ideas, their development,
critique and citation, as well as building up skills in literature review.
Official Exemplars: the List
The list of official exemplars follows the structure of the prescribed course text:
Peter Frost & Ralph Sablein (eds) Doing Exemplary Research, London: Sage
NB: the book discusses seven exemplary research papers.
These papers will be available on a CD.


Stephen Barley et al (1988) “Cultures of Culture: Academics, Practitioners and the
Pragmatics of Normative Control”, ASQ, 33, 24-60. (Fiona; Djaria)
Gersick, C. J. G. (1988) “Time and transition in Work teams: Towards a New Model of
Group development, Academy of Management Review, 11, 67-80.(Matthew R;
Mohammad)
5

Meyer, A. D. (1982) “Adapting to Environmental jolts”, ASQ, 27, 515-537 (Chris;
Simon)
Sutton, R. I & Rafaeli, A. (1988) “Untangling the relationship between displayed
emotions and organizational sales: the case of convenience stores”, AMJ, 31, 461-487
(Tom)
Jermier, J. (1985) “When the Sleeper Awakes: A Short Story extending themes in
Radical Organization Theory”, JOM, 11, 2, 67 — 80 (Mat)
Barron, James N., et al (1986) “War and Peace: The Evolution of Modern Personnel
Administration in U. S. Industry”, AJS, 92: 350-383. (Ban)
Latham, Gary P. et al (1988) “Resolving scientific disputes by the joint design of crucial
experiments by the antagonists: Applications to the Erez-Latham dispute regarding
participation in goal –setting”, JAP, 73,753- — 772.




For the second and third day:

You will present your chosen “official” research exemplar in depth. This will be one
of the list of seven official exemplars. Students will be expected to present a critical
review of the exemplar and respond to the interrogation of their review by fellow
students
For the fourth and fifth day:

You will present a personal research exemplar, critique and extend it, demonstrate
its role in framing /shaping your research, and present either some research artefact
such as a survey design or some research data, in the form of ethnographic or
qualitative data of some sort, and discuss how you will be addressing it,
methodologically, and how it relates to your exemplar. You will either choose this
from the resources contained herein or in consultation with Professor Clegg.

If time permits, students will also present, on the last day, their intended miniconference presentations about which the class will be expected to display their
ability in critiquing and questioning the work of each other as researchers.
This subject will be run as a seminar format and will involve a combination of teaching
formats including presentations by members of the seminar, lectures, etc. An integral
component of the class will be the critical review of an example of exemplary research,
where selected members will present their critical review to the class and defend it. The
actual disposition of seminar allocations will depend on the number of students actually
enrolled – the work will be adjusted to fit the spaces and the numbers.
Calendar Entry
This subject provides research degree students with the critical skills, methodological
judgment, and theoretical sophistication to be able to design a competent research project.
Details of Assessment
Item
Length
Weight
Assessment
Assessor
6
1
500
words
10%
Presentation: The
essentials of good writing
Stewart Clegg
2
3000
words
40%
Written paper: critique of
official exemplary
research
Stewart Clegg
3
Open
50%
Presentation: Personal
research exemplars
Stewart Clegg
1. Presentation – the essentials of good writing (presentation and written submission)
Based on your reading of Death Sentence and How to Write a Good Essay, and any other
sources that you choose, you will present a guide to what you think are the essentials of
good scholarly prose - in approximately 500 words. The point of this exercise is that once
you have demonstrated the fundamentals are known to you I can reasonably be
expected to have zero tolerance for syntactical, compositional and other prose and style
errors in your work.
2. Provide a critical analysis of a piece of research (presentation and written submission)
Critique and evaluate a piece of research from Frost & Stablein’s collection with respect
to the criteria for exemplary research. You will prepare a scholarly paper of
approximately 3000 words.
3. Present and defend your own personal exemplar (Presentation and subsequent
written submission)
You will be expected to have chosen a research exemplar, applying criteria that you have
gleaned from your reading of the Frost & Stablein book, as well as your participation in the
subject. Thus, you will have read and understood the whole of the Frost & Stablein book,
perused all seven papers, while presenting and extending one in depth.
 The exemplar should be an outstanding paper from a top-tier journal that will, in
ways that you specify, drive your own research. (For a preliminary set of
resources you should consult those collected in Clegg (2002) Volumes 1-8. While
these are by no means exhaustive and do not in any way necessarily map on to
research student interests they may act as a point of departure.)

Using this research exemplar as templates for the research design that you will
follow in your own research you will show how your exemplar will fit into your
research proposal – it will be a presentation that will be judged in terms of the
following criteria:
o
o
o
Theoretical sophistication (use of appropriate and multiple theories that are
well-referenced);
Methodological design (Is it appropriate? Is it doable within the time and
resource constraints? Is it well referenced?);
Elegance, parsimony and economy (Is it well written and presented? Is the
structure logical, coherent and effortless in comprehension? Is the prose well
written?)
7
o
o
Innovation (Is the problem/issue highlighted timely and creative? Are the
references drawn from top-tier or lower level?).
Utilization and impact: who has used this research; how have they used it;
what are the critiques that have been made?
Additional references
Adler, P. (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Sociology and Organization Studies: Classical
Foundations, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Alvesson, M., Bridgman, T. and Wilmott, H. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Critical
Management Studies, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Barry, D. and Hansen, H. (2008) The Sage Handbook of New Approaches in Management and
Organizations, London: Sage.
Clegg, S. R. (ed) (2009) Sage Directions in Organization Studies (Four Volumes), London:
Sage.
Clegg, S. R., Hardy, C., Lawrence, T. B., and Nord W. R (2006) The Sage Handbook of
Organization Studies, London: Sage.
Clegg, S.R. & Bailey, J. R. (eds) The Sage International Encyclopedia of Organization Studies,
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Clegg, Stewart R.. (ed.) (2002a), Central Currents in Organization Studies: Contemporary
Trends – Volume Five: Political Relations and Arenas both in and around
Organizations, London: Sage.
Clegg, Stewart R.. (ed.) (2002b), Central Currents in Organization Studies: Contemporary
Trends – Volume Six: Discursive Subjects and Qualitative Research, London: Sage.
Clegg, Stewart R.. (ed.) (2002c), Central Currents in Organization Studies: Contemporary
Trends – Volume Seven: The Social Construction of Organization Realities, London:
Sage.
Clegg, Stewart R.. (ed.) (2002d), Central Currents in Organization Studies: Contemporary
Trends – Volume Eight: Paradigms of Theory; Paradigms for Practice, London: Sage.
Clegg, Stewart R.. (ed.) (2002e), Central Currents in Organization Studies: Frameworks and
Applications – Volume One: Historical Perspectives and Emergent Tensions, London:
Sage.
Clegg, Stewart R.. (ed.) (2002f) Central Currents in Organization Studies: Frameworks and
Applications – Volume Two: The Foundations, London: Sage.
Clegg, Stewart R.. (ed.) (2002g), Central Currents in Organization Studies: Frameworks and
Applications – Volume Three: Central Debates, London: Sage.
8
Clegg, Stewart R.. (ed.) (2002h), Central Currents in Organization Studies: Frameworks and
Applications – Volume Four: Institutions and Economics, London: Sage.
Cooper, C. L & Clegg, S. R. (2009) The Sage Handbook of Organizational Behaviour: Volume 2:
Macro Approaches, London: Sage.
Grant, D., Hardy, C., Oswick, C., and Putnam, L. (2004) The Sage Handbook of Organizational
Discourse, London: Sage.
Greenwood, R. Oliver, C., Sahlin, K. and Suddaby, R. (2008) The Sage Handbook of
Organizational Institutionalism, London: Sage.
Redman, P 2001, Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide, Open University; SAGE, Milton
Keynes, U.K.; London; Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Stablein, Ralph (1996) “Data in Organization Studies”, pp. 507 — 525 in Stewart R.Clegg et al
(eds) Handbook of Organization Studies, London: Sage.
Tsoukas, H. and Knudsen, C. (2004) The Oxford Handbook of Organization Theory, Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Westwood, R. & Clegg, S. R. (2003) Debating Organizations, Oxford: Blackwell.
Key Journals (in alphabetical order)

Academy of Management Journal

Academy of Management Learning and Education

Academy of Management Review

Administrative Science Quarterly

Culture and Organization

Gender, Work and Organization

Human Relations

Journal of Management Inquiry

Journal of Management Studies

Management Learning

Organization

Organization Science

Organization Studies

Scandinavian Journal of Management
9