The relevance of phronetic knowledge exchange in theory and practice: some reflections on how to incorporate practical wisdom into the exchange of knowledge

This paper will examine a way to respond to the current debate around the notion of impact, or not, of management knowledge on wider society. This concern is reflected by Sandberg & Tsoukas (2011) who argued that “There is an increasing concern that management theories are not relevant to practice. In this article we contend that the overall problem is that most management theories are unable to capture the logic of practice because they are developed within the framework of scientific rationality.” The argument for the need to look at how to improve the exchange of knowledge has recently been reiterated by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI, 2015) who suggested that “Effective collaboration between the higher education sector and business has a crucial contribution to make, not only to individual firms’ competitiveness but also to UK economic growth.” This report echoed the following governmental consultation that found a new to improve the use of academic knowledge in a commercial context. “Growth is at the heart of the Government’s economic agenda, and it has made clear the importance of the UK becoming a leader in sectors such as the life sciences and advanced manufacturing. … The Committee therefore held an inquiry into how the Government and other organisations can improve the commercialisation of research.” (House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, 2013)