Developing the researcher-manager interface in the case analysis process

This paper explores the extent to which the use of case analysis as a tool for production of original knowledge on managerial processes is of relevance to relations between the study and practice of management. The paper’s hypothesis is that the research strategy adopted by scholars, and thus the methodological approach, can lead to processes capable of building up and reinforcing the bridge between scholars and educators on the one hand, and management practice by professionals on the other. This paper puts forward arguments in favor of the claim that the case analysis process can be characterized by the quality of the communication processes between researcher and manager. In addition, this process contributes to enabling scholars and corporate management involved in research based on case analysis to build up and define a convergent context of formation/elaboration of knowledge on corporate processes. The manner and forms of devising the methodological response to the problems of the discipline-practice interface deserve in-depth attention as part of the study of relations between the discipline and practice of management.