Research Guides: EC 329: Business Organization and Management: Evidence Based Management

Overview

Evidence-Based Management uses appropriate research findings to inform management decisions.

"Evidence-based management is about making decisions through the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of four sources of information:

practitioner expertise and judgment
evidence from the local context
a critical evaluation of the best available research evidence
the perspectives of those people who might be affected by the decision"

Source: Briner, R. B., Denyer, D., & Rousseau, D. M. (2009). Evidence-Based Management: Concept Cleanup Time? Academy of Management Perspectives, 23, 19-32.

Evidence Hierarchy

Best	Meta-analyses of research studies
	Systematic reviews of research articles
Good	Longitudinal field studies
	Randomized controlled interventions
	Multiple quasi-experimental/cross-sectional studies
	Controlled case comparisons
Depends	Case studies/descriptive research
Not	Expert opinion
	Non-expert opinion
	Standard/popular practices

Rousseau, D., Course syllabus for Evidence-Based Management - 45-961,Tepper School of Business, Fall 2010

Research Articles Hierarchy

Articles based on Type 1 studies represent the most reliable form of evidence.

Type 1 studies include randomized clinical trials.
Type 2 studies include clinical trials, but some aspects of the type 1 study may be missing (for example, the assignment may not be randomized).
Type 3 studies are open treatment studies aimed at getting pilot data. These are subject to bias. Type 3 studies can include case controlled studies.
Type 4 studies are reviews with secondary data analysis. This can include a meta-analysis.
Type 5 studies are reviews without secondary data analysis. This can include literature reviews.
Type 6 studies include case studies, essays, and opinion papers.

Nathan, P.E. & Gorman, J.M. (2007). A guide to treatments that work. Oxford: Oxford University Press.