TORONTO, Oct. 20, 2025, a major step toward expanding the reach, relevance, and rigor of business school research worldwide.
The Global Research Impact Task Force, comprising representatives from AACSB International, Academy of International Business, Academy of Management, American Accounting Association, American Marketing Association, Asia Academy of Management, Association for Information Systems, European Accounting Association, Journal of Operations Management, and Production and Operations Management Society-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 recognizing 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 recognizes 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:
- Redefine Impact: Expand the definition of research impact beyond traditional scholarly metrics.
- Strengthen Evaluation: Identify principles for assessment that reflect meaningful, empirical, and practical contributions.
- Empower Innovation: Provide business schools and their disciplines with flexibility to determine incentives that encourage and reward evidence-based impact.
- Broaden Engagement: Ensure that research impact reflects the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, including academia, industry, policymakers, regulators, and society.
"Advancing research impact isn't something any one group can do on its own," said Lily Bi, president and CEO of AACSB. "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's about evolving how we assess and recognize impact in business academia, while staying true to the rigor and quality that define great research."
"Research must resonate beyond our own scholarly circles," said Peter Bamberger, AOM Past President. "This initiative reflects a collective commitment to advancing research that informs practice, shapes policy, and creates tangible value for society."
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. This framework will align with AACSB's Standards Refresh project to ensure the Global Standards for Business Education reinforces the evolution of research impact.
The exposure draft is open for public comment from October 20, 2025, through January 23, 2026. AACSB and its partners invite faculty, institutional leaders, practitioners, and policymakers to review the framework and submit feedback through the survey linked in the exposure draft. Community Input will help refine the framework, which will culminate in final findings shared at AACSB's International Conference and Annual Meetingin Seattle, Washington, USA, in April 2026.
To review and respond to the Global Research Impact Framework: Exposure Draft, visit aacsb.edu/insights/reports/2025/research-impact-framework-exposure-draft.
About AACSB International
Established in 1916, AACSB International.?
About Academy of Management
The Academy of Management is the preeminent professional association for management and organization scholars. Its worldwide members are professors and Ph.D. students in business schools at universities, academics in related social science and other fields, and practitioners who value knowledge creation and application. Founded in 1936, the Academy of Management is the oldest and largest scholarly management association in the world with a global community nearly 22,000 strong and spanning more than 125 countries.
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