AACSB: Global Framework To Redefine Business School Research Impact

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 (Bernama) -- AACSB International (AACSB) and Academy of Management (AOM), in collaboration with eight leading organisations from the business academic and scholarly community, have released the Global Research Impact Framework: Exposure Draft, a major step toward expanding the reach, relevance, and rigour of business school research worldwide.

“Advancing research impact is not something any one group can do on its own. It takes all of us—the academic community, practitioners, and policymakers—working together toward a shared vision.

“This framework is a catalyst for that change. It is about evolving how we assess and recognise impact in business academia, while staying true to the rigour and quality that define great research,” said AACSB president and chief executive officer, Lily Bi in a statement.

The Global Research Impact Task Force represents an unprecedented collaboration across disciplines, regions, and academic societies to redefine the future of research impact in business education.

For decades, the existing system for recognising research impact has upheld academic excellence. Yet as societal expectations shift and demands for relevance intensify, the research ecosystem faces a pivotal moment.

This coalition recognises that meeting these new demands will require bold, coordinated action to lead a systemwide transformation, ensuring that research continues to shape business, policy, and society in meaningful and measurable ways.

The framework was guided by four critical objectives, including expanding the definition of research impact beyond traditional scholarly metrics; identifying principles for assessment that reflect meaningful, empirical, and practical contributions; and providing business schools and their disciplines with flexibility to determine incentives that encourage and reward evidence-based impact.

The exposure draft encourages business schools to embrace a multidimensional assessment approach, integrating both qualitative and quantitative indicators to capture impact across academic, business, policy, societal, and educational domains which align with AACSB’s Standards Refresh project.

-- BERNAMA