The Benefits of Applied Psychology and Research to Business (R&D)

Source: National Science Board
U.S. and China spend most on R&D.
U.S. could focus within industry clusters
to maximize government-industry-university
research.
Matching that with the right entrepreneurial 
and recreational environment can 
lead to intellectual capital draw and retention.

Applied psychology and business research impacts just about everything in the business world ranging from employee selection all the way over to marketing. One of the ways in which academics and business gurus can stay competitive is to keep up with the current literature. That literature should be freely published and encouraged so as to maximize its benefits for business use. That becomes especially important for businesses, industries and even nations that want to be innovative. 

It is helpful to look at journals in emerging science and technology. Applied psychology is a growing and emerging field that seeks to understand many different facets of life. In this case, we are thinking more about business. Applied Psychology Journal Ranking. This website provides a list of various journals, of which the leading journals are listed more towards the top.

If you browse around you can often access the prior publication and many of the articles for free. There are scientists concerned about publication and academic freedoms. Just like we should think about research from its practical application we should also ensure the environment welcomes and doesn't stifle research (i.e. making research subject to the political process and/or stifling research through direct or indirect methods.). 

In my economic cluster theory (Delta County Model) I have been working on there will be a need for focused research and a need for general new discovery research. Advancing clusters can attract R&D investments around key cluster-industry needs through the use of direct commissions, grants, equipment, etc. One could be implementing new research from universities and/or be building prototypes Research and Development: U.S. Trends and International Comparisons.

Here is a solid article on research freedom.

From Traditional Research to Responsible Research: The Necessity of Scientific Freedom and Scientific Responsibility for Better Societies

Abstract:

"My research journey spans a period of exciting new theories informing innovative practices in businesses and other organizations and a period littered with concerns about the research-practice gap, questionable research practices, and a strong emphasis on the number of publications in top journals for hiring and promotions. These recent developments led to the dilution of both scientific freedom and scientific responsibility in our scientific work. I offer my research journey to illustrate the importance of both, with the most recent endeavor in a global responsible research movement to produce useful and credible knowledge that will enable business and management practices to serve all stakeholders and to solve the world's most challenging problems. Emerging institutional changes in business schools, journals, associations, and accreditation agencies provide hope that scholars will soon find the conditions favorable for both freedom and responsibility to support their aspiration to pursue research that will contribute to better societies and meaningful careers."

Conclusion:

"The mission of university-based business schools is to create knowledge to improve business practices that will bring benefits to multiple stakeholders, including shareholders. We emphasize multiple stakeholders because the business ecosystem consists of not only those who provide the funds (owners or shareholders) but also those who provide their expertise and labor (workers), those who purchase their products or services (customers), those who supply raw materials or parts (suppliers), and all those (citizens) whose life may be affected by the business indirectly, e.g., the quality of water, air, and soil, byproducts of the production activities of business firms. As social scientists, our goal is not only to solve the mystery of our social and natural world but also, more importantly, to produce knowledge or evidence-based solutions to business problems with the ultimate aim of improving the human condition. Yet, in the past three decades business school research seems to have been derailed by two choices. One is giving stronger preference to economic than to social outcomes. This preference is revealed in the predominance of scientific inquiries examining and promoting economic outcomes that benefit shareholders more than outcomes that are important to stakeholders like customers, employees, suppliers, and people in the society supporting the business. The second is the pursuit of publications by all means and at all costs, even if it means compromising the objectivity and truth-seeking purpose of science. Fortunately, self-correction has started. I think we can be cautiously optimistic about a bright future in management research."

Tsui, A. (2022) From Traditional Research to Responsible Research: The Necessity of Scientific Freedom and Scientific Responsibility for Better Societies Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior 2022 9:1, 1-32