Mediation is a statistical method that examines the relationship between an independent variable (IV) and a dependent variable (DV) through a mediator variable (MV). The MV is a variable influenced by the IV, which, in turn, influences the DV. Mediation analysis can be conducted using various statistical methods, including regression analysis, structural equation modeling, and path analysis (Ten Have & Joffe, 2012). The relationship between scholars and practitioners is considered one of the topics that must be well understood in the business world because of the controversy that exists between the extent of the importance of those who present the theory and those who apply it; several research papers dealt with this framework and identified how cooperation is between the theoretical researcher who develops theories and the practitioner who implements theories on the ground.
Scholar/Academic and Practitioner:
The Scholar/Academic: a person interested in conducting research, discussing and developing theories, and may have a relationship with university life or research centers or work as a consultant (Rahman & Baizid, 2016).
The practitioner is the professional who practices his profession with high professionalism, and he/she is not an ordinary worker but is skilled in his craft and applies scientific methods tested before and works well with his craft (Wasserman & Kram, 2009)
The Difference:
The Scholar is proficient in investigating information related to a particular field. Day after day, this information can be developed to reach an entirely new theory or valuable information in developing this field and placing it at a better level (Rosewell & Ashwin, 2019). The professional practitioner receives this information and applies it to the reality of his/her work and his/her craft based on the general interest of his/her institution and what serves it from this updated information day after day. The practitioner also works to find alternatives and solutions according to what the Scholar has found (Wasserman & Kram, 2009).
The benefits of each to the practice of business:
The Scholar and the practitioner can be considered as two essential and complementary elements to each other in the business world; the Scholar puts the theory according to research and observation, and what is best and the latest findings of science and knowledge in that framework (Brakhage & Vinton, 2016). After that, the practitioner collects the latest findings of the Scholar and works to improve the practices and rules that run the work and develop it. Finally, it provides feedback on what can be further developed (Brakhage & Vinton, 2016).
Reflection on a Professional Doctorate in Business:
The DBA is a professional doctorate with two goals: developing professional practice and contributing to business theories. The scholar-practitioner approach can be reflected in the professional doctorate in business through several ideas, including:
- Preparing appropriate theories for the reality of business practices in the current era.
- Share research and applied theories with executives for feedback (Dull 2010).
- Explain these theories to students by the specializations of each student individually.
- Answer inquiries to promote the application of these practices to the fullest.
- Dissemination of these practices benefits executive and administrative professionals (Wasserman & Kram, 2009).
Conclusion
The controversy has always raged between the importance of the developer of the theory and the one who implements it to achieve remarkable success; for example, Communists argue about the significance of Marx or Lenin in the founding of the Soviet Union, and Westerners say about the importance of the role of Otto Hahn, the famous German scientist who developed the secret of atomic fission, or Oppenheimer the American inventor, the first to design the nuclear bomb that was used in World War II. Who has superiority over whom, and whose role is more critical, the scientist or the practitioner? Despite that, neither of them is separate in the business world, so the practitioner cannot develop his/her strategies without the results reached by the Scholar as a result of his/her research.
References
Brakhage, H. & Vinton, J. (2016). The scholar-practitioner model [video file]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOItyoOzInU
Comillas. (2020). DBA in Management and Technology. https://www.comillas.edu/en/masters/dba-in-management-and-technology
Diker, Yalcin. (2014). Practitioners vs scholars. Working Paper. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267026112_PRACTITIONERS_VS_SCHOLARS
Dull, M. (2010). Leadership and organizational culture: Sustaining dialogue between practitioners and scholars. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40927102
Rahman, M. M. & Baizid, A. R. (2016). A study of discovering and developing the concept of scholars. International Journal of Information, Business and Management, 8(2), 218-227. Retrieved from ProQuest One Academic Database from the Touro Library
Rosewell, K., & Ashwin, P. (2019). Academics' perceptions of what it means to be an academic. Studies in Higher Education, 44(12), 2374-2384. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1499717
Wasserman, I. C., & Kram, K. E. (2009). Enacting the scholar-practitioner role: An exploration of narratives. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 45(1), 12-38.